---
title: 'Hardware Test Engineer at Afference Inc'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-test-engineer-afference-inc-cleveland-ycjtg7tjjrz2'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-06'
---

# Hardware Test Engineer at Afference Inc

- **Company:** Afference Inc
- **Location:** Cleveland, OH
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-07-15
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-06
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/afference/0bda8d1b-91fb-4999-ac98-3fb172f791d8

## Job description

## About Our Work

We are neuroscientists who build ground-breaking technology for the spatial computing era. We stimulate nerves to create artificial tactile sensations, creating new, more meaningful connections to the user for notifications, 3D digital content, physical AI, health information, and beyond. Our first products will be mobile, wearable devices that stream haptic data from multiple digital sources to create meaningful sensations of touch.

## What You'll Be Doing

The Hardware Test Engineer is responsible for supporting the development, validation, and optimization of wearable haptic technology products through comprehensive hardware testing and analysis. This role develops and executes hardware verification and validation protocols, performs system-level troubleshooting, and ensures product performance, reliability, and quality throughout the product development lifecycle.

## Key Responsibilities

- Develop, maintain, and execute hardware validation and verification test plans for wearable haptic devices and subsystems
- Perform functional, electrical, environmental, reliability, and system-level testing on prototypes and production hardware
- Diagnose hardware failures, identify root causes, and collaborate with development teams to implement corrective actions
- Design and improve testing methodologies, automation strategies, and troubleshooting procedures to support product quality and development efficiency
- Work closely with Electrical Engineering, Firmware, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing, and Product teams to align testing priorities with project timelines and business objectives
- Support vendor evaluation and component qualification activities through technical testing and performance analysis
- Document test procedures, test results, defect reports, and engineering recommendations in a clear and organized manner
- Analyze test data and provide technical recommendations to senior leadership and cross-functional stakeholders
- Assist in defining quality standards and validation criteria for wearable hardware systems
- Ensure compliance with internal engineering standards, safety requirements, and applicable regulatory considerations
- Contribute technical leadership in hardware testing initiatives affecting product execution and organizational strategy
- Other duties as assigned

## What You'll Need for This Position

Education

- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related technical field

Must-Have Skills & Experience

- 2–5 years of experience in hardware development, hardware testing, engineering validation, or related technology environments
- Proficient in troubleshooting electronic systems, embedded hardware, or wearable technology platforms
- Familiarity with lab equipment such as oscilloscopes, multimeters, logic analyzers, power supplies, and environmental testing equipment
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with exceptional attention to detail.
- Ability to work independently on complex technical objectives with guidance from senior leadership
- Experience with haptic systems, wearable electronics, sensors, embedded systems, or consumer hardware products.
- Exposure to automated test systems, scripting, or data analysis tools
- Experience supporting EVT/DVT/PVT phases of hardware product development
- Knowledge of reliability testing, failure analysis, and manufacturing test methodologies
- Ability to evaluate emerging technologies and apply them effectively
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
- Excellent communication skills

## What's in It for You

Work closely with cutting-edge technology. You'll be hands-on with novel neural haptic technology that's defining the future of spatial computing and immersive experiences. Work in a close-knit, startup environment. We strive to create an intellectually stimulating and collegial working environment. Our energy for inventing, creating, and learning spans work and play: we have regular happy hours, plan field trips, play games, play music, and generally have a good time. An early employee experience. We are an early-stage deep tech startup company that requires all members to contribute across the entire business. On any given day, there will be new challenges and new demands to propel the business forward. We expect all employees to be able to dive into any new challenges that present themselves, even if they are beyond the job description above. If your are driven by the desire to see success and to create new tech not seen by the world previously, you will fit right in to the team's culture.

## Compensation & Benefits

Afference is committed to providing the sense of touch for the evolution of the human connection to technology and the future of the digital experience. We are leading this effort through deep science and technology, which provides unique experiences compared to classical haptic technologies. Our lean team of experts demands a high level of excellence but can compensate with the commensurate upside potential of an early-growth startup in a high-growth sector of extended reality. Compensation offers depend on skills, qualifications, and experience, and range between: $100,000 to $110,000 per year at 100% FTE Benefits include:

- Medical, dental vision, life, STD, FSA, additional company perks
- Equity incentives
- Self-managed PTO

Location: On-site; Cleveland, OH office

## About Afference Inc

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Afference builds wearable neural interfaces using neural haptics to create artificial touch for digital interactions, enabling users to feel sensations from a ring-sized chip.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A – venture round of $15.3M closed December 2025)
- **Headquarters**: Boulder, Colorado, United States (with additional hub in Cleveland, Ohio)
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Jacob Segil (CEO) and Dustin Tyler (CTO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Computers and Electronics Manufacturing, Neural Interfaces, Wearables, Haptics
- **Target customers**: B2B – Consumer electronics OEMs and big tech companies; B2C – Early adopters of the Afference Ring reference design
- **Mission**: To reimagine how humans connect by allowing people at a distance to feel the depth of connection that comes from combining sight, sound, and touch.

## Products & Services
- **Afference Ring**: A reference design for wearable neural haptics. It is a chip-scale actuator that creates sensations (tingling/buzzing) on the finger and hand without covering the skin, using 5-7x less power than other haptics. Connects via Bluetooth.
- **Phantom Platform**: The underlying neural interface platform (previously called Phantom) that converts digital signals into artificial touch sensations. Enables “referred sensation” – feeling the wearable’s effect away from the device.
- **Phantom Technology Licensing**: Afference’s neural haptics actuator is designed for integration into third-party wearables (rings, watches, surgical robots, teleoperation systems, military radios, etc.).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric (Funding)**: Total funding of $20.55M across four rounds (Pre-Seed $1.5M in Sep 2023, Seed $3.5M in Oct 2024, Grant $200K in Apr 2024, Venture Round $15.3M in Dec 2025)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Hannah Grey VC, Konvoy, Samsung Next, Ohio Third Frontier (grant). Also partners with “many of the biggest consumer electronic OEMs and Big Tech companies.”
- **Growth Signals**: Employee headcount of 19 with +10% monthly growth; awarded CES 2024 Best of Innovation Award; 40+ patents; founders have a track record of 3 exits and $250M in revenue across 10 product lines.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Proprietary neural haptics technology**: Solid-state actuator with no moving parts, chip-scale size, ultra-low power consumption (5-7x less than other haptics).
- **Referred sensation**: Creates feeling away from the wearable, a phenomenon unique to Afference.
- **Deep research roots**: Founders are world experts in neural interfaces (publications in *Nature* and *Science*); Dustin Tyler is a National Academy of Inventors member and chaired professor at Case Western Reserve University.
- **Patent portfolio**: 40+ patents covering medical-grade neuromodulation methods adapted for consumer wearables.

## Strategic Focus
- Current priorities include scaling the microchip from benchtop science to production with consumer OEMs, deploying artificial touch into AI-powered wearables, and building the sensory layer of AI for the next decade.
- Dual-location strategy: Cleveland hub for R&D and manufacturing (leveraging local engineering and manufacturing expertise), Boulder hub for business development, product, and marketing.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Science-first, evidence-based decision-making, long-horizon thinking. The team includes PhD researchers, neural engineers, and experienced hardware/software engineers.
- **Work environment**: Hybrid policy – up to 2 days/week flexible work from home, with meaningful time in labs (Cleveland) or collaborative office (Boulder).
- **Locations**: Two hubs in innovation-friendly US cities: Cleveland, OH (manufacturing & R&D) and Boulder, CO (business & product).
- **Benefits**: Competitive salary, dental, 401k, life insurance, self-managed PTO.
- **Engineering culture**: Grounded in decades of neural interface research; opportunity to bring a novel haptic chip from prototype to mass production; work shaping the future of human-AI interaction.

## Sources
1. [afference.io (homepage)](https://www.afference.io/)
2. [afference.io/careers](https://www.afference.io/careers)
3. [linkedin.com/company/afference-inc](https://www.linkedin.com/company/afference-inc)
4. [afference.io/team](https://www.afference.io/team)
5. [afference.io/news](https://www.afference.io/news)

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