Hardware Operations Engineer
Chowbus
Chicago, IL · Posted October 27, 2026
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November 2026
- #1Best cities for government pay after cost of living$146k · of 18
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Rankings about engineering jobs
- Best cities for software and engineering jobs #1 San Francisco (3,412 openings)
- Best cities for engineering pay after cost of living #1 San Mateo ($216k)
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How AI is used in this kind of work
Among computer hardware engineers, AI is already used for some of the tasks. Measured exposure for computer hardware engineers: 15% (some).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
About the job
Chowbus is a leading Asian restaurant technology SaaS platform, with deep roots in the North American market for years. Currently, we stand as a pioneering enterprise in the North American Asian Restaurant SaaS sector. Driven by precise market positioning and efficient product services, our business has achieved doubled growth annually, covering over 30 core states and 100 key cities across the U.S., and partnering with more than 10,000 Asian restaurants. We build tech ecosystems that help restaurants grow, serve with heart, and uplift their communities , our vision is to creat a world where culturally rooted food entrepreneurs thrive everywhere.
As our hardware footprint in restaurants grows, we are building our first US hardware operations function, working closely with our engineering and hardware teams in China to make sure every device performs reliably in real restaurant environments.
You will be the technical bridge between our restaurants in the field and our hardware and engineering teams in China. You won't handle routine installations. Instead, you will take on the hardest hardware cases: reproducing issues, running tests in our office and warehouse, going on site when a problem can only be diagnosed in the real restaurant environment, and bringing clear findings back to the engineering team so we can fix root causes and improve our products.
What You'll Focus On
Own escalated hardware cases: when devices behave abnormally in restaurants, investigate, diagnose and communicate the issue clearly to our engineering team in China
Go on site for issues that can't be reproduced remotely, such as printers dropping orders or intermittent network problems; capture logs and network packets and debug in the real customer environment
Build and maintain test environments in our Chicago office and warehouse, and run joint debugging sessions with engineers in China
Test devices returned from the field, run stability and stress tests, identify failure patterns and drive product improvements
Manage RMA repair processes, from software and hardware diagnosis to repair or replacement decisions
Learn our front-of-house hardware in depth (tablets, printers, card readers, kiosks, KDS, routers) and turn field knowledge into documentation and feedback for the team
Work closely with our support and tech teams to understand real customer scenarios and make sure field problems get solved at the root
What You Bring
5+ years of technical support experience in the hardware or electronics industry (required)
Fluent Mandarin Chinese and English, comfortable doing technical discussions with engineers in China (required)
Strong software and hardware diagnostic skills, with the ability to isolate whether a problem is device, network or software related
Hands-on RMA and repair experience
Network troubleshooting skills, including log analysis and packet capture (e.g. Wireshark)
Based in Chicago or willing to relocate; valid driver's license for site visits
Nice to Have
Restaurant or retail POS hardware experience
Experience building test environments or running stability and reliability tests
Basic electronics diagnosis with a multimeter and schematics
Experience working with hardware suppliers or manufacturers in China
What We Offer
A fair compensation package
Medical, dental, and vision insurance
401(k)
100% employer-paid Short-Term Disability (STD)
100% employer-paid Life Insurance and option for additional employee-paid Life Insurance
100% employer-paid Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) Insurance and option for additional employee-paid AD&D Insurance
Company holidays
Birthday off
Paid Parental Leave
Flexible Paid Time Off (PTO)
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Base salary range: $70,000–$100,000 per year, based on experience and skills.