Opal Electronics — Electrical Engineer (formerly Senior Software Engineer)

Type: Full-time | On-site | San Francisco, CA Compensation: $160,000–$250,000 base + Competitive Equity Hiring count: 1 Visa sponsorship: Yes — H-1B, OPT (relocation also supported) Reports to: Not specified on the role page (final round includes a co-founder)

About Opal Electronics

Opal Electronics is a Series B consumer-electronics company, backed by OpenAI as an investor, building AI-native consumer devices. It started as a webcam company and has evolved into an R&D-driven hardware company: rather than iterating on one device or product line, the team has the runway and creative control to explore what is genuinely possible in AI hardware, with each device potentially different from the last — some mass-produced, others smaller, more experimental runs. Small and hands-on, with a real in-house prototyping lab.

Founded: 2021 | Team size: ~22 in SF (Series B, 11–50) | Total funding: Not disclosed (Series B; OpenAI investor) Industry: Consumer Tech / AI hardware Website: https://op.al/ Office: San Francisco, CA (fully on-site)

Why Candidates Should Join

• OpenAI-backed AI hardware at zero-to-one: Series B with runway and creative control to explore what's genuinely possible in AI hardware — not iterate on a single product line.
• True end-to-end ownership: A small hardware team of five to six inside a ~22-person company, with an in-house prototyping lab. You own problems end-to-end rather than a narrow lane.
• Balanced pace and strong benefits: Startup-fast but explicitly not 996 — the client described it as balanced. Medical, dental, and vision 100% covered, 4–5 weeks PTO, free lunch (and dinner when working late).

Intake Call Summary

• No intake transcript was provided. An intake video exists on the Contrario role page but was not transcribed; the points below are drawn from the role body and outreach template, which read as intake notes.
• Pre-revenue, focused on launching its first product and building out its core team this year.
• Hardware team of five to six; software team of four; ~22 people total in SF.
• The scope is deliberately broad — the client wants someone who does "a bit of everything" and owns problems end-to-end, not a specialist in a narrow lane. Curiosity and a builder's instinct matter as much as pedigree.
• Strongest backgrounds: small form-factor hardware and consumer products. Adjacent categories can fit depending on specifics — including some medical devices and even consumer kitchen hardware (e.g., grills).
• Pace is startup-fast but explicitly not 996; described as balanced.
• Fully on-site in SF, in part because the team demos physical products and prototypes in person.

The Role

A hands-on electrical engineering role on a small hardware team (five to six people) inside a lean, flat, fast-moving company with an in-house prototyping lab. The engineer does a bit of everything — broad scope, end-to-end ownership — rather than operating within a narrow, specialized lane.

What You'll Be Doing

• Hands-on electrical engineering across small form-factor, AI-native consumer devices
• Broad end-to-end ownership on a small hardware team — a bit of everything rather than a narrow slice
• Rapid prototyping and iteration in an in-house lab, from concept toward production
• Close collaboration with software and the rest of the hardware team in a zero-to-one environment

Tech stack: Not specified on the role page

Requirements

• 3-12 YOE electrical engineering
• Small form-factor + consumer products
• Broad, do-everything scope
• Startup-ready, high ownership
• Curiosity + hands-on building
• SF, 5 days on-site

Green Flags

• Small form-factor hardware and consumer-products experience
• Strong personal projects, tinkering, and hands-on building
• Startup or small-team background with broad scope
• High autonomy, ownership, curiosity, and comfort with ambiguity

Red Flags

• Large-machinery or industrial-only backgrounds (soft signal, not a hard no)
• Long big-company tenure (e.g. 4 to 6+ years) where scope has been narrow
• Candidates without evidence they can operate broadly in a lean startup

Role Details

• Salary — $160,000–$250,000
• Equity — Competitive equity
• On-site policy — Fully on-site, SF, 5 days/week
• Visa sponsorship — Yes (H-1B, OPT); relocation supported
• Employment type — Full-time
• Location — San Francisco, CA

Screening Questions

None specified on the role page.

Interview Process

Stage 1 — Pending Approval — Candidates awaiting initial approval. Stage 2 — Screen with HM — Hiring-manager screen. Stage 3 — Chat with a Hardware Engineer — Conversation with a hardware engineer. Stage 4 — On-site Technical Interview — On-site technical. Stage 5 — Product Demo — Candidate product demo. Stage 6 — Final On-site — Co-founder (behavioral / culture fit) plus another engineer (technical-leaning discussion), back to back, on-site. Stage 7 — Offer Extended — Offer has been extended. Stage 8 — Candidate Hired — Candidate accepts and starts.