Hardware Development Engineer, Advanced Technology Group

About the Company 

The mining industry has steadily become worse at finding new ore deposits, requiring >10X more capital to make discoveries compared to 30 years ago. The easy-to-find, near-surface deposits have largely been found, and the industry has chronically under-invested in new exploration technology, relying on the manual techniques of yesteryear – even as demand accelerates for copper, lithium, and other metals to build electric vehicles, renewable energy, and data centers.

KoBold builds AI models for mineral exploration and deploys those models—alongside our novel sensors—to guide decisions on KoBold-owned-and-operated exploration programs. In the six years since founding, KoBold has become by far both the largest independent mineral exploration company and the largest exploration technology developer. Our data scientists and software engineers, who come from leading technology companies, jointly lead exploration programs with our renowned exploration geologists.

KoBold has proven its first discovery with materially less capital than the industry average and found one of the best copper deposits ever discovered: the copper is far more concentrated than the global average of copper mines, and this asset alone is expected to generate meaningful revenue for decades. KoBold has a portfolio of more than 60 other projects, each of which has the potential for another high-quality discovery.

KoBold is privately held; investors include institutional asset managers T. Rowe Price and Canada Pension Plan Investments; technology venture capitalists Andreessen Horowitz, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, BOND Capital, Durable Capital, StepStone, and Standard Investments; and natural resources companies Equinor, BHP, and Mitsubishi.

This role will drive the design, development, and deployment of a next-generation hardware technology that will transform how KoBold collects and interprets exploration data. This role is ideal for a mechanical engineer who thrives at the intersection of science, engineering, and data and is excited about bringing new technology to life. 

In this role, you will lead the full technical lifecycle of a critical new hardware system: from concept and prototyping through validation, automation, manufacturing, and deployment in the field. You will work closely with our data scientists, engineers, and geoscientists to design instrumentation that produces rich, high-quality datasets, feeding the machine learning models that drive KoBold’s mineral exploration around the world.  You will be a key member of a hardware development team and contributor to various novel hardware projects.  

You will also help to build the hardware development discipline and organization at Kobold, contributing to a culture and process that will make our engineering efforts innovative, scalable and repeatable. You will report to the Head of Hardware and join a world-class team of data scientists, engineers and geoscientists developing novel technologies to accelerate the discovery of critical minerals for batteries and electrification.  

• Lead the technical development of a novel, automated sensing and imaging system from concept and prototype to deployment of multiple systems in remote field sites.  Coordinate with and orchestrate internal and external resources across hardware and software engineering to deliver.  
• Lead system architecture definition, navigating technical tradeoffs through rigorous research and analysis and balancing cost, complexity, and timeline.  
• Collaborate with KoBold's data systems and exploration teams to integrate the new data stream into KoBold's proprietary data system and ensure usability for exploration projects.
• Build a deep understanding of mineral exploration science and operations to ensure the system and data generated meet user needs and field requirements. 
• Build partnerships, source, and contract with service providers and vendors to develop hardware solutions that solve KoBold exploration needs.
• Create effective product plans and mechanical, mechatronic and automation designs - from concept through prototyping and production. 
• Contribute engineering expertise, analysis, and design to various hardware projects across Kobold.
• Help develop Kobold’s hardware development tools and processes.

A great Hardware Development Engineer candidate will have:

• A successful track record of developing and deploying complex state-of-the-art automated scientific equipment. 
• Experience deploying and supporting complex equipment to remote sites including commissioning, validation, training and monitoring.  
• The ability to simultaneously and gracefully wear many hats including technical lead, project manager, product manager, and hands on in-the-weeds engineer. 
• Excellent communication skills for a highly interdisciplinary workplace.

Technical skills, including extensive experience with:

• Leading teams to execute end-to-end technical product development from concept through testing and deployment. 
• Physical measurement and data analysis systems. 
• Applying scientific knowledge to identify and prototype emerging technologies.
• Automation, systems integration and data acquisition.
• Mechanical engineering, CAD, analysis, prototyping.
• Vendor selection and management.
• 3rd party contractor selection and management.

Work practices and motivation:

• Ability and desire to take ownership and responsibility of large projects.
• Enjoys constantly learning such that you are driving insights and innovations.
• Ability to explain technical problems to and collaborate on solutions with domain experts who aren’t hardware experts.
• Excitement about joining a fast-growing early-stage company, comfort with a dynamic work environment, and eagerness to take on a range of responsibilities.
• Ability to independently prioritize multiple tasks effectively.
• Solutions oriented, positive, and collaborative.

It is also helpful but not required to have experience with:

• Product management for scientific hardware.
• Optics, electronics, and instrumentation.
• Intellectual curiosity and eagerness to learn about all aspects of mineral exploration, particularly in the geology domain. Enjoys constantly learning such that you are driving insights through using our tools in exploration and willing to work directly with geologists in the field.
• Ability to explain technical problems to and collaborate on solutions with domain experts who are not hardware engineers. A strong communicator who enjoys working with colleagues across the company.
• Excitement about joining a fast-growing early-stage company, comfort with a dynamic work environment, and eagerness to take on an evolving range of responsibilities.
• Keen not just to build cool technology, but to figure out what technical product to build to best achieve the business objectives of the company.
• A valid passport and willingness to travel to observe our work at Mingomba or at an exploration site around the world. Travel for this role typically does not exceed __ trips per year. 

KoBold Metals is an equal opportunity workplace and an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunities for people of any race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, or veteran status.

This position is Full-time Exempt

The US base salary range for this full-time exempt position is $150,000 - $190,000. In addition, KoBold offers company equity.

Location: San Francisco Bay Area.  Must be able to work out of the Berkeley, CA office on any given day of the week.  

Travel: Must be able to travel domestically and internationally, 20-30% time.  Travel may include visits to remote field sites.  Work trips may extend to 3+ weeks.