Building Compliance Capability From Scratch
How Akkar found Apptronik's founding RF, EMI and EMC specialist ahead of mass production.
Building Compliance Capability From Scratch
How Akkar found Apptronik's founding RF, EMI and EMC specialist ahead of mass production.
Apptronik is a humanoid robotics company headquartered in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2016 as a spin-out from the University of Texas at Austin.
In under a decade it has grown to more than 300 people and raised nearly $1 billion, including a $405 million Series A and a $520 million extension round.
Its flagship product, Apollo, is a general-purpose humanoid robot. The company's partners include Google DeepMind and Mercedes-Benz. Apptronik is now preparing to move Apollo into mass production.
Building Compliance Infrastructure Ahead of Mass Production
Apptronik brought us a role shaped by where the business was heading: a Staff Electrical Test Engineer to own RF, EMI and EMC. The person had to handle compliance on products that ship. They also had to set up testing facilities and run lab strategy from scratch.
The brief called for a rare combination:
- Direct experience of EMI/EMC compliance on shipped products
- The ability to build a test lab from nothing and own its strategy
- Enough seniority to oversee large-scale projects as production grows
Apptronik had no candidate pipeline of its own, and its internal resources were already stretched. The timing was the pressure point. Mass production brings specific compliance requirements that products must meet before they can be shipped at scale. Apptronik needed someone to own that area before volume arrived.
This hire was the first step toward an internal compliance capability.
A Targeted Search Across Regulated, High-Volume Industries
The role opened on May 20. We focused the search on industries where EMI/EMC compliance on mass-manufactured product is part of daily work:
- Consumer electronics
- Robotics
- Other heavily regulated, high-volume manufacturing industries where compliance is built into how products reach market
Reaching a Passive Candidate Directly
On May 29, nine days after the role opened, our consultant Kris Masters reached Kenneth with a cold call. Kenneth was a senior compliance specialist at Bose. Bose's RF and EMI/EMC work on shipped consumer audio products was the background the brief described.
Kenneth wasn't looking. He was happy at Bose and had a good retirement plan ahead of him. He nearly dismissed the first call as spam. Ten minutes later he was discussing a role that matched his experience almost exactly, and he was sold from that first conversation. From a shortlist of ten, he was the clearest match. Apptronik took an extra day at offer stage to formally create a position around his skill set.
Running a Clear, Well-Managed Process
We ran the process from start to finish in four to five weeks. Both sides were keen from the first conversation. Kris set clear expectations and stayed in close contact with both parties at every stage. When Kenneth and his family raised concerns about making such a big change, Kris raised them directly with Apptronik and worked through them with both sides. The hire also required a relocation, and Kenneth moved to Austin before his start date.
Outcome: Kenneth relocated to Austin and is in seat as Staff Electrical Test Engineer, RF/EMI/EMC
Operational & Commercial Impact
Kenneth is in his first months in the role, so measurable results will come as the compliance function develops. We'll keep following his progress.
The structural gains are already clear. With senior RF/EMI/EMC expertise in-house as it prepares for mass production, Apptronik now has:
- An internal owner of compliance before the production ramp
- The expertise to set up and run its own test facilities and lab strategy
- Senior oversight across large-scale projects as production grows
- Less dependence on contracted workforces for compliance work
"After 10 minutes on the phone Kris connected me with Apptronik, who were looking for, for lack of a better explanation, me. Every single aspect of their needs matched my skillset perfectly. This shows how well Kris was able to match skills, not just abilities, but the actual needs and wants of both parties. Akkar really matches skilled people with the right opportunities they will excel in."
Apptronik is a humanoid robotics company headquartered in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2016 as a spin-out from the University of Texas at Austin.
In under a decade it has grown to more than 300 people and raised nearly $1 billion, including a $405 million Series A and a $520 million extension round.
Its flagship product, Apollo, is a general-purpose humanoid robot. The company's partners include Google DeepMind and Mercedes-Benz. Apptronik is now preparing to move Apollo into mass production.
Building Compliance Infrastructure Ahead of Mass Production
Apptronik brought us a role shaped by where the business was heading: a Staff Electrical Test Engineer to own RF, EMI and EMC. The person had to handle compliance on products that ship. They also had to set up testing facilities and run lab strategy from scratch.
The brief called for a rare combination:
- Direct experience of EMI/EMC compliance on shipped products
- The ability to build a test lab from nothing and own its strategy
- Enough seniority to oversee large-scale projects as production grows
Apptronik had no candidate pipeline of its own, and its internal resources were already stretched. The timing was the pressure point. Mass production brings specific compliance requirements that products must meet before they can be shipped at scale. Apptronik needed someone to own that area before volume arrived.
This hire was the first step toward an internal compliance capability.
A Targeted Search Across Regulated, High-Volume Industries
The role opened on May 20. We focused the search on industries where EMI/EMC compliance on mass-manufactured product is part of daily work:
- Consumer electronics
- Robotics
- Other heavily regulated, high-volume manufacturing industries where compliance is built into how products reach market
Reaching a Passive Candidate Directly
On May 29, nine days after the role opened, our consultant Kris Masters reached Kenneth with a cold call. Kenneth was a senior compliance specialist at Bose. Bose's RF and EMI/EMC work on shipped consumer audio products was the background the brief described.
Kenneth wasn't looking. He was happy at Bose and had a good retirement plan ahead of him. He nearly dismissed the first call as spam. Ten minutes later he was discussing a role that matched his experience almost exactly, and he was sold from that first conversation. From a shortlist of ten, he was the clearest match. Apptronik took an extra day at offer stage to formally create a position around his skill set.
Running a Clear, Well-Managed Process
We ran the process from start to finish in four to five weeks. Both sides were keen from the first conversation. Kris set clear expectations and stayed in close contact with both parties at every stage. When Kenneth and his family raised concerns about making such a big change, Kris raised them directly with Apptronik and worked through them with both sides. The hire also required a relocation, and Kenneth moved to Austin before his start date.
9 days
5 weeks
Directly headhunted
RF, EMI & EMC function
Operational & Commercial Impact
Kenneth is in his first months in the role, so measurable results will come as the compliance function develops. We'll keep following his progress.
The structural gains are already clear. With senior RF/EMI/EMC expertise in-house as it prepares for mass production, Apptronik now has:
- An internal owner of compliance before the production ramp
- The expertise to set up and run its own test facilities and lab strategy
- Senior oversight across large-scale projects as production grows
- Less dependence on contracted workforces for compliance work
As humanoids move into mass manufacturing, compliance comes in-house.
Many robotics companies have no dedicated compliance team and rely on contracted workforces instead. As funding grows and production ramps up, we're seeing more of them bring this work in-house. Humanoid makers entering volume production have specific compliance requirements to meet, and they increasingly want that expertise inside the business.
Mass-manufacturing experience transfers across sectors.
We searched robotics too, but the hire came from Bose. Consumer audio companies have handled RF and EMI/EMC compliance on shipped product at volume for decades. For a humanoid company approaching its first production ramp, that depth counted for more than sector origin.
Settled passive candidates will move for the right proposition.
Kenneth wasn't looking, had a retirement plan in place, and nearly ignored the first call. He moved because the role let him build a function from scratch, which his job at Bose couldn't offer. We reached him nine days after the role opened, shortlisted ten candidates, and made one hire.
"After 10 minutes on the phone Kris connected me with Apptronik, who were looking for, for lack of a better explanation, me. Every single aspect of their needs matched my skillset perfectly. This shows how well Kris was able to match skills, not just abilities, but the actual needs and wants of both parties. Akkar really matches skilled people with the right opportunities they will excel in."
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