Associate Engineer - Electrical

Vector Atomic•Pleasanton, CA

21h•$95,000 - $120,000

About The Position

Vector Atomic, an IonQ company, is building quantum technology to transform navigation, timing, geophysical exploration, and telecommunications. Our team of engineers, scientists, software developers, and operations professionals works together to solve complex challenges and turn bold ideas into real-world solutions. We value collaboration, curiosity, and diverse perspectives, and we give every team member the opportunity to make an immediate impact while growing their skills. If you’re excited to work on breakthrough technology in a fast-paced, hands-on environment, we’d love to hear from you. Help turn breakthrough quantum physics into robust products. At Vector Atomic, you’ll design ultra–low-noise, low-power analog and mixed-signal electronics that enable GPS-free navigation, precision timing, and high-bandwidth communications. You’ll own designs from concept to production in a fast-moving, lab-centric environment.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related field plus 0–2 years of hands-on hardware experience. Significant involvement in Senior Design projects or technical extracurriculars (e.g., Robotics, Formula SAE) is highly valued.
To comply with the US export control laws, Vector Atomic employees must be U.S. citizens (born or naturalized), lawful U.S. permanent residents (green card holders), and certain categories of refugees, and asylees.
Comfortable in a lab environment; clear written and verbal communication.
Analog/mixed-signal design fundamentals: op-amps, references, filters, instrumentation amps.
Power basics: buck/boost/LDO regulators, ripple/transient control, protection (OV/OC/UV).
Data converters: integrating precision ADCs/DACs; sampling and anti-aliasing fundamentals.
Noise and precision: 1/f and thermal noise, PSRR/CMRR, grounding and shielding practices.
PCB design in Altium: schematics, footprint/library use, placement and routing for signal integrity.
SPICE simulation (e.g., LTspice) for verification and tolerance analysis.
Lab skills: oscilloscopes, supplies, DMMs; methodical bring-up and debugging.

Nice To Haves

Signal integrity/EMI: impedance control, stackup selection, crosstalk and return-path management.
Power specialization: sequencing, current sensing, thermal management, low-power techniques.
RF/microwave basics: LO distribution, mixers, phase noise, shielding.
Embedded familiarity: I2C/SPI/UART bring-up, reading datasheets; basic Python for test automation.
FPGA/MCU board design and high-speed interfaces (e.g., LVDS).
DFM/DFT, manufacturing processes, and reliability/environmental testing.

Responsibilities

Collaborate with physicists, firmware, optics, and mechanical teams to architect electronics for quantum instruments and precision INS.
Design, simulate, and validate low-noise analog front ends, data-converter paths, and mixed-signal control loops.
Create schematics and perform placement/routing in Altium for complex, space-constrained PCBAs.
Build robust power trees and POL supplies with tight ripple, transient, and efficiency targets.
Apply signal integrity and EMI/EMC best practices: grounding, return paths, filtering, shielding, and layout constraints.
Bring up, characterize, and debug boards using oscilloscopes, spectrum/network analyzers, SMUs, and logic analyzers.
Write basic automation scripts (Python) for characterization and data logging.
Document requirements, design notes, test plans, and manufacturing handoff; support prototype-to-production transition.