- Robot type
- Drone
- Location
- Palo AltoCaliforniaUSA
- Job type
- Hardware
- Posted
- Jul 14, 2026
- Salary
- $304,000–$323,000 a year
Full-time
Senior Staff Hardware Engineer, Sensor Architecture
Job description
Wing offers drone delivery as a safe, fast, and sustainable solution for last mile logistics. Consumer appetites for on-demand services are increasing, but current delivery methods are inefficient, costly, and contribute to road accidents and air pollution. Wing’s fleet of highly automated delivery drones can transport small packages directly from businesses to homes on-demand, in minutes. We design, build, and operate our aircraft, and offer drone delivery services on two continents. Our technology is designed to be easy to integrate into existing delivery and logistics networks, offering a scalable drone delivery solution for a broad range of businesses.
Job responsibilities
- Lead the end-to-end architectural definition and technical roadmap for Wing’s sensor systems across both aircraft and ground operations.
- Lead cross-functional trade studies across hardware, software, and manufacturing teams, translating ambiguous product goals into rigorous system-level requirements.
- Evaluate, select, and integrate sensor components by navigating extreme SWaP-C (Size, Weight, Power, and Cost) constraints.
- Develop comprehensive mathematical performance models, error budgets, and link budgets to guide hardware board design and software algorithm development.
- Architect characterization, calibration, and validation protocols to guarantee robust sensor performance across highly diverse and punishing environmental conditions.
- Collaborate intimately with manufacturing and contract partners to design scalable, automated calibration and high-volume QA test systems.
- Identify, prototype, and champion emerging sensor technologies to keep Wing at the bleeding edge of autonomous flight.
- Manage deep technical relationships and drive customized component designs with external sensor partners, Tier 1 suppliers, and foundries.
Job requirements
- 15+ years of deeply technical experience in sensor architecture, hardware systems engineering, or complex sensor integration.
- A track record of taking complex hardware or sensor subsystems from early R&D through high-volume commercial manufacturing.
- Experience in RF technologies, such as UWB, LTE, wifi, ads-b.
- Mastery in at least two sensor modalities critical to autonomous navigation (e.g., vision/cameras, LiDAR, radar, IMUs, GNSS/GPS, or barometers).
- Proven ability to build mathematical performance models and define error budgets for complex sensor data pipelines.
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, Mechatronics, or a directly related field (or equivalent practical experience).