Job
- Level
- Senior
- Job Field
- IT, Embedded, Security
- Employment Type
- Full Time
- Contract Type
- Permanent employment
- Location
- Metzingen
- Working Model
- Onsite
Job Summary
In this role, you will develop the hardware architecture for complex cognitive robots, integrating performance and safety requirements into the physical design while ensuring manufacturability for millions of robots.
Job Technologies
Your role in the team
- This is where Artificial Intelligence comes to life. The Hardware Department designs, constructs, and optimizes all physical components of our cognitive robots. As NEURA scales from prototype to production of five million robots, the decisions made at the architecture level today will shape the platform for years to come. The Hardware Architect is the person who makes those decisions - with the authority to define the blueprint and the accountability to make it work in the real world.
- You define the hardware blueprint for the world's most advanced cognitive robots.
- NEURA's humanoid robot is a deeply complex cyber-physical system: distributed computing, high-density power electronics, a body-area sensor network, real-time actuation control, and a cognitive AI stack - all packed into a human-scale form factor and designed for mass production. The Hardware Architect owns the overall hardware system architecture, translates product requirements into physical design constraints, and ensures that every sub-system - from PCBAs to cabling to compute modules - fits coherently into a scalable, manufacturable whole.
- Define and maintain the top-level hardware architecture of the robot platform - compute topology (SoCs, MCUs, edge AI accelerators), power architecture (bus voltages, distribution, protection), communication backbone (EtherCAT, CAN-FD, Ethernet, SerDes), and sensing architecture (sensor selection, placement, interface strategy).
- Translate product, performance, and safety requirements into hardware requirements; partition functionality across electronics, embedded software, and mechanical subsystems; manage technical interfaces between all hardware disciplines.
- Lead hardware architecture reviews; define and enforce hardware design standards, interface control documents, and design rules across the electronics, firmware, and mechanical teams.
- Evaluate and select key platform components - compute SoCs, power management ICs, communication controllers, sensor ICs - balancing performance, availability, NRE cost, and long-term scalability.
- Serve as the primary technical interface between the hardware team and software/AI architecture teams; ensure the hardware platform exposes the right capabilities (memory bandwidth, I/O, compute) to meet AI inference and real-time control requirements.
- Ensure architectural decisions are compatible with high-volume manufacturing; drive design-for-reliability, design-for-testability (DFT), and design-for-cost principles from day one.
- Provide technical guidance and mentorship to senior electronics, firmware, and system engineers; support hiring and team growth in the hardware domain.
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Our expectations of you
Education
- Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechatronics, or a closely related field; PhD is a plus but not required.
Qualifications
- You are a senior hardware engineer or architect who has seen the full lifecycle of a complex embedded hardware product - from architecture concept through mass production - and who understands what it takes to get architecture right at each stage. You lead by technical authority, not organizational position, and you thrive in environments where the architecture is still being shaped.
- Proven track record of defining and delivering multi-disciplinary hardware system architectures - from concept through EVT/DVT and into production - for products combining high-speed compute, power electronics, and real-time sensing.
- Deep understanding of embedded compute platforms (ARM Cortex-A/M, NVIDIA Jetson class, FPGA/eFPGA) and the trade-offs between centralized and distributed compute topologies.
- Strong command of power system architecture: multi-rail SMPS design, battery/BMS integration, load analysis, power sequencing, and EMC mitigation at the system level.
- Vertrautheit mit funktionalen Sicherheitsstandards und die Fähigkeit, Sicherheitsanforderungen in Hardware-Architektur-Beschränkungen zu übersetzen (Redundanz, Überwachung, sichere Zustände).
- Strong cross-functional communication skills: able to represent hardware architecture in discussions with product management, AI/software architects, supply chain, and executive leadership.
- Fluent English; German is a practical advantage.
Experience
- 8+ years of professional experience in hardware development for complex embedded or cyber-physical systems, with at least 3 years in a hardware architecture, lead engineer, or staff engineer role.
- Experience defining communication backbone architectures for real-time distributed systems (EtherCAT, CAN-FD, TSN Ethernet, SpaceWire, or similar).
- Experience with DFM/DFT in high-volume hardware - able to drive architecture choices that remain manufacturable and testable at scale.
- Experience in robotics, automotive (ADAS/body electronics), aerospace, or industrial automation hardware is strongly preferred.
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What we offer
- Full-time position.
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Benefits
Work-Life-Integration
Topics that you deal with on the job
Job Locations
This is your employer
Neura Robotics GmbH
Neura Robotics GmbH, based in Metzingen, is an innovative company focused on cognitive robotic systems. With products like the robotic arm MAiRA and the humanoid robot 4NE1, the company integrates AI with mechanical elements to create seamless human-machine interaction. Over 1200 employees from more than 45 nations contribute to Neura Robotics' global expansion.
Description
- Company Type
- Startup
- Working Model
- Onsite
- Industry
- Electronics, Automatization
Hardware Architect - Cognitive Robotics
- Location
- Metzingen
- Working Model
- Onsite
- Diversity
- Open for all genders
