Role Overview
We are seeking a Senior Hardware Engineer to design and deliver secure, ruggedized embedded hardware from initial concept through prototyping, qualification, and volume production.
This is a highly hands-on role covering PCB design, mixed-signal electronics, low-power embedded systems, sensor interfaces, hardware security, RF integration, ruggedization, rapid prototyping, and manufacturing.
The successful candidate will own complex hardware designs, build and troubleshoot prototypes in the lab, and work closely with embedded software, mechanical, security, manufacturing, and systems engineering teams.
Key Responsibilities
PCB Design & Hardware Development
- Design complex multi-layer mixed-signal and low-power PCBs, from schematic capture through layout and manufacturing release.
- Develop flex and rigid-flex designs, stack-ups, controlled-impedance interfaces, and designs using extended-temperature components.
- Own component selection, design reviews, schematic reviews, and PCB layout reviews.
- Design low-noise sensor front-ends, precision acquisition circuits, and standardized interfaces for third-party sensor integration.
- Develop battery-powered embedded architectures with careful power budgeting, sleep-state management, backup power, and power-path management.
Prototyping & Board Bring-Up
- Produce rapid PCB prototypes through external quick-turn fabrication and assembly suppliers.
- Prepare production packages including Gerber files, BOMs, pick-and-place data, assembly drawings, and manufacturing documentation.
- Perform DFM/DFA reviews, supplier coordination, incoming inspection, and first-article evaluation.
- Personally populate, solder, rework, debug, and bring up prototype PCBs.
- Perform fine-pitch SMD and through-hole soldering, hot-air/reflow rework, and microscope inspection.
- Design and build test fixtures, cabling, adapters, and development hardware.
- Create rapid mechanical prototypes using FDM/SLA 3D printing for enclosures, brackets, fixtures, and test assemblies.
Secure Hardware Engineering
- Develop hardware architectures incorporating secure elements, hardware root of trust, secure boot, protected key storage, secure provisioning, and debug-port protection.
- Design MCU-based systems using security features such as Arm TrustZone-M and hardware cryptographic accelerators.
- Support key storage and zeroization, device identity, and secure provisioning.
- Design with awareness of physical attack techniques including probing, side-channel attacks, and fault injection.
- Work closely with embedded software and security engineers to implement end-to-end platform security.
Sensor & Connectivity Integration
- Design analog and digital sensor interfaces including precision ADCs, IMUs, environmental sensors, and other sensing technologies.
- Integrate industrial communication technologies such as RS-485/Modbus and 4–20 mA interfaces.
- Support RF and wireless integration including UWB, BLE, LoRa, Wi-Fi, and cellular IoT.
- Perform RF layout and radio-module integration, including antenna placement within sealed or ruggedized enclosures.
Ruggedization & Qualification
- Develop hardware for demanding operating environments using IP67/IP68 enclosures, sealed connectors, conformal coating, potting, extended-temperature components, and thermal-management techniques.
- Own environmental and reliability testing including temperature, humidity, vibration, shock, salt fog, corrosion, and accelerated aging.
- Lead root-cause analysis and corrective hardware redesign following qualification or reliability failures.
- Support EMC testing, radio approval, environmental compliance, physical-security certification, and hazardous-area requirements where applicable.
- Apply relevant MIL-STD environmental and EMC methods where required.
Manufacturing & Productization
- Take hardware designs from prototype through qualification and volume production.
- Implement DFM and DFT practices and develop scalable production-test strategies.
- Manage BOM lifecycle, component availability, and obsolescence.
- Develop manufacturing test fixtures and production test procedures.
- Work directly with fabrication, assembly, component, and manufacturing partners to resolve production issues.
Technical Leadership
- Lead hardware workstreams across multidisciplinary engineering programs.
- Review schematics and PCB layouts and mentor junior engineers.
- Translate system and customer requirements into practical hardware architectures.
- Work closely with software, security, mechanical, FPGA, manufacturing, QA, and systems teams.
- Operate effectively in early-stage development environments where requirements may evolve from research concepts into production solutions.
Experience
- 8+ years of professional hardware/electronics engineering experience.
- At least one ruggedized, secure, or similarly complex embedded hardware product delivered from concept through volume production.
- Significant hands-on experience designing, manufacturing, assembling, bringing up, debugging, and qualifying PCBs.
- Experience with battery-powered embedded hardware and sensor systems.
- Experience designing hardware for harsh or highly regulated operating environments.
- Experience leading cross-functional hardware activities and working directly with technical stakeholders or customers.
Technical Skills
- Advanced schematic capture and PCB layout, preferably using Altium Designer or equivalent EDA tools.
- Strong experience with multi-layer mixed-signal, low-power, flex and rigid-flex PCB design.
- Experience with controlled impedance, PCB stack-up design, component selection, signal integrity, and extended-temperature components.
- Strong knowledge of Gerber, BOM, pick-and-place, assembly documentation, DFM, DFA, and DFT.
- Hands-on fine-pitch SMD soldering, rework, board population, microscope inspection, and PCB bring-up.
- Hands-on use of oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, network analyzers, and environmental test equipment.
- Experience with MCUs, Arm TrustZone-M, secure elements, hardware roots of trust, secure boot, key storage, and cryptographic accelerators.
- Knowledge of physical security, key zeroization, secure debug, provisioning, side-channel attacks, probing, and fault injection.
- Strong experience with analog front-ends, ADCs, IMUs, environmental sensors, RS-485/Modbus, 4–20 mA, and sensor calibration.
- Wireless integration experience covering technologies such as UWB, BLE, LoRa, Wi-Fi, and cellular IoT.
- Experience with IP67/IP68, sealed connectors, conformal coating, potting, thermal management, vibration, shock, and corrosion protection.
- Experience with FDM/SLA 3D printing for rapid hardware and mechanical prototyping.
- Understanding of EMC, environmental qualification, radio certification, and hardware reliability testing.
Education & Additional Experience
- Master's degree in Electrical or Electronic Engineering preferred; Bachelor's degree with substantial relevant experience may also be considered.
- PhD is advantageous but not required.
- Experience with secure hardware or security-sensitive electronics is highly desirable.
- Experience with cryptographic modules, payment terminals, HSMs, aerospace electronics, secure communications, or comparable high-assurance products is advantageous.
- Familiarity with MIL-STD environmental, EMC, and connector requirements is beneficial but not mandatory.
- Candidates should be comfortable discussing a technical portfolio of PCBs they have personally designed, built, brought up, and taken toward production, together with relevant prototypes or test hardware.
Industry / Domain
Secure Embedded Hardware | Electronics Engineering | Ruggedized Systems | Sensor Systems | Hardware Security
