Hardware Engineering Manager

About Rocky Talkie

Rocky Talkie launched in 2019 with its signature product, a backcountry radio made for climbers and skiers. Since then, Rocky Talkie has launched multiple best-in-class products and has grown quickly in the handheld radio industry. We are committed to making easy-to-use, durable, high-performance products for the backcountry and to supporting our customers. Rocky Talkie has a rapidly growing base of happy customers in North America and recently expanded to the EU. We design our products for use in extreme conditions, and our radios have been adopted by a wide variety of outdoor enthusiasts and commercial applications. We have a small, passionate, and highly motivated team with a deep understanding of our customers and outdoor communications. We would love your help in bringing Rocky Talkie to a new generation of customers.

Our team is driven every day by the belief that better communication in the backcountry will save lives. As part of this mission, we donate $2 per radio sold to search-and-rescue teams across the country.

The Opportunity

We are seeking an entrepreneurial-minded, highly creative engineering leader to join our team. In this role, you will lead the design, development, and manufacturing of products at Rocky Talkie. We are excited to bring our simple, rugged, and activity-focused design principles to a variety of new products to improve safety in adventure sports and inject new ideas into an old and outdated 2-way radio industry. We are seeking a leader who can guide our company through the full product development cycle with a hands-on approach. We are looking for someone eager to take our engineering team to the next level by leading architecture decisions, driving process improvements, recruiting talent, and forming strong partnerships with manufacturers. The role is in person, 4 days a week, in San Francisco.

You’ll work directly with leadership, engineering, product, and development partners to bring the product vision to life. This role is best suited to a passionate, experienced engineering leader with a proven track record of leading major consumer electronics projects from concept to mass production. We are looking for someone who still gets their hands dirty with technical work and who loves working with a small team. As Rocky Talkie continues to scale up, growth opportunities are abundant, and excellence is recognized and rewarded.

Responsibilities:

• Coordinate engineering efforts between engineering disciplines (Mechanical, Electrical, Firmware, Manufacturing) for new product development. 
• Function as a systems architect for new products, leveraging multi-domain expertise to resolve cross-functional design challenges.
• Work collaboratively with operations on sustaining efforts for existing products currently shipping in high volume.
• Demonstrated experience leading products through architecture, prototyping, EVT/DVT/PVT, certification, NPI, ramp, and sustaining engineering.
• Ensure the development process results in designs that meet product and cost requirements.
• Form strong partnerships with domestic and international suppliers and manufacturing partners. The candidate should be comfortable working with development partners across the ODM, JDM, and CM spectrum and be deeply familiar with working with Asian supply chains.
• Be available to coordinate efforts with overseas employees and manufacturing partners.
• Work closely with the product team to create engineering design, validation, and reliability criteria for new products in development.
• Mentor engineers in best practices, work prioritization, and internal documentation.
• Recruit and manage a mix of full-time and contract engineering talent to help scale our growing needs.
• Work cross-functionally with other department heads to accomplish company strategic goals.
• Work with a small team and cultivate a people-first environment.

Experience

Required

• 8+ yrs experience in the development of outdoor/wearable consumer electronic devices, preferably in high volume (>100ku/yr).
• 3+ years of engineering management experience managing multi-disciplinary teams
• BS/MS/PhD in mechanical or electrical engineering, or equivalent technical degree
• Experience with Asian manufacturing and ODM/JDM/CM relationships
• Experience with RF devices (VHF, UHF, BT desired)
• Experience developing products subject to RF, EMC, safety, environmental, and international regulatory requirements.
• Experience with rugged waterproof devices (IP67 or greater)
• Self-motivated, organized, process-oriented, and strong work ethic

Desired:

• Cross-domain engineering experience
• Start-up or small company experience
• Management experience in fast scaling environments
• Acoustic device experience
• HAM experience/interest

Why Join Rocky Talkie

You'll have a meaningful influence on how a growing outdoor brand reaches and serves its customers. This role offers the opportunity to help scale a category-leading company, improve how teams work together, and contribute to a mission rooted in safety, performance, and respect for the people who rely on our gear.

Benefits

• Healthcare Plan (Medical, Dental, and Vision)
• Retirement Plan with Matching
• Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick, and Holidays)
• Paid Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)
• Paid Short Term & Long Term Disability
• Performance-Based Bonus
• And of course, plenty of Rocky Talkie gear to fuel your next adventure!

Salary Range: $200,000 – $230,000 annually, plus eligibility for a performance-based bonus. Final compensation will depend on experience, skills, and alignment with the role. We offer health insurance, short term/long term disability, 401K matching, PTO and more!

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. We anticipate accepting applications until September 18, 2026, though the position may close earlier if a strong candidate is identified. Applicants are not required to disclose their age or dates of schooling in their resumes.