# Hardware Engineer (Electrical) at Navi > Onsite · United States · Unspecified · Software engineering · open. Source: https://alderhq.app/jobs/ashby%3Anavi%3A8be991f1-b20a-4ad2-8a41-034e23f27cc5 (read 2026-11-06). ## Facts (observed) - Company: [Navi](https://alderhq.app/companies/navi) - Location text: San Francisco - Where it can be done from (inferred): Onsite · United States (evidence: "Location: San Francisco") - Posted: 2026-10-08 (29 days ago) - First seen by alder: 2026-11-03 · last verified: 2026-11-04 - Reposted: 0 times · edited: 0 times - Apply on the employer's site: https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/navi/8be991f1-b20a-4ad2-8a41-034e23f27cc5 - Skills listed (inferred): Node.js, Python, C++ ## Pay and sponsorship - Posted pay: not posted - Market band for similar posted roles (SF Bay Area, n 1729): p25 $161k, median $200k, p75 $239k ## Description (the employer's text) Navi captures everything a pilot sees and hears. The Wave is how we do it — the hardware that lives in the cockpit, captures flight data, and streams it to the cloud in real time. You're building the next generation of that device. ### About the role This is a founding hardware role. You own the entire physical product — from bare-metal architecture through PCB design, ruggedized enclosure, embedded firmware, environmental certification, fleet deployment, and cloud integration. This is Version 2 of the Wave, and you are the definitive technical voice for every decision that shapes it. The device has to survive cockpit environments — heat, vibration, RF noise — while continuously streaming high-bandwidth audio and telemetry over wireless networks without dropping a frame. It has to be deployable across hundreds of aircraft and manageable as a fleet. It has to meet certification standards for operating in aircraft. And it has to be built fast, because Navi is already live at flight schools and the U.S. Air Force and demand is accelerating. If you thrive in high-autonomy environments and love building mission-critical edge devices that work in the real world — not on a bench — this is your role. ### What you'll do Lead the end-to-end technical design of Navi's next-generation edge compute node — architecture, component selection, PCB layout, and mechanical enclosure Build hardware that is ruggedized for cockpit environments — thermal, vibrational, and environmental stress — and optimized for continuous wireless data transmission Architect real-time data pipelines for processing and streaming high-fidelity audio and complex telemetry from the edge to the cloud with minimal latency Own the hardware validation lifecycle — environmental testing, quality assurance, and securing regulatory and industry-specific certifications for hardware operating in aircraft Develop and oversee embedded firmware and edge processing logic — real-time operating systems, on-device compute, and fleet-wide OTA update infrastructure Guide the architecture of live cloud-based telemetry dashboards to ensure seamless data ingestion and real-time visibility from deployed devices Collaborate with software and ML engineers to ensure the hardware captures exactly what the intelligence layer needs to generate automated debriefs ### About you 7+ years of experience in systems engineering, embedded edge compute, or connected hardware development — with a track record of bringing a complex device to market, not just prototyping one Deep understanding of electronics design — PCB schematics, microcontrollers, wireless communication modules (cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth) Experience collaborating with industrial or mechanical designers to build ruggedized enclosures that survive challenging thermal, vibrational, and environmental conditions Strong proficiency in embedded C/C++ or Python for edge applications, with experience running RTOS or embedded Linux Familiarity with edge-to-cloud architecture, device fleet management, and building scalable live data infrastructure Hands-on experience navigating rigorous hardware certification processes and environmental testing standards You own projects end to end in ambiguous, fast-moving environments — and you ship ### Nice to have Experience with edge processing and lossless streaming of high-bandwidth data — real-time audio, complex signal processing, or continuous telemetry Background building hardware for aviation, defense, or other safety-critical regulated industries Familiarity with avionics data formats, cockpit audio systems, or aircraft electrical environments ### Why this role matters Every piece of intelligence Navi generates starts with the Wave. The AI is only as good as the data the hardware captures — and in a cockpit, there are no second chances. A dropped audio frame is a missed instructor callout. A connectivity gap is a blind spot in the debrief. You're building the device that makes the entire platform possible, and it has to work perfectly every single flight. --- Data: alder (https://alderhq.app). Cite https://alderhq.app/jobs/ashby%3Anavi%3A8be991f1-b20a-4ad2-8a41-034e23f27cc5 and the date you read it. Observed facts come from the employer's own listing; location reach, level, family and skills are inferences.