---
title: 'Senior Technical Recruiter - Hardware Engineering at 1X'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-technical-recruiter-hardware-engineering-1x-san-carlos-dqkzcsth8yhk'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-08'
---

# Senior Technical Recruiter - Hardware Engineering at 1X

- **Company:** [1X](https://feeny.ai/companies/1x)
- **Location:** San Carlos, CA
- **Compensation:** $110k–$186k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-06-16
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-08
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/fe2aaee8-a1d7-48a9-9344-fa593f56d7ac/application

**Skills:** Full-cycle recruiting, Talent sourcing, Stakeholder management, Data-driven recruitment, Robotics, Advanced manufacturing, Aerospace, Automotive, Semiconductor, Hardware-focused industries, Systems-level product development, Startup environments, Talent market mapping, Interview frameworks

> The Senior Technical Recruiter - Mechanical will build the engineering organization for 1X's humanoid robot NEO. This role involves full-cycle recruiting for mechanical, electrical, and systems engineering roles, partnering with hiring managers to attract top talent and improve hiring processes.

## Job description

## About 1X

We're building humanoid robots that work in home - doing the chores, handling the tasks, and giving people their time back. Simple, but it's not.

To do this right, we have to solve robotics, AI, manufacturing - at the same time, at scale, in a form factor that has to be safe enough to live with your family. If you're inspired by this, you'll thrive here. We've been at this since 2014 and we're at the point where the hard problems are behind us and the hard work is in front of us.

NEO is our flagship - a home robot designed to move, learn, and operate in the real world alongside real people. We're not demoing it - we're shipping it. We're excited to meet you, if this excites you.

If you've spent your career working on problems that matter and want to see them actually reach the world - this is that moment. We're scaling, we're hiring with intention, and we need people who want to build something that will genuinely change how humans spend their time - safely creating abundance for all.

## About the Team

The Talent team builds the organization that builds NEO. We partner with leaders across AI, software, hardware, manufacturing, and the business to hire the people on 1X's critical path, and every hire we make shapes how fast robots reach homes.

## Your Charter

The mission of this role is to build the hardware engineering teams that design NEO: mechanical, electrical, actuator and motor, systems, and test engineering. You will partner with hardware leaders to find niche specialists, often people who are happy where they are and not looking, and bring them to 1X. This role owns the teams that design the robot; a separate recruiter owns the manufacturing engineering teams that take those designs into production. You report to the Lead Hardware Recruiter (the Head of Talent until that seat is filled).

## Key Outcomes

- Deliver hardware engineering hires across mechanical, electrical, actuator, systems, and test roles against a monthly hiring target set with your manager.
- Build sourced pipelines for niche hardware skills where few qualified people exist, such as actuators, motors, transmissions, and power electronics.
- Partner with hardware leaders on what each role must deliver, and reshape specs, levels, or target pools when the market says the original plan will not work.
- Drive search health with funnel data, finding where searches stall and fixing the constraint before it costs us a candidate.
- Close passive hardware engineers through competing offers and relocation decisions, with an honest and fast candidate experience.

## Key Competencies

- Understands hardware engineering well enough to probe what a candidate actually designed, built, tested, and shipped.
- Finds talent in adjacent industries (electric vehicles, aerospace, consumer electronics, medical devices) when the robotics pool runs dry.
- Distinguishes the top 10% of hardware engineers from the top 40%, and can explain why to a hiring manager.
- Earns credibility with hardware leaders and changes their minds with evidence.
- Owns outcomes end to end, with urgency and follow-through across many searches at once.

## Minimum Requirements

- 4+ years of full-cycle recruiting for mechanical, electrical, or other hardware engineering roles.
- Proven track record of hiring senior hardware engineers who were not actively looking.
- Experience partnering with hardware leaders on technical interview processes and candidate calibration.
- Demonstrated ability to run many searches end to end and manage them with funnel data.

## Preferred Skills

- Experience recruiting in robotics, automotive, aerospace, consumer electronics, or medical devices.
- Familiarity with hardware product development from prototype through production.
- Experience closing candidates who need to relocate.
- Experience using AI tools to accelerate sourcing, talent mapping, or market research.

What does a successful 1X Team Member look like Team members at 1X who thrive here are builders. They move fast, own their work completely, and treat time like it's the one thing you can't get back - because it is. They say what they mean, finish what they start, and hold themselves to a standard before anyone has to ask. We push each other to be better, and we do it with honesty and respect.

## Compensation Range

$110,000 - $186,000 per year

## Benefits

- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
- Generous paid time off, company holidays, and parental leave
- 401(k) plan with company match (100% on the first 3% of contributions, 50% on the next 2%)
- Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA) options
- Commuter benefits (transit and parking)
- Short-term and long-term disability, and life insurance
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for mental health, financial, and personal support
- Onsite snacks and catered lunches

## Equal Opportunity Employer

1X is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, marital status, medical condition, genetic information, disability, military or veteran status, justice system impact, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.

## About 1X

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: 1X develops general-purpose humanoid robots for home and industrial environments, combining AI and hardware to automate everyday tasks.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B funding stage)
- **Headquarters**: Palo Alto, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2015
- **Founders**: Bernt Øyvind Børnich

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Robotics Engineering / Artificial Intelligence
- **Target customers**: B2C (home consumers via NEO) and B2B/Enterprise (industrial tasks via EVE)
- **Mission**: Build a truly abundant society through general-purpose robots capable of performing any kind of work autonomously, allowing humans to focus on what they love.

## Products & Services
- **NEO**: A friendly home humanoid robot designed to integrate seamlessly into daily life and handle chores. Currently in early access after the NEO Beta (2024) and NEO Gamma (2025) iterations. [1x.tech](https://www.1x.tech/about)
- **EVE**: A wheeled industrial humanoid deployed in factories worldwide for autonomous industrial tasks. [1x.tech](https://www.1x.tech/about)
- **Revo1**: A high-torque-to-weight drive servo motor inspired by human tendon actuation, used in 1X robots. [1x.tech](https://www.1x.tech/about)
- **1X World Model**: A physics-grounded video model that enables NEO to learn autonomously from text or voice commands. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/1x-technologies)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of $169M as of mid-2026, with a $100M Series B led by EQT Ventures in January 2024. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/1x-technologies)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: EQT Ventures (lead), plus other investors in secondary rounds. Acquired Kind Humanoid in January 2025. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/1x-technologies)
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - Headcount grew 121.2% YoY to 394 employees. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/1x-technologies)
  - Full-scale production of NEO began in Hayward, CA, with capacity to build 10,000 units per year. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/1x-technologies)
  - New Palo Alto HQ consolidated teams from Sunnyvale and Moss, Norway. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/1x-technologies)
  - Appointed Mohi Khansari as Head of Robot Learning (January 2026) and Vikram Kothari as VP of Operations (August 2025). [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/1x-technologies)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Vertical integration**: Owns manufacturing in Hayward (U.S.) and Moss (Norway), controlling the full production stack.
- **Proprietary hardware**: Revo1 servo motor offers world-leading torque-to-weight ratio, enabling flexible, low-gear-ratio robotics.
- **AI-first approach**: The 1X World Model allows robots to learn physical tasks via simulation and self-supervised video prediction, reducing need for manual programming.
- **Early home deployment**: NEO is one of the first humanoid robots entering private homes, giving 1X real-world data and feedback loops.

## Strategic Focus
- Scaling NEO production and expanding early access to more households across the U.S.
- Enhancing AI capabilities through the World Model and reinforcement learning (e.g., Redwood mobility controller).
- Building a robust supply chain and service network for home robots.
- Continuing enterprise deployments of EVE while shifting emphasis to the consumer market.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Fast-paced, mission-driven environment focused on building humanoid robots that coexist with humans. Strong emphasis on AI, hardware, and real-world impact.
- **Work model**: Likely on-site for hardware and AI roles (multiple offices in Palo Alto, San Carlos, Sunnyvale, Hayward, and Moss). Some software roles may offer flexibility.
- **Notable perks**: Opportunity to work on cutting-edge robotics and AI, contribute to a product (NEO) that is already entering homes, and be part of a rapidly scaling company with strong funding.
- **Engineering culture**: High concentration of talent from Tesla, Apple, Google, and SpaceX. Active research in biomechanics, reinforcement learning, and simulation. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/1x-technologies)
- **Open roles**: 65+ positions listed on the careers page across AI, hardware, software, operations, and manufacturing. [1x.tech](https://www.1x.tech/careers)

## Sources
1. [1x.tech](https://www.1x.tech/about)
2. [1x.tech](https://www.1x.tech/careers)
3. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/1x-technologies)

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