Head of Sensing
Tacit · San Francisco
- On site
- Fulltime
- San Francisco
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Subject: Interested in the Head of Sensing role at Tacit
Hi Taylor — I came across the Head of Sensing opening and wanted to reach out directly. I've spent the last few years doing exactly this kind of work, and Tacit stood out because…
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About the role
About Tacit
We are an early-stage, deep tech startup based in San Francisco, developing innovative hardware that rethinks human-computer interaction. We are backed by General Catalyst, Khosla Ventures, and Greylock Partners, with a founding team from Stanford, BrainGate, Oculus, and Tesla. While we can’t reveal too much just yet, our team is tackling cutting-edge engineering challenges to bring revolutionary products to life.
About the role
Our core sensing technology has been validated, and we are now transitioning from research prototypes to a consumer-ready product.
We are hiring a Head of Sensing to own the sensing stack end-to-end: modality, system architecture, signal acquisition and conditioning, and the interface into our ML pipeline. This person will lead the sensing organization, set the multi-generation sensing roadmap, and partner closely with ML, hardware, firmware, and product to ship a sensing system that is performant, manufacturable, and power-efficient in a consumer wearable form factor.
This is one of the most technically defining hires on the hardware side of the company. You will report directly to the CTO and sit on the engineering leadership team.
What you'll do
Own the sensing system architecture end-to-end.
Set the multi-generation sensing roadmap — define what each hardware generation must prove, and how the sensing subsystem evolves from current prototype units through closed beta to consumer launch.
Own the sensing KPIs — SNR, power, thermal, repeatability across units and users — and drive the architecture choices needed to hit them.
Partner with the ML team on the signal-to-model interface: what the model needs from the system, where to spend bits and power, and how to co-design hardware and model for product-level performance in a wearable form factor.
Lead and grow the sensing team, composed of both electrical engineers, sensors specialists, and data scientists.
Drive R&D on novel sensor designs and modalities — explore, prototype, and de-risk new sensing approaches that could define future hardware generations.
Advance multimodal signal integration, fusing complementary sensing channels into a coherent system that maximizes information delivered to the model.
Develop new SNR and signal-quality measures to rigorously quantify system performance and guide architecture decisions.
Partner with the Head of Hardware on integration, EVT/DVT/PVT, DFM/DFT for the sensing subsystem, and with CMs/ODMs on manufacturability.
Own regulatory readiness for the sensing subsystem in partnership with hardware.
Communicate sensing tradeoffs clearly to the rest of the company — what we are giving up, what we are gaining, and why.
Requirements
10+ years of experience designing sensing systems. Wearables, EMG, accelerometers, UWB, mmWave, bioimpedance, ultrasound, or comparable domains are all relevant.
Track record of taking a sensing architecture from research prototype through mass production.
Experience leading and growing technical teams (3–10 engineers), including hiring senior ICs and managers and managing through other managers as the team scales.
Strong systems intuition. Comfortable trading off across sensing, mechanical, thermal, power, and ML constraints, and explaining the tradeoffs to non-technical stakeholders.
Demonstrated ability to co-design hardware with an ML or perception pipeline — you have shipped a product where the model and the sensor were designed together, not over the wall.
High ownership in a small-team environment. You can set direction without a large org behind you and operate effectively when the spec is still moving. You are not afraid to do IC work, instead, you deeply enjoy getting into the weeds.
Strong candidates may have
Experience with non-invasive biosignal sensing (EMG, bioimpedance, or comparable modalities).
Experience with head-worn or ear-worn form factors and the ergonomic and thermal constraints they impose.
PhD in EE, applied physics, or a related field.
Compensation Range
$190,000 - $230,000/yr
Benefits
Competitive equity package
Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance
Company size: 20-30 people
Unlimited PTO
Visa sponsorship
4% 401k matching