Hardware Product Design Engineer (New Grad)

About Samsara Hardware Engineering:

Samsara's hardware systems bridge the gap for the rapidly evolving world of physical operations to a cloud platform that enables our customers to increase the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of the operations that power the global economy. The hardware footprint is big – we build ultra low power sensors, ruggedized asset trackers, powerful vehicle ADAS systems with AI/ML, telematics systems, and maybe much more. We design customer-centric products that leverage the latest technologies in imaging, SoCs, edge AI/ML, and sensing to empower our customers.  Like our customers, we operate in the toughest environments; from being blasted with ice, snow, and salt in a winter blizzard to summertime carwashes and into the depths of a mine–our challenges span the globe.

About the role:

In this role you will be responsible for the industrial design, architecture, and engineering of one or more Samsara products from needfinding and initial concept through to mass production. You will motivate your product design process using both data-driven insights gleaned from our telemetry data cloud, and deep hands-on understanding of our customers earned crawling around their sites and equipment alongside them.   

In bringing products to market you will work collaboratively with Product Management, EE, FW, EPM, and Hardware leadership to make informed tradeoffs and decisions that balance functionality, cost, installation, usability, and aesthetics.  Samsara’s Hardware PD teams are supported by and coordinate closely with Samsara’s Operations and Supply Chain teams, outside laboratories, JDM design resources, and a growing supply base in Asia.  Together you will bring exceptional products to market on time and on budget, and ensure that Samsara leads the industry in our product design.  

This role will be hybrid with flexible Monday/Friday work and onsite days Tuesday through Thursday in our San Francisco office each week.

You should apply if:

• You want to impact the industries that run our world: Your efforts will result in real-world impact—helping to keep the lights on, get food into grocery stores, reduce emissions, and most importantly, ensure workers return home safely.
• You are the architect of your own career: If you put in the work, this role won’t be your last at Samsara. We set up our employees for success and have built a culture that encourages rapid career development, countless opportunities to experiment and master your craft in a hyper growth environment.
• You’re energized by our opportunity: The vision we have to digitize large sectors of the global economy requires your full focus and best efforts to bring forth creative, ambitious ideas for our customers.
• You want to be with the best: At Samsara, we win together, celebrate together and support each other. You will be surrounded by a high-caliber team that will encourage you to do your best. 

Click here to learn about what we value at Samsara. 

In this role, you will: 

• Ship successful products, working from industrial design studies and prototyping, through field validation according to performance, cost, and schedule constraints.
• Research: stay abreast of the latest industry and technology trends, fabrication techniques, vendors, quality assurance, process, etc.
• Understand the System: Evaluate system feature tradeoffs and create the system specifications for development with product management and cross-functional engineering teams. 
• Prototype: Assemble mock-ups, prototypes, and quick-turn models to evaluate concepts, accelerate learning, and empower our teams.
• Design: Evaluate system feature tradeoffs and create the system specifications for development with product management and cross-functional engineering teams. 
• Test: Create a validation plan for each phase of the product development through PVT and characterize the full mechanical system for function, performance, and use-cases.
• Failure Analysis: Work with Reliability, Operations, and Quality teams to identify the root causes of failures and improve our designs to meet performance and quality requirements.
• Partner: We augment our internal development team by partnering with top JDM companies to develop products in a collaborative global model.
• Champion, role model, and embed Samsara’s cultural principles (Focus on Customer Success, Build for the Long Term, Adopt a Growth Mindset, Be Inclusive, Win as a Team) as we scale globally and across new offices

An ideal candidate has:

• Have recently, or will soon complete a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related technical field
• Possess solid fundamentals in design, mechanics, manufacturing, and materials
• Strong CAD modeling and 2D drafting experience; preferably in NX
• Experience with hand tools, rapid prototyping, and light machine shop tools
• Ability to navigate tradeoffs between design, manufacturability, schedule, and cost
• Prior intern and project experience working on high volume hardware programs with cross-functional teams and technologies such as sensors and PCBs.
• Experience with rugged, thermally challenged, or electro-mechanical systems.
• Strong ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams and drive independent work.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Ability to travel up to 15% when necessary

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