Lead Prototype Engineer

About the role

Here at Humanoid, we believe in a future where robots amplify human potential. That’s why we’ve set out on a mission to build the world’s most capable, commercially-scalable, and safe humanoid robots. We’re bringing that mission to life with HMND-01 - our rapidly developed humanoid platform being deployed in real industrial environments - and we’re growing the team to take it even further.

About the Role

As Lead Prototype Engineer on the Core Platform team, you will lead and grow a team of prototype engineers and technicians while staying hands-on at the bench. You’ll set the technical standard for how we build, diagnose, and evolve advanced humanoid robotic platforms. Your focus is electrical integration, bring-up, and root-cause analysis across the full hardware lifecycle, from concept and prototyping to field repair. You’ll emphasize reliability and repeatable processes.

What You'll Do

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of prototype engineers and technicians. Set priorities, allocate work, and raise the team’s technical and process standards.
• Stay hands-on: personally drive troubleshooting and resolution of the most complex electrical issues in prototype humanoid robots, across operational and in-development systems. Lead detailed failure analysis and share learnings with hardware and software engineering teams.
• Own electrical bring-up of new prototype builds, including power distribution, motor drive and actuator electronics, sensor integration, communications buses, and high-density electromechanical integrations.
• Collaborate closely with electrical, mechanical, firmware, and software engineers on prototype design, assembly, and design-for-test.
• Define, maintain, and enforce test procedures, troubleshooting guides, and repair runbooks for the prototyping lab, and make sure the team follows them.
• Design, document, and iterate on cable assemblies, wiring harnesses, and test jigs built for repeated use on dynamic robotic platforms.
• Own lab planning and priorities: build schedules, resource allocation, tooling, equipment, and spares. Balance competing demands from multiple engineering teams.
• Identify and drive continuous improvement in processes and products, reducing downtime, improving test and repair efficiency, and raising first-pass yield and manufacturability.
• Build strong feedback loops across design, build, and test, and communicate status, risks, and lessons learned to engineering leadership.

What We're Looking for

• Strong, hands-on electrical engineering background in rapid prototyping, debugging custom hardware, and troubleshooting complex electrical systems in robotics or similar domains.
• Deep working knowledge of low-voltage power and mixed-signal circuits, motor drives, connectors, sensors, and compact electromechanical systems. You are comfortable using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power supplies, and other bench instrumentation to diagnose faults.
• Experience reading schematics and PCB layouts, performing board-level rework and repair, and designing or specifying harnesses and cable assemblies.
• Prior experience leading or mentoring engineers or technicians, formally or as a technical lead. You are comfortable taking on direct reports and balancing people management with hands-on work.
• Track record of communicating concisely through documentation, procedures, test plans, diagnostics, and lessons learned.
• Adept at collaborating across electrical, mechanical, and software boundaries to solve urgent, ambiguous problems. Mechanical prototyping skills are a plus.
• Comfortable in a high-velocity, high-ambiguity startup setting where priorities shift fast.

Preferred

• Experience designing for manufacturability and reliability in human-sized or mobile robotics.
• Familiarity with automated test and diagnostic tools used in modern hardware labs.
• Experience building or scaling a prototyping or field engineering team, including hiring and setting up lab processes.
• Mechanical assembly and integration experience alongside strong electrical skills.

What We Offer

• Comprehensive health coverage for US-based employees, including fully paid medical, dental, and vision insurance, with virtual care and employee assistance resources.
• Meaningful time off to rest and recharge: 23 days of PTO (accrued), separate sick leave, and paid company holidays.
• 401(k) retirement plan with 4% employer match.
• Competitive equity: stock options with meaningful upside as we scale.
• Free daily catered lunch, snacks, and drinks in-office.
• Collaboration with top-tier engineers, researchers, and product experts in AI and robotics.
• Freedom to influence the product and own key initiatives.

For this role in Massachusetts, the expected base salary range is $150K-$200K USD per year; your placement in that range depends on how your experience maps to our internal leveling.