Senior Electrical Engineer - Testing

Vector Atomic•Pleasanton, CA

6d•Onsite

About The Position

Vector Atomic, an IonQ company, is seeking an experienced test engineer to help develop and improve verification procedures for specialized electronics used in next-generation quantum instruments. The role helps define hardware test strategy and combines hands-on laboratory testing with the creation of test plans, procedures, and automated test systems. The engineer will test and debug complex circuits involving FPGAs, MCUs, mixed-signal and precision analog electronics, and photonics devices. The position is based onsite in Pleasanton, California, with up to 10% domestic or international travel. The role also includes mentoring early-career engineers and collaborating across engineering disciplines.

Requirements

BSEE or MSEE degree combined with experience testing precision instruments and/or sensors.
Comfort working in a laboratory environment.
Ability to write test scripts and code to support testing.
Effective written and verbal communication skills with coworkers and collaborators.
Ability to create test plans and procedures for novel instrumentation.
Experience devising test protocols for precision instruments, including specifying equipment, writing test automation programs or scripts, and documenting procedures for team use.
Proficiency in post-test data analysis to extract performance metrics.
Experience designing test loads, cabling, and custom equipment for verification work.
Ability to read schematics, data sheets, and technical information to determine expected measurement ranges.
Proficiency with laboratory test and measurement equipment, including oscilloscopes, VNA, SA, power supplies, function generators, and DVM.
Must meet U.S. export-control eligibility requirements: U.S. citizenship, lawful U.S. permanent residency, or an eligible refugee or asylee category.

Nice To Haves

Experience using PCB layout tools, particularly Altium.
Ability to write test firmware for embedded MCUs to support testing of MCU-based PCBs.
Experience with compliance testing for electronic products.
Experience with environmental testing for space electronics, including radiation effects.

Responsibilities

Provide technical leadership for a group testing and debugging complex electronic circuits.
Collaborate with physicists and electrical, mechanical, software, and optical engineers to develop procedures that verify electronic designs for next-generation quantum instruments.
Work with engineering and manufacturing to define design-for-test (DFT) and design-for-manufacturing (DFM) improvements.
Create test plans for performance, environmental, EMI, and EMC testing, and oversee their execution at external facilities when needed.
Adapt test protocols during execution to optimize results.
Use electronic test and measurement equipment to characterize and verify performance.
Define equipment for automated data systems used in production systems.
Write test scripts for automated test-system configuration and measurement.
Create test plans and procedures for novel instrumentation, including equipment specifications and automated testing programs.
Organize and manage test results; own data storage and management systems to ensure test data is retained and documented.
Analyze post-test data to extract performance metrics.
Design test loads, cabling, and custom equipment to support verification work.
Mentor early-career engineers.