Duress is building safety technology for the people who need it most. The platform combines mobile applications, wearable devices and cloud-native infrastructure to deliver real-time emergency response and lone worker protection at scale. When someone presses the button, it has to work. That is the standard everything we build is held to. Our device range spans a wearable watch, a safety pendant and a body-worn camera, each brought to market through a global network of specialist design houses, ODMs and contract manufacturers. This is a senior role reporting directly to the CTO. Every device is battery-operated and worn for full shifts, which means genuine trade-offs across size, power, thermal management and performance.

What you’ll do:

- Own hardware requirements and systems documentation across electronics, industrial design and mechanical disciplines: interface control documents, hardware requirement specifications and V&V; plans, then brief and govern external design partners from concept through production;
- Architect AOSP and embedded Linux SoC platforms on MediaTek and Qualcomm processors, and govern ODM BSP deliverables including FOTA architecture and device observability;
- Define AI edge and sensor subsystem requirements: NPU inference pipelines, MEMS microphones, camera modules, DSP and ISP tuning, and motion sensors;
- Own the connectivity and eSIM strategy across the portfolio: BLE, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi HaLow, LoRaWAN, LTE-M and NB-IoT, NTN, and SGP.32 provisioning;
- Drive product compliance and certification: FCC, IC, CE and RCM radio approvals, SAR compliance, IEC 62368-1 product safety, EMC and environmental certifications, with pre-compliance testing to surface issues before the formal lab;
- Lead NPI from EVT through PVT: gate reviews, build readiness, AVL, BOM management, supply chain risk and manufacturing acceptance criteria;




- Close the loop between what ships and what gets specified next: track return rates, failure analysis and field reliability trends, and partner with operations on BOM cost, supply chain risk, inventory, component lifecycle, EOL planning and second-source qualification;
- Manage and develop the Hardware Product Specialist, supervising testing activities and technical report writing;
- Engage directly with semiconductor vendors to access roadmap silicon and stay ahead of emerging platform developments.

What you bring:

- 8+ years in hardware engineering across connected or wearable products, leading technical teams and managing third-party partners through full NPI cycles;
- Deep RF and wireless expertise: multi-radio coexistence, link budget analysis and OTA testing;
- Experience governing ODMs, design houses and CMs through EVT, DVT and PVT, and authoring HRS, ICDs and V&V; plans;
- Hands-on regulatory certification across at least two major markets (FCC and IC, CE, or RCM), including EMC pre-compliance management;
- Battery system fundamentals: cell selection, charging topologies, power budgeting and transport compliance;
- Familiarity with AOSP or embedded Linux SoC platforms on MediaTek or Qualcomm application processors.

Nice to have:

- Body-worn antenna design: human body loading and detuning, placement constraints and OTA performance for wearable form factors;
- eSIM and SGP.32 provisioning architecture, and eUICC integration;
- AI edge inference on NPU-equipped devices: TensorFlow Lite, ONNX Runtime or vendor NPU SDKs;




- Wearable mechanical experience: enclosure sealing, strap systems, skin-contact compliance and CMF programme management;
- Hardware security: secure element, hardware root of trust, TEE.

Within 6 months:

- You have established transparent working relationships with our external design partners and understand the full state of each active programme;
- You have audited the current requirements documentation and identified the gaps across the device portfolio;
- You have led at least one NPI gate review and are driving product compliance milestones on schedule.

Within 12 months:

- Products are progressing through NPI on time, with enclosures and connectivity meeting qualification targets;
- Certification submissions are achieving first-pass approval at a high rate, with pre-compliance catching issues before the lab;
- The Hardware Product Specialist is growing in capability under your mentorship and taking on greater ownership of day-to-day technical tasks;
- You have contributed to the hardware roadmap for the next generation of Duress devices.

We have a small, capable team and a product line that people trust in real emergencies. You will have direct access to the CTO, genuine ownership of the hardware platform, and the opportunity to shape how it evolves across connectivity, AI-enabled inference and next-generation wearable form factors.

Your decisions land directly in the hands of people who depend on them. That is not something most hardware roles can offer. We offer competitive remuneration and flexible working arrangements.

Duress is committed to building a diverse and inclusive team. We encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds, identities and experiences. If you have what it takes but do not tick every box, please still get in touch. We would love to hear from you.

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📌 Head of Hardware (Melbourne)
🏢 Duress
📍 Melbourne