Senior Engineer - Electrical

Vector Atomic•Pleasanton, CA

23h•$140,000 - $175,000

About The Position

IonQ’s Vector Atomic is seeking a Senior Engineer - Electrical to develop electronic solutions for quantum instruments and oversee circuit and PCBA development from concept through production. The role works closely with physicists and engineers across electrical, mechanical, and optical disciplines to translate system and schematic requirements into designs. The engineer balances detailed design work with troubleshooting in a fast-paced, hands-on environment, with an emphasis on quality, manufacturability, and testability. The position involves ownership of complex PCB designs spanning high-speed digital, precision analog, mixed-signal, power, and RF applications. It includes establishing PCB layout standards and design rules; selecting and placing components; routing for signal and power integrity, thermal efficiency, manufacturability, and serviceability; and designing Point-of-Load power circuits. The engineer also supports manufacturing, addresses DFM/DFA challenges, maintains design procedures, and manages current design data, revisions, and engineering change orders in a cloud-based PLM system. Candidates must be eligible to work on matters subject to U.S. export control laws: U.S. citizens, lawful U.S. permanent residents, or certain categories of refugees and asylees. The role requires comfort working in a laboratory setting.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field and at least six years of professional experience; alternatively, a master’s degree and at least three years of professional experience, or equivalent experience.
At least three years of professional electrical-design experience developing complex mixed-signal PCBA designs with advanced ECAD tools.
Demonstrated expertise in high-density layouts, including HDI, fine-pitch BGAs, high-speed differential pairs, and mixed-signal designs.
Ability to define and implement controlled-impedance structures, including microstrip, stripline, and differential pairs, and apply signal-integrity, power-distribution, grounding, and EMI/EMC-aware layout techniques.
Proficiency designing PCBAs featuring modern FPGAs, MCUs, mixed-signal circuits, and precision analog circuits.
Experience designing Point-of-Load power circuits with stringent ripple and EMI specifications.
Experience using a PLM system to manage PCBA designs, including creation of Engineering Change Orders.
Hands-on hardware-debugging experience and familiarity with laboratory equipment such as oscilloscopes, digital voltmeters, and spectrum analyzers.
Ability to work comfortably in a laboratory setting.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Must be a U.S. citizen, lawful U.S. permanent resident, or belong to certain categories of refugees or asylees to comply with U.S. export control laws.

Nice To Haves

Proficiency with Altium Designer, including schematic capture, layout, library management, and fabrication-file generation.
Familiarity with creating design rules and implementing constraint-driven layouts in Altium.
Experience integrating PCB designs with PLM/ERP systems and managing component libraries and lifecycle statuses.
Background defining, simulating, and verifying ASIC designs.
Previous experience in low-power design.
Experience creating designs that comply with RoHS/CE, EMI/EMC, and UL requirements.

Responsibilities

Collaborate with physicists and engineers across electrical, mechanical, and optical disciplines to develop electronic designs for quantum instruments from system and schematic requirements.
Own the PCB design process for complex boards involving high-speed digital, precision analog, mixed-signal, power, and RF circuits.
Establish, maintain, and advocate PCB layout standards and design rules, including stack-ups, trace and space specifications, impedance profiles, creepage and clearance, and via strategies.
Select, place, and route components to optimize signal integrity, power integrity, thermal efficiency, manufacturability, and serviceability.
Work with electrical engineers on controlled-impedance routing, including microstrip, stripline, and differential pairs, while managing timing-critical nets.
Emphasize manufacturability and testability throughout the design process.
Lead PCBA design from concept through production.
Support manufacturing by resolving issues, defining tests, and ensuring PCB designs follow DFM guidelines.
Follow and improve design directives and procedures.
Work with PCB fabricators and assemblers and apply DFM/DFA constraints.
Design and develop Point-of-Load power supply circuits for efficient board-level power distribution and stringent power sequencing requirements.
Troubleshoot DFM/DFA challenges with internal teams and improve yield and fabrication processes.
Maintain accurate, current design data and documentation in the cloud-based PLM system, including revisions and engineering change orders.
Perform hands-on hardware debugging and use laboratory test equipment.