Team Lead Autonomy Hardware (m/f/d)

Join Quantum-Systems and help bring autonomous ground systems into real-world operations. As Team Lead Autonomy Hardware, you will own the hardware backbone of our ground autonomy stack: the compute platform, the full sensorset (camera, radar, lidar, IMU, connectivity), and its integration into a wide range of vehicles, from partner truck OEMs and UGV manufacturers to our own Mandrill UGV.

What is your Day to Day Mission:

Team Leadership

• Build, lead, and enable a high-performing, flexible, and experienced Autonomy Hardware team.
• Set priorities, ensure delivery quality, and establish best practices for design, documentation, and review.
• Stay hands-on: you challenge the design, review prototypes, and test alongside your team.

Autonomy Hardware Ownership (Compute & Sensorset)

• Ensure that you and your team:
• Own the autonomy compute platform and sensorset architecture: camera, radar, lidar, IMU, and connectivity.
• Define and evolve the network topology of the autonomy kit.
• Benchmark compute platforms and sensors and drive make/buy and vendor decisions.
• Integrate the autonomy hardware kit into various vehicle types: trucks from OEM partners, UGVs from external partners, and our own Mandrill UGV.
• Own mechanical, electrical, and electronic integration: mounting concepts, power, schematics, harness design, and interfaces.
• Design for robustness and demanding environmental conditions (vibration, temperature, EMC).
• Drive the full design process from concept to industrialisation: schematics, harness design, CAD, and simulation.
• Build and run VnV setups from breadboards and yellow boards to vehicle-level testing.
• Ensure designs are manufacturable and scalable: robust design principles, composition, and industrialisation.

Cross-Functional & Cross-Domain Collaboration

• Work hand-in-hand with our Software and Prototyping teams to align hardware with the autonomy stack.
• Collaborate closely with vehicle manufacturers (truck OEMs and UGV partners) as external and internal stakeholders.
• Align with our Air and Sea domains to reuse hardware and leverage economies of scale across Quantum-Systems.
• Partner with central Supply Chain Management across the full lifecycle: early vendor engagement, sourcing, service agreements and delivery schedules.

What you bring to the team:

• Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics or a comparable field.
• 10+ years of hands-on hardware development experience; 2+ years in a leadership or team lead role.
• Background in automotive, defense, or robotics, ideally with experience integrating hardware into vehicles and working with OEMs.
• Strong expertise in sensor technologies (camera, radar, lidar, IMU) and embedded/edge compute platforms.
• Proven VnV experience: breadboards, yellow boards, benchmarking, and network topology design.
• Command of the full hardware design process: robust design for harsh environmental conditions, schematics, harness design, CAD, simulation and industrialisation.
• Experience working with supply chain teams, from early vendor engagement to service agreements and delivery schedules.
• Strong communication and project management skills across engineering, partners and suppliers; comfortable representing hardware topics towards OEMs and internal leadership.
• Fluent in German and English.
• Player-coach mindset: high ownership, pragmatic, and thriving in a fast-paced environment.

Your Benefits:

• Direct impact: See your contributions rapidly integrated from cutting-edge research into industrialized products, flying in the field within short development cycles.
• Culture & Environment: A dynamic, fast-paced, and collaborative startup environment with flat hierarchies, efficient collaboration, and a strong emphasis on continuous learning opportunities.
• Work-life Balance: We offer flexible work schedules, and 30 days of paid vacation each year to support your personal and professional life.
• Lunch Benefit: We promote healthy eating and the well-being of our employees with a monthly lunch budget.
• Health & Wellness: We support your physical well-being with a company-subsidized eGym Wellpass membership, giving you access to thousands of gyms and sports facilities.