Device Design Engineer (Product-focus)

Atomic Machines is ushering in a new era in micromanufacturing with its Matter Compiler (MC) technology. The MC enables new classes of micromachines to be designed and built by offering manufacturing processes and a materials library that is inaccessible to semiconductor manufacturing methods. The MC promises to unlock MEMS manufacturing both for the many device classes that never could be made by semiconductor methods but also to open up entirely new classes. Furthermore, the MC is fully digital in the way 3D printing is digital, but where 3D printing produces parts of a single material using a single process, the MC is a multi-process, multi-material technology: bits and raw materials go in and complete, functional micromachines come out.  The Atomic Machines team has also created an exciting first device – one that was only made possible by the existence of the Matter Compiler – that we will be unveiling to the world soon. 

Our offices are in Emeryville and Santa Clara, California.

About this Role:

As Device Design Engineer (Product-focus) at Atomic Machines, you will help drive the development of novel micro-scale devices from concept to product. Working at the intersection of design, testing, and manufacturing, you’ll translate customer needs into detailed technical requirements and deliver reliable, scalable device architectures enabled by our proprietary Matter Compiler (MC) platform.

This role combines creative, first-principles engineering with a strong sense of product ownership. You'll work across disciplines to ensure that designs are not only innovative, but also robust, testable, and manufacturable. You'll help define product specifications, guide the creation of validation and characterization plans, and contribute to the broader reliability strategy for new devices and subsystems. You’ll also be involved in early-stage problem-solving, design reviews, and system-level tradeoff discussions to ensure quality and performance from the ground up.

Success in this role means moving fluidly between product definition, prototyping, and validation, while thinking critically about long-term product performance and scale. If you're excited about building things that have never been built before—and making sure they truly work—you’ll thrive here.

This position is full-time onsite and is located in our Emeryville location, reporting to the Director of Design Engineering.

What You’ll Do:

• Collaborate with the Go-To-Market (GTM) team to translate customer needs into clear, actionable technical requirements.
• Develop and maintain product data sheets with corresponding characterization plans and other customer-facing documentation.
• Lead design failure mode and effects analysis (DFMEA) and contribute actively to process FMEA (PFMEA) activities.
• Own failure analysis (FA) efforts for both component-level and subsystem prototypes, including execution of hands-on investigations and metrology.
• Define and drive roadmaps for comprehensive reliability testing, including environmental and mechanical evaluations.
• Develop and implement strategies for accelerated life testing to ensure long-term product robustness.
• Work cross-functionally with design, process, and manufacturing teams to ensure alignment between product architecture and platform capabilities.
• Define and own product-level validation strategies to ensure performance, reliability, and manufacturability from early development through scale-up.
• Participate in system-level design reviews and support continuous improvement of product development processes through lessons learned and feedback from prototyping and testing cycles.
• Influence the evolution of the Matter Compiler (MC) by identifying new opportunities for platform capabilities that enable novel device features, including in-line metrology and testing to evaluate critical-to-function characteristics

What You’ll Need:

• Proven experience taking complex microsystems or MEMS-class devices from prototype to production.
• Demonstrated ability to translate ambiguous customer needs into structured technical requirements and product specifications.
• Experience with reliability engineering concepts, including environmental testing, accelerated life testing, and failure analysis.
• Hands-on comfort with experimental setup, debugging, and iterative refinement in a lab environment.
• Experience leading or participating in DFMEA/PFMEA processes across cross-functional teams.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to contribute effectively in multidisciplinary teams and across technical/non-technical functions.
• Familiarity with CAD tools for 3D modeling and design documentation (e.g., SolidWorks, Fusion 360).
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, evolving environment where both design and manufacturing processes are co-developed.
• Graduate degree (M.S. or Ph.D.) in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related field; 5+ years of relevant industry experience

Bonus points for:

• Experience working on the design, validation, or reliability testing of electromechanical switching devices.
• Familiarity with failure modes and reliability concerns specific to high-current switching components (e.g., contact wear, arcing, thermal management). .
• Exposure to industry standards and compliance testing relevant to power devices (e.g., IEC, UL, automotive-grade AEC-Q standards).
• Familiarity with root cause analysis tools and methodologies such as 5 Whys, Fishbone/Ishikawa diagrams, or fault tree analysis.
• Hands-on experience designing or executing accelerated life testing protocols and environmental qualification campaigns.
• Knowledge of digital manufacturing principles or real-time production systems