Senior Staff Hardware Systems Engineer
at Samsara
San Francisco - SF9
Who we are
Samsara (NYSE: IOT) is the pioneer of the Connected Operations™ Cloud, which is a platform that enables organizations that depend on physical operations to harness Internet of Things (IoT) data to develop actionable insights and improve their operations. At Samsara, we are helping improve the safety, efficiency and sustainability of the physical operations that power our global economy. Representing more than 40% of global GDP, these industries are the infrastructure of our planet, including agriculture, construction, field services, transportation, and manufacturing — and we are excited to help digitally transform their operations at scale.
Working at Samsara means you’ll help define the future of physical operations and be on a team that’s shaping an exciting array of product solutions, including Video-Based Safety, Vehicle Telematics, Apps and Driver Workflows, and Equipment Monitoring. As part of a recently public company, you’ll have the autonomy and support to make an impact as we build for the long term.
About the role:
Are you a builder with a relentless "owner mentality"? Do you want to do more than just execute—do you want to innovate, disrupt, and drive the creation of ground-breaking hardware from a clean sheet of paper to mass production?
We are searching for a visionary Sr. Staff Hardware Systems Engineer/Architect to join our high-impact team. This is a rare opportunity to have significant ownership and redefine an industry with products and solutions that matter. If you are passionate about building cool things at scale and thrive on leading complex projects, we want you.
This is a hybrid position requiring three days per week in our San Francisco, CA office and two days working remotely. This position requires travel up to 25% of the time and proximity to an international airport. Relocation assistance will be provided for this role. We are open to candidates residing in the U.S. who are willing and able to relocate to the Bay Area.
About the Opportunity: Architecting Disruption
This isn't a maintenance role, it's a creation role. As a Sr. Staff Hardware Systems Engineer you will be the hardware systems linchpin, driving the entire product lifecycle for new, complex, and high-volume products. You will move beyond incremental improvements to ideate and innovate truly differentiated solutions by partnering directly with our customers early in the design cycle.
You will be the key driver of the hardware product lifecycle, taking complete ownership from initial concept feasibility and architecture definition through to high-volume manufacturing (Mass Production). Your decisions will directly shape the product's performance, cost, and schedule.
What You'll Own and Drive:
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End-to-End Product Realization: Take command of the system architecture for our next generation of products. This includes driving deep technical feasibility studies, defining the complete system specification, and seeing it through validation, certification, and production.
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Customer-Driven Innovation: Partner directly with Product Management and our customers to deeply understand their challenges. Use this unique, direct access to innovate new products and features that solve real-world problems, acting as a trusted technical partner from the earliest stages of design.
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Executive-Level Partnership Management: Drive and manage the technical partnership with Joint Development Manufacturing (JDM) partners. You will be the primary technical interface, ensuring alignment, quality, and aggressive execution to schedule and cost goals for high-volume, global deployment.
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System Architecture Mastery: Own the EE architecture, encompassing crucial elements like chipset/SoC selection, power budgets and optimization, RF/Antenna performance, thermals, sensor integration, and PCB design, ensuring robustness against extreme environmental conditions (automotive/industrial).
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Technical Leadership: Spearhead the development process from initial prototyping, through rigorous validation and field testing, serving as the technical authority for system-level debug, desense mitigation, and bring-up.
Minimum requirements for the role:
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5+ years of experience as a key driver shipping high-volume (scale) hardware programs, demonstrating end-to-end ownership in partnership with JDM and ODM collaborators.
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Low power design, battery technology, and optimization.
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Wireless communications (LTE/5G, BLE, Wi-Fi, GPS).
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Embedded processing, AI/ML acceleration, and imaging systems.
Deep, proven expertise in systems design across diverse use cases (e.g., automotive, industrial, outdoor) leveraging a mix of technologies:
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An unwavering track record of navigating complex tradeoffs between performance, design elegance, manufacturability, and cost, resulting in successful, scaled products.
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Expertise in product bring-up, system-level debug, and comprehensive validation (including desense, power analysis, and performance testing).
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BS or MS in Electrical Engineering or a related technical field.
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Exceptional collaboration and communication skills to drive technical alignment across internal (PD, FW, EPM, NPI) and external (JDM, supply chain) partners globally.
An ideal candidate also has:
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Experience with certifications and stringent testing requirements involved with industrial and automotive settings (e.g., ISO 16750, AEC-Q100).
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Familiarity with advanced PCB design tools like Altium or Cadence Allegro.
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Experience in Design for Supply, Design for Reliability/Testing, and Design for Manufacture (DfX) principles.
If you are ready to take on a role with maximum impact and build truly groundbreaking hardware solutions from the ground up, apply now and help us disrupt the industry.
Samsara’s Compensation Philosophy: Samsara’s compensation program is designed to deliver Total Direct Compensation (based on role, level, and geography) that is at or above market. We do this through our base salary + bonus/variable + restricted stock unit awards (RSUs) for eligible roles. For eligible roles, a new hire RSU award may be awarded at the time of hire, and additional RSU refresh grants may be awarded annually.
We pay for performance, and top performers in eligible roles may receive above-market equity refresh awards which allow employees to achieve higher market.
At Samsara, we welcome everyone regardless of their background. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, and other characteristics protected by law. We depend on the unique approaches of our team members to help us solve complex problems and want to ensure that Samsara is a place where people from all backgrounds can make an impact.
Benefits
Full time employees receive a competitive total compensation package along with employee-led remote and flexible working, health benefits, and much, much more. Take a look at our Benefits site to learn more.
Accommodations
Samsara is an inclusive work environment, and we are committed to ensuring equal opportunity in employment for qualified persons with disabilities. Please email accessibleinterviewing@samsara.com or click here if you require any reasonable accommodations throughout the recruiting process.
Flexible Working
At Samsara, we embrace a flexible working model that caters to the diverse needs of our teams. Our offices are open for those who prefer to work in-person and we also support remote work where it aligns with our operational requirements. For certain positions, being close to one of our offices or within a specific geographic area is important to facilitate collaboration, access to resources, or alignment with our service regions. In these cases, the job description will clearly indicate any working location requirements. Our goal is to ensure that all members of our team can contribute effectively, whether they are working on-site, in a hybrid model, or fully remotely. All offers of employment are contingent upon an individual’s ability to secure and maintain the legal right to work at the company and in the specified work location, if applicable.
Fraudulent Employment Offers
Samsara is aware of scams involving fake job interviews and offers. Please know we do not charge fees to applicants at any stage of the hiring process. Official communication about your application will only come from emails ending in ‘@samsara.com’ or ‘@us-greenhouse-mail.io’. For more information regarding fraudulent employment offers, please visit our blog post here.