Staff Electrical Engineer
About The Position
Established in 1972, Particle Measuring Systems is a global leader for micro-contamination monitoring equipment improving the performance of clean manufactures in the semiconductor and pharmaceutical industries. We’re a growing technology company in Niwot, Colorado, the heart of the Rocky Mountains. We offer an exceptional and rewarding work environment in a great place to live. Our employees enjoy challenging projects in the development and manufacture of light scattering particle counters and diverse technologies and applications. This position is critical to sustaining the company’s technical leadership and innovation pipeline. The Staff Engineer will shape next-generation sensing technologies, influence product direction, and ensure continuity of specialized expertise essential to the company’s success. We are seeking a highly experienced Staff Electrical Engineer to lead the research, design, and development of advanced photonic detection systems and ultra-low-noise front-end electronics used in precision particle counting instrumentation. This role combines deep theoretical expertise with hands-on engineering and cross-disciplinary collaboration in optics, electronics, physics, and signal processing. The successful candidate will serve as a technical authority and innovation driver for next-generation sensing platforms by turning concepts into practical engineering solutions through agile, fail-fast industrial research.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Opto-Electronics or Physics (or equivalent experience)
- 15+ years of experience in hands-on development of precision instrumentation, photonics, or scientific detection systems.
- Strong background in low-noise analog Amplifier circuit design and schematic capture
- Deep understanding of photodetectors (APDs, photodiodes, photon-counting devices, etc.).
- Experienced development with signal processing for weak signal detection.
- Demonstrated ability to lead complex technical projects
- Demonstrated use of rapid development methods to enable quick cycles of learning
Nice To Haves
- Understanding of the semiconductor fabrication process and chemical usage desirable.
- Experience with optical system design or close collaboration with optical engineers.
- Knowledge of scattering physics and optical measurement techniques.
- Familiarity with modeling/simulation tools (SPICE, MATLAB, Zemax, etc.).
- Prior experience serving as a subject matter expert or technical lead.
- Background in scientific or analytical instrumentation.
Responsibilities
- Serve as the organization’s technical expert in photonic detectors, optical sensing, and low-noise analog front-end design.
- Lead architecture development for new sensing systems from concept through validation.
- Define performance requirements, noise budgets, and system-level tradeoff studies.
- Guide engineering teams in solving complex detection and measurement challenges.
- Design and evaluate advanced detection techniques involving optical scattering, photon detection, and signal extraction in low-signal environments.
- Develop new methods for improving signal-to-noise ratio through optical, electrical, and algorithmic approaches.
- Remain current with emerging technologies in detectors, lasers, optics, and instrumentation electronics.
- Identify and prototype novel technologies for future products.
- Design precision analog circuits including TIAs, charge amplifiers, and low-noise signal chains.
- Model noise sources, detector behavior, and system performance.
- Collaborate on optical system design including light collection, focusing, and imaging.
- Drive simulation, lab validation, and performance characterization.
- Work closely with mechanical, optical, firmware, and systems engineers.
- Mentor engineers and support knowledge transfer across teams.
- Provide technical guidance during product development, troubleshooting, and field investigations.
- Lead design reviews and technical decision making.
Benefits
- Health coverage: medical, dental, vision, fsa, onsite clinic (CO employees), life insurance
- 401(k) retirement plan with company match
- Vacation, holiday, and leave policies
- Tuition reimbursement, Employee recognition programs, Employee assistance programs
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
Number of Employees
251-500 employees
