Common scents inc Hardware Engineer Alachua, FL · Full time

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In 2025, General Sense quietly built the world's first real-time detection of the chemical world from neural activity using this very specific brain signal. We’re making a Nose-Computer Interface (NCI) that reads a dog's sense of smell in real time and turns it into machine-readable intelligence. We implant surface electrodes on the olfactory bulb of dogs, decode what they smell at the neural level, and classify it with AI faster than the dog can even react. No behavioral training. No handler interpretation. Just raw chemical data streaming off a biological sensor that evolution spent 50 million years perfecting. We’re finalizing some research questions in rat models before implanting our first dog in October. The founding team built the underlying science from a DARPA-funded lab at NYU. We are building the chemical lobe for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), and we are the only company on Earth collecting this data at this massive scale.

Hardware Engineer

We’re hiring a full-time Hardware Engineer to build and debug mission-critical hardware.

This is a hands-on role for someone who can work across mechanics, electronics, prototyping, embedded systems, and bench debugging. We value depth, but we put even more value on range. If you’ve worn many hats, built real systems, and developed strong engineering judgment over time, we want to hear from you.

You’ll work closely with a senior engineer who communicates primarily in Russian or Ukrainian, so strong technical communication in one of those languages is required.

What you’ll do

• Design, prototype, and improve electromechanical systems.
• Work across mechanical design, materials, electronics, embedded bring-up, and system debugging.
• Read and contribute to schematics, CAD models, drawings, and PCB workflows.
• Assemble, solder, test, and debug hardware, including fine-pitch SMD boards.
• Use lab tools to diagnose failures and validate performance.
• Support rapid prototyping with 3D printing and related fabrication methods.
• Contribute to embedded development on platforms such as STM32, nRF52, and iCE40 where needed.

Required qualifications

• Professional proficiency in Russian or Ukrainian.
• Strong hands-on experience designing and building mechanical devices or systems.
• Good understanding of materials and practical hardware tradeoffs.
• Ability to read technical drawings, electronic schematics, and engineering documentation.
• Experience with CAD software.
• Experience with 3D printing.
• Hands-on electronics experience: soldering, PCB work, and assembly/debugging with small SMD components.
• Ability to work independently, make decisions, and communicate well in a team.
• Willingness to learn new tools and skills as needed.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience programming microcontrollers.
• Strong experience with STM32 in VS Code and/or STM32CubeIDE.
• Familiarity with nRF52 development, including bring-up, flashing, and debugging.
• Experience with iCE40 FPGA or similar platforms.
• Solid grounding in SPI, I2C, UART, GPIO, clocks, reset behavior, and power sequencing.
• Experience with board bring-up and firmware-hardware integration.
• Familiarity with BLE or other low-power wireless systems, especially Nordic platforms.
• Experience with hardware for neural recordings, especially imec Neuropixels.

What we value

We care a lot about experience. Not resume polish. Not narrow specialization. We’re looking for someone who has built, debugged, adapted, and kept going when the work got messy. Versatility, judgment, and hands-on capability matter here. If your background is broad, practical, and hard-earned, you may be a strong fit.