Open Role
Validation Engineer – Hand Subsystem
at Figure
San Jose, CA·Posted Jul 11
About the role
Figure is an AI robotics company developing autonomous general-purpose humanoid robots. The goal of the company is to ship humanoid robots with human level intelligence. Its robots are engineered to perform a variety of tasks in the home and commercial markets. Figure is based in San Jose, CA and require 5 days/week in-office collaboration.
We are seeking an Electrical Validation Engineer – Hand Subsystem to lead the bring-up, validation, and performance characterization of Figure’s dexterous robotic hands. You will own validation from first-article prototypes through full-robot and production builds.
Key Responsibilities:
• Lead electrical and mechatronic bring-up and system validation of the hand subsystem, including actuators, motor drives, PCBAs, sensors, harnessing, and power distribution.
• Plan and execute subsystem and system-level validation of electrical system, actuation performance, power consumption and thermals.
• Develop and automate validation workflows and test setups to stress full range of motion, load cases, duty cycles, and environmental conditions.
• Debug complex cross-disciplinary issues across hardware, firmware, controls, and mechanics using telemetry, oscilloscopes, DAQs, power analyzers, and thermal instrumentation.
• Lead root-cause analysis for reliability, performance, and durability issues; drive design, firmware, or process improvements in collaboration with partner teams.
• Build and maintain Python-based data logging, visualization, and analysis tools to track subsystem performance and detect anomalies.
• Define KPIs and validation metrics to track hand subsystem performance, reliability, and fleet health over time.
• Document bring-up procedures, validation results, and integration learnings to support scaling to production, manufacturing test, and sustaining engineering.
Requirements:
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical, Mechatronics, Controls, or Systems Engineering (or equivalent experience).
• 5+ years of experience in electrical or mechatronic systems validation.
• Strong understanding of power delivery, motor drives, actuator control, sensing, and grounding in electromechanical systems.
• Proficiency in Python for automation, data acquisition, and analysis.
• Skilled with lab instrumentation including oscilloscopes, power analyzers, DAQs, and thermal sensors.
• Proven ability to debug hardware, firmware, and control-loop issues in tightly integrated systems.
• Strong documentation and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Preferred Experience:
• Experience with dexterous robotic hands, grippers, or multi-DOF actuation systems.
• Familiarity with CAN, SPI, I2C, EtherCAT, or Ethernet-based communication protocols.
• Experience with control-system tuning, system identification, and performance optimization.
• Experience developing automated validation rigs or hardware-in-the-loop setups.
• Comfort working in Linux and embedded development environments.
• Familiarity with manufacturing bring-up, factory test development, or sustaining engineering.
The US base salary range for this full-time position is between $150,000 and $250,000 annually.
The pay offered for this position may vary based on several individual factors, including job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package may also include additional components/benefits depending on the specific role. This information will be shared if an employment offer is extended.
About Figure

Builds humanoid robot platforms.
View full profile →- HQ
- Sunnyvale, CA
- Stage
- Series C+
- Total Raised
- $2.5B
- Employees
- 201-1,000
- Founded
- 2022