About us

Vale Matcha is a Seattle startup making magic through cutting-edge technology and automation. We are a dynamic and highly cross functional team with Fortune 500 experience in food service, food automation, software engineering, aerospace and consumer electronics. We are developing the Matcha experience of the future; unattended self-serve Matcha bars that craft beautiful drinks from fresh ingredients.

The role

We are seeking a highly skilled Electrical Engineering Contractor to manage hardware design and integration for our next-generation automated systems as we move from prototyping to detailed design and production.

You will be bridging the gap between custom PCB development and complex electromechanical integration in our second-generation machine program. You will be a key contributor to the iterative development process, supporting everything from test units to the production PCBs and wiring.

Key Responsibilities

• Hardware & PCBA: Manage the end-to-end lifecycle of proprietary PCBs board layout to prototyping, validation, and small-batch production management.
• Power Architecture: Design and optimize systems within a tight power budget.
• Electromechanical Integration: Provide hands-on electrical and firmware support for complex subsystems.
• Embedded Systems: Write, test, and maintain robust embedded firmware for sensor and actuator control, ensuring real-time system communication.
• Harnessing & Routing: Define wiring diagrams, select connectors, and manage harness routing with a strict adherence to electrical safety and food-grade sanitation standards (NSF/UL).
• Design for Manufacturing (DFM) & Testing: Implement DFx best practices and utilize lab equipment (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers) to debug hardware. Liaise with Contract Manufacturers (CMs) to resolve production issues.
• AI-Accelerated Engineering: Utilize generative AI software tools (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor) to accelerate development cycles, optimize codebases, and troubleshoot complex technical hurdles.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
• 5+ years of industry experience in hardware design and electromechanical integration.
• Demonstrated proficiency in modern ECAD tools (Altium Designer, Eagle, or similar) for schematic capture and PCB layout.
• Strong foundation in embedded software development for real-time motor and sensor control.
• Deep understanding of standard communication protocols (CAN bus, I2C, SPI, UART).
• Hands-on experience with hardware lab equipment and board bring-up.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in a relevant engineering discipline.
• Prior experience with consumer-facing automation, robotics, high-throughput kiosks, or food-tech appliances.
• Familiarity with regulatory compliance testing (UL, FCC, CE, NSF).
• Proven ability to integrate AI-assisted coding tools into traditional engineering workflows.
• Experience working in agile, cross-functional teams comprising mechanical, software, and industrial engineers.

Project Impact

You will join at a critical inflection point, moving our core automation technology from concept validation to functional hardware testbeds. Your engineering decisions will directly shape the reliability, safety, and manufacturability of our premier product.