Electrical Engineer 2

Illumina•Hayward, CA

3d•$94,600 - $142,000

About The Position

The Electrical Engineer 2 supports the development, introduction, and lifecycle support of complex DNA sequencing instruments. This hands-on role spans New Product Introduction (NPI), manufacturing transfer, sustaining engineering, and product lifecycle management. The engineer provides technical ownership for smart PCAs, high-performance compute (HPC) platforms, and cable/interconnect systems used in genomic instrumentation. The role involves managing component and supplier changes, carrying out qualification activities, investigating product and manufacturing issues, and improving reliability, performance, manufacturability, and supply continuity. Success requires strong troubleshooting skills, laboratory experience, and collaboration across Product Development, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Field Service, and external partners. The position supports NPI from concept through manufacturing transfer and performs sustaining engineering for released products. It also supports the qualification and lifecycle management of server-class compute platforms, designs and verifies cable assemblies, investigates failures, maintains engineering documentation and configuration traceability, and supports compliance with applicable electrical safety, EMI/EMC, ESD, environmental, and product-quality requirements.

Requirements

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
At least 2 years of relevant engineering experience supporting product development, NPI, manufacturing, or sustaining engineering activities.
Working knowledge of analog and digital electronics, power distribution, PCB/PCA interfaces, grounding methods, and system-level electrical integration.
Experience designing or supporting cable harnesses, including connector selection, pinout definition, wire sizing, shielding, grounding, documentation, and verification testing.
Experience troubleshooting hardware issues using oscilloscopes, multimeters, power supplies, logic analyzers, and related laboratory equipment.
Familiarity with engineering design tools such as Altium, OrCAD, or equivalent platforms.
Experience working within engineering change control and product lifecycle management processes.

Nice To Haves

Experience with server-class compute platforms, embedded computing systems, or HPC hardware.
Knowledge of CPU architectures, DDR4/DDR5 memory, PCIe devices, NVMe storage, networking interfaces, BIOS/UEFI environments, and platform management technologies.
Experience with design verification testing, EMI/EMC, electrical safety, ESD controls, and regulated design processes.
Experience working with EMS providers, cable suppliers, and contract manufacturers.
Experience in biotechnology, life sciences, medical devices, laboratory instrumentation, semiconductor equipment, or other highly regulated industries.
Familiarity with Python, MATLAB, PowerShell, or other scripting and data-analysis tools.

Responsibilities

Support NPI activities from concept through manufacturing transfer, including design reviews, prototype builds, design verification, pilot production, and release readiness.
Execute sustaining engineering initiatives for released products, including component obsolescence, supplier transitions, cost reductions, quality improvements, and field issue resolution.
Assess the technical impact of proposed product changes and contribute to risk assessments, FMEAs, qualification plans, and implementation activities.
Develop and maintain specifications, schematics, BOMs, test plans, engineering change orders, and technical reports.
Manage assigned projects and deliverables and communicate status, risks, and recommendations to stakeholders.
Support qualification, integration, and lifecycle management of server-class compute platforms used in sequencing instruments.
Troubleshoot compute hardware issues involving POST and boot behavior, memory training, PCIe enumeration, firmware interactions, storage compatibility, system logs, and intermittent failures.
Execute hardware validation plans, analyze results, document findings, and partner with software, firmware, systems, and manufacturing teams to resolve issues.
Collaborate with suppliers and internal stakeholders to maintain compute platform reliability, serviceability, performance, and supply continuity.
Design and modify cable assemblies for power, control, sensor, communication, and high-speed data interfaces.
Develop wiring diagrams, pin assignments, connector selections, grounding strategies, shielding requirements, assembly drawings, and BOMs.
Perform cable engineering analyses related to current capacity, voltage drop, derating, signal integrity, routing constraints, shielding effectiveness, and mechanical robustness.
Support verification testing, including continuity, insulation resistance, hipot, EMI/EMC, environmental, and system-level qualification testing.
Partner with mechanical engineering, manufacturing, and suppliers to ensure cable designs meet performance, quality, and manufacturability requirements.
Investigate manufacturing defects, supplier issues, RMAs, and field failures using structured root-cause methodologies.
Support development of test methods, diagnostic tools, fixtures, and acceptance criteria.
Review supplier and contract manufacturer qualification data and base engineering decisions on objective evidence.
Implement engineering changes through PLM, ERP, and configuration management processes while maintaining traceability and design integrity.
Support compliance with applicable electrical safety, EMI/EMC, ESD, environmental, and product-quality requirements.