Hardware Engineer, Precision Instrumentation
Astera Institute
Summary
As a Hardware Engineer, you will design and build the physical systems our experiments depend on, most of which don't exist commercially. Working directly with scientists, you will take a project from a well-specified plan or a rough idea through design, fabrication, and iteration until it works for the experiment. The work crosses mechanical design, fabrication, electronics, and optics, often within a single project.
Job description
Position Summary
As a Hardware Engineer, you will design and build the physical systems our experiments depend on, most of which don't exist commercially. Working directly with scientists, you will take a project from a well-specified plan or a rough idea through design, fabrication, and iteration until it works for the experiment. The work crosses mechanical design, fabrication, electronics, and optics, often within a single project.
What You'll Do
- Design precision mechanical systems for experiments, such as titanium microfixtures, micrometer-precision electrode drives, and custom machined jigs.
- Build components for custom microscopes and optical systems, including alignment and mounting hardware.
- Design and iterate custom laboratory instrumentation and surgical or experimental robotics alongside the scientists who depend on them.
- Develop electronics and control hardware that interface mechanical systems with data acquisition and the rest of the research stack.
- Help build the design and prototyping facility itself — the tooling, workflows, and fabrication capabilities that determine how fast the team can move.
Who You Are
Required:
- Bachelor's degree (or equivalent experience) in mechanical, electrical, or biomedical engineering, physics, or a related field, with a track record of building precision hardware in a high-precision industry (e.g., medical devices, robotics, aerospace, semiconductor capital equipment, or commercial scientific instrumentation).
- Experience designing and building hardware that other people relied on for real work, and keeping it running.
- Resourcefulness about getting things built quickly: comfortable machining one part, 3D-printing the next, and outsourcing what's better made elsewhere.
- Comfort working from a rough idea rather than a finished spec, figuring out the path to a working instrument together with the people who need it.
- Deep fundamentals in mechanical design and fabrication, with real working ability in electronics or optics; you do not restrict yourself to what is familiar.
- Intellectual curiosity, collaborative instincts, and eagerness to learn the science around you.
- A track record of owning complex instruments end-to-end, from concept through fabrication, integration, and reliable operation.
- Experience making and defending design tradeoffs across performance, manufacturability, cost, and timeline.
- Experience equipping and running a workshop, makerspace, or prototyping facility.
Preferred/Nice to Have:
- Experience with small precise parts, difficult materials, tight tolerances, precision motion, or optical alignment.
- Hands-on electronics design experience (PCB layout, embedded systems, sensor/actuator integration).
- Familiarity with electrophysiology or other low-volume, high-complexity hardware environments.
- CAD/CAM proficiency with hands-on machining (CNC, lathe, mill) and 3D printing.
- Experience integrating hardware with data acquisition systems (DAQ, TTL synchronization, serial/SPI protocols).
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree (or equivalent experience) in mechanical, electrical, or biomedical engineering, physics, or a related field
- Track record of building precision hardware in a high-precision industry (e.g., medical devices, robotics, aerospace, semiconductor capital equipment, or commercial scientific instrumentation)
- Experience designing and building hardware that other people relied on for real work, and keeping it running
- Resourcefulness about getting things built quickly: comfortable machining one part, 3D-printing the next, and outsourcing what's better made elsewhere
- Comfort working from a rough idea rather than a finished spec, figuring out the path to a working instrument together with the people who need it
- Deep fundamentals in mechanical design and fabrication, with real working ability in electronics or optics
- Intellectual curiosity, collaborative instincts, and eagerness to learn the science around you
- A track record of owning complex instruments end-to-end, from concept through fabrication, integration, and reliable operation
- Experience making and defending design tradeoffs across performance, manufacturability, cost, and timeline
- Experience equipping and running a workshop, makerspace, or prototyping facility
Benefits
- Competitive compensation
- Comprehensive benefits package
Company overview
Astera Institute is a nonprofit research institute founded in 2020 by Jed McCaleb and Seemay Chou, dedicated to empowering visionary, high-leverage science and technology projects with transformative potential for human civilization. Operating as a 501(c)(3) private foundation based in Berkeley, California, Astera focuses on areas that lack natural homes in existing innovation ecosystems, particularly Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), neuroscience, life sciences, and climate technology. The institute operates through three main divisions: Neuro & AGI (directed neuroscience and AI research), Radial (life sciences research division), and the Foundation (centralized operational and financial support). With over $2.6 billion in assets and a commitment of up to $500 million over the next decade for its life sciences division, Astera employs a unique "build-test-learn" approach to scientific infrastructure and practices. The organization emphasizes experimentation with how science is conducted through actual research efforts, funding high-risk, neglected ideas that have outsized potential impact. Astera's mission is to steer science and technology toward an abundant future by supporting projects that traditional funding mechanisms often overlook, while also providing operational support, residency programs, and fellowship opportunities to advance scientific discovery and technological innovation.