HW Research Engineer

🤖 About Li.fizz Robotics

Li.fizz Robotics is a startup automating commercial kitchens with cloud robotics technology. Since founding in June 2022 we have validated product-market fit, closed our Pre-A round, and are now scaling at a steep pace.

We build proprietary robots and a cloud platform for restaurant owners. Starting with cocktail and highball mixing robots, we are expanding our lineup to frying and cooking robots — all connected through a single cloud system. We design and develop our proprietary PCB Stator motors, firmware, and Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models in-house, growing into a full-stack robotics company.

Our goal is not to sell a single robot. It is to automate over 90% of kitchen operations and build a cloud robotics ecosystem that maximizes operational efficiency for restaurant owners.

We currently partner with about 1,400 stores nationwide, and the number is still growing. Last year alone we recorded over 1,700% annual growth, and in 2025 we were recognized externally with finalist placement at the K-Startup Grand Tournament, Grand Prize at the Lotte Shin Kyuk-ho Entrepreneurship Competition, Grand Prize at the Hanyang University Venture Startup Competition, and TIPS selection — alongside our Pre-A funding round.

In 2026 we begin our global expansion, starting with the U.S. and Singapore. We are looking for teammates to build the future of the kitchen with us.

🔬 Meet the team you will work with

The Li.fizz R&D team is the team that turns Li.fizz from a mere automation solutions company into a full-stack robotics company.

We design and develop core hardware — motors, firmware, drive mechanisms, robot arms — entirely in-house, not outsourced. Our proprietary PCB Stator Motor is currently at the MK.2 prototype stage, and we are also building next-generation kitchen robots based on a 5-axis robot arm that runs on top of our cloud robotics platform. These R&D outputs will become the foundation technology for the humanoid kitchen robots we will build in the future.

The R&D team reports directly to the CTO and runs two tracks simultaneously: short-term production products and long-term next-generation robotics technology. Professor Dongjin Lee (Department of Convergence Electronic Engineering, Hanyang University; former Head of the Samsung ODD Lab; supervising professor for CES 2024 Innovation Award) participates as an external technical advisor.

⚙️ What you will do at Li.fizz

Your primary scope at Li.fizz is [R&D for robot drivetrains, mechanisms, and HW systems].

• PCB Stator Motor development and refinement
  • Design, prototype, and performance-test PCB Stator-based BLDC motors
  • Design ESC (motor driver) circuits and develop control algorithms
  • Iterate design and testing to optimize torque, speed, and efficiency
• Robot arm and drivetrain design and development
  • Design actuators and joint structures for the 5-axis robot arm
  • Design and integrate QDD (Quasi-Direct-Drive) modules
  • Design grippers and end-effectors (including tactile sensor modules)
• Firmware and embedded software development
  • Develop firmware for our proprietary chipsets and MCUs (C/C++)
  • Implement motor control firmware and communication protocols
  • Develop the integration interface with the cloud robotics platform
• Circuit and PCB design
  • Design control boards and power boards
  • PCB artwork and prototype validation
• Prototyping, testing, and transition to mass production
  • Build prototypes, run durability tests, and measure performance
  • Hand off designs to mass production and work with manufacturing partners
• National R&D project execution
  • Execute current and upcoming government R&D projects (small-scale lead programs, Ministry of National Defense joint research, etc.)

🛠 Tools we use at Li.fizz

Below are the work tools you will use to do your job and communicate with the team. You do not need to know all of them in advance — you can learn them after joining, and it is even better if you come in already familiar.

Communication, documentation, and sharing

• Slack — Our internal messenger. Everything from company-wide announcements to team-level work communication happens here.
• Notion — All research notes, design documents, meeting minutes, and handover materials are recorded here.
• GitHub — Source control and collaboration for firmware and embedded code.

Design and development tools

• Altium Designer / Fusion 360 — Circuit design and PCB artwork.
• SolidWorks / Fusion 360 — Mechanical and mechanism design.
• MATLAB / Simulink — Control algorithm design and simulation.
• C / C++ — Our main language for firmware and embedded software.
• Python — Data analysis, automation scripts, and prototyping for some algorithms.

Test and measurement

• Oscilloscopes, multimeters, power supplies, torque meters, and other basic measurement equipment
• 3D printers (FDM and SLA) — available in-house and free to use for prototypes

🧭 Who we are looking for

Li.fizz has three core values for the people we hire.

• Smart & Humble — We move fastest with people who are both smart and have a great attitude.
• Data-Driven — We work with people who question their own intuition and verify with data and experiments to make better decisions.
• Field-First — We work with people who go beyond desktop simulation to build and validate hardware that actually works.

Required qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree or higher in electrical, electronic, mechanical, mechatronics, or robotics engineering (Master's / PhD preferred; undergraduates graduating soon may apply)
• Experience: Any (entry-level applicants welcome)
• Strong understanding of at least one of: circuit design, mechanical design, or firmware development
• Hands-on experience designing, building, and testing your own hardware projects (undergraduate projects, club work, personal projects, etc.)
• Experience prototyping, measuring, and debugging hardware to solve real problems

✨ Even better if

The following are not required, but matching experience will help you adapt faster.

Preferred

• BLDC / PMSM motor control experience (FOC, SVPWM, and similar)
• Research experience in non-traditional motor topologies (PCB Stator, slotless, axial-flux, etc.)
• Design and development experience with collaborative robots, manipulators, or robot arms
• Embedded systems / MCU (STM32, ESP32, etc.) firmware development experience
• Experience using ROS / ROS2
• National R&D project execution experience (TIPS, MOTIE, MND, MSS, etc.)
• Transition to mass production or supplier coordination experience
• A personal portfolio on GitHub / blog / papers / personal projects

🏢 Work conditions

Work environment

• Working hours: 5 days a week (Mon–Fri), 8 hours per day (full-time)
• Flexible hours — outside of the Monday weekly meeting (18:00–20:00) and your team's recurring meetings, you can arrange your commuting hours freely.
• Remote work — we generally encourage working from HQ; remote work is available case-by-case with prior coordination. (HW R&D involves a lot of in-house bench work.)
• Location: 5F, 321-1 Ttukseom-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul — Li.fizz HQ (5-minute walk from Seoul Forest Station and Ttukseom Station)

Compensation

• Employment: Full-time (3-month probation)
• Starting salary: KRW 42,000,000 per year (entry-level)
• Experienced hires: negotiable
• Incentives and stock options granted separately based on performance

🎁 Benefits

Time off & work-life balance

• Unlimited PTO, half-days, and remote work (use freely after pre-coordination)
• Two-week refresh leave at 3 years of service (separate from PTO)
• Quarterly all-hands picnic — every quarter we block out a full weekday to spend time together. It is both team building and time for deeper conversations with colleagues we usually do not sit next to.

Growth support

• Unlimited reimbursement for work-related and self-development books, courses, and conferences
• Full reimbursement for any equipment you need for your role (MacBook Pro, monitor, keyboard, etc.)
• Full reimbursement for parts and prototype costs needed for R&D, after internal approval
• Performance-based stock options — granted from your 6th month based on performance reviews
• Global travel opportunities — overseas travel to the U.S., Singapore, China, and more as we expand globally

Work environment

• KRW 15,000 meal allowance when working past 8 PM
• Taxi fare covered when leaving after 11 PM (past the last train)
• Unlimited coffee, cocktails, highballs, and snacks

📬 The path to joining

Hiring process

• Application review → 1st interview with the team (technical interview) → 2nd interview with leadership → Offer
• We respond to applications within a week. Interview schedules are shared along with the application review result.

Application window

• ~ (May close early)

How to apply

• Apply via the Li.fizz careers page → career.lifizz.co.kr
• Required documents: Résumé and cover letter (free format) / Portfolio or links to GitHub / projects (required)
  • Including artifacts from hardware projects you designed and built yourself (design drawings, prototype photos, demo videos, etc.) helps significantly.

Li.fizz is currently a Pre-A stage startup. As an early-stage company that is just starting to scale rapidly, there are still plenty of gaps to fill — but we are confident we can build a company that grows faster than anyone, with you alongside us. From silicon to cloud, from the lowest hardware layer to the highest AI layer, this is an environment where you can touch every layer and grow.

We would love to chat more in a meeting.