Lead IoT Hardware Development

Company: Akvo Atmospheric Water Systems Pvt. Ltd. Location: Chennai (Thirumudivakkam factory) · on-site Reports to: Head of R&T / CEO Function: Engineering — IoT & Embedded Hardware Experience: 5–8 years CTC: ₹8–10 LPA , based on experience — plus ESOP for the right person, and a front-row seat on the water-independence thesis.

About Akvo Akvo builds atmospheric water generators — machines that pull drinking water out of air — and deploys them as decentralised infrastructure across 14+ countries. Every unit in the field is a connected asset, monitored and managed through Nimbus OS , our IoT telemetry platform (ESP32-class controllers, onboard cellular, GCP cloud). We are not making an appliance.

We are making infrastructure that has to run unattended, outdoors, in everything from arid Gulf heat to tropical humidity — and report the truth about itself, every day, from anywhere on the planet. The Role This is a hands-on technical lead role with a clear runway to own the function. You'll be the person who lives inside the IoT hardware on every Water Block — the PCB, the sensors, the connectivity, the firmware–hardware boundary — and makes it work reliably in the field.

You won't be handed a big team on day one; you'll be the deepest technical hand, working directly with the Head of R&T and the founder, and growing the team and the mandate as the fleet scales. The single most important thing you'll own is data integrity at source — making the machine measure what it claims to measure, provision cleanly, and never lie to the dashboard. What You'll Do Own the IoT hardware day-to-day — mixed-signal PCB design and bring-up, component selection, sensor integration, connectivity (cellular SIM, antenna), and the firmware–hardware interface on ESP32/ARM-class controllers.

Fix measurement at the source — sensor selection, accuracy and calibration (flow, level, energy, RH, temperature), board provisioning, and a clean unique Board-ID lifecycle. When the dashboard reads wrong, you trace it back to the board and fix it there. Drive field reliability — run electronics-level failure analysis and a tight RMA → root-cause → design-fix loop with deployments worldwide; harden boards for outdoor, dusty, humid, power-unstable conditions.

Work the factory floor — partner with the Chennai factory on design-for-manufacture and test (end-of-line test jigs, ICT/FCT), so boards are buildable, testable, and field-serviceable at scale. Own the electronics BOM — sourcing, second-sourcing critical parts, and sensible cost-down without compromising field life. Grow into the lead — as the fleet and team scale, take on more architecture ownership and build the IoT hardware team under you.

What You Bring 5–8 years in embedded / IoT hardware, with real hands-on PCB and bring-up experience (not just management). Solid mixed-signal PCB design and embedded systems work (ESP32 / STM32 / ARM Cortex-class). Working knowledge of cellular IoT connectivity (onboard SIM, NB-IoT / LTE-M / 2G fallback) and cloud telemetry pipelines (MQTT, GCP or AWS IoT).

Genuine depth in sensor integration and calibration — you understand why a sensor reads wrong in the field and how to engineer it not to. Experience with products that actually shipped and ran in the real world, and the judgement that comes from debugging them after deployment. Exposure to DFM/DFT and manufacturing, ideally alongside an in-house factory.

Degree in Electronics / Electrical / Embedded Engineering, or equivalent demonstrated capability. Strong Pluses Background in HVAC, refrigeration, cold-chain, energy metering, or similar electromechanical systems — AWG is, at heart, controlled refrigeration plus condensate management. Familiarity with compliance regimes (CE, FCC, BIS) for connected electrical equipment.

Hardware-hardening experience for harsh outdoor environments. Why This Role Matters The hardware you own is the difference between a fleet we can trust and a fleet we have to guess about. Get the measurement and the reliability right at the board, and everything downstream — billing, service, customer trust, the entire connected-asset thesis — works.

This is a role where one sharp engineer can change the trajectory of the whole company, and grow with it. Akvo Atmospheric Water Systems Pvt. Ltd. · akvosphere.com