{"id":833661,"url":"https://alion.io/job/dapster-lead-hardware-engineer","title":"Lead Hardware Engineer","company":{"id":674521,"name":"Dapster","domain":"dapster.ai","url":"https://alion.io/company/dapster","size_band":"1-10","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":75,"open_postings":4,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":1,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-10-31T05:58:55Z"}},"role":"Hardware","role_family":"Hardware","seniority":"lead","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Francisco, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":167000,"max_usd":310000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":656},"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2023-10-13T23:47:11Z","employer_posted_date":"2023-10-13","last_verified_at":"2026-11-01T00:05:01Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":1114,"trust":{"level":"stale","repost_count":0,"flags":["stale"],"days_open":1113},"description":"[Note: we are currently fully staffed for this role, but expect to be hiring for additional team members in the near future. So, we likely won't review/respond quickly, but we WILL look here first when we crank up the hiring machine again.]\nDapster is looking for a Lead Hardware Engineerto join our small-but-powerful team. This is an impact opportunity -- we’re very much still an early-stage startup, and you will be working on our foundational technology and products.\nAbout Dapster: Dapster is focused on bringing AI-fueled robotic picking solutions to market. We recently landed a large pilot with a top retailer -- effectively dilution-free funding to develop our core technology.\nIf you want to do interesting work with a sharp, experienced and humble team, and share in the upside that comes with joining at the earliest stages, we’d love to talk to you. The quick details:\nWhat will you do? Broad ownership of the hardware design, manufacturing and capabilities of the Dapster robots (we can go into much more detail live).\nWhat are we looking for?\nExperience building and shipping robotics hardware components like wheels, drives, grippers and/or arms.\n\nFamiliarity with all the phases of the development - prototyping, design, manufacturing, and shipping.\n\nExcellent fluency in CAD/CAM tools, allowing the engineer to “think” with the tool.\n\nFluid intelligence and creativity - the ability and willingness to solve problems in unorthodox ways and think outside the box.\n\nThe willingness to do hands-on work like using the nearby machine shop to prototype some solutions.\n\nHighly organized and articulate communication skills.\n\nOther nice-to-have’s:\nProven ability to closely manage external contractors and hold them to high standards.\n\nExperience working with embedded systems software engineers\n\nAbility to balance business needs with engineering puritanism\n\nDapster is a remote-friendly, hybrid workplace. We maintain a development lab in Palo Alto, CA, and occasionally travel to client sites (mainly Phoenix, AZ). Roles requiring interaction with our physical robots likely entail more in-office work than not. Other roles can be structured to your preferences.\nInterested in learning more? Let’s start a conversation -- you can apply directly below or reach out to Scott (one of our founders) with any questions at .","description_format":"text","description_chars":2350,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Logistics & Warehouse Robotics"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-12T17:41:47Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"Filed H-1B visas in the last two years","filings_12m":0,"filings_prev_12m":1,"green_card_filings_12m":0,"median_offered_wage_usd":null,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-29T16:27:21+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":7,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.242,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":1113,"expected_fill_days":25,"reasons":["conf:3","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-10-31T05:58:55Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/dapster-lead-hardware-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/dapster-lead-hardware-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-01T02:06:51Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":3157,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-02T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":674521},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=674521"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fdapster-lead-hardware-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fdapster-lead-hardware-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fdapster-lead-hardware-engineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/dapster-lead-hardware-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fdapster-lead-hardware-engineer"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":833661}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"dapster.ai","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":833661},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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