Staff Hardware Design Engineer

NovaTech Automation•Lenexa, KS

About The Position

NovaTech Automation is seeking a Staff Hardware Design Engineer to serve as our most senior individual-contributor authority on mixed-signal and high-speed digital hardware design, reporting directly to the Director of Hardware Engineering. This is a hands-on technical leadership role for an engineer who has built products in a regulated, mature engineering organization and wants direct influence over architecture decisions without the overhead of people management. You will lead design reviews across the organization, partner directly with the Director to build a standardized platform architecture, and help shape design standards and technical mentorship across a hardware organization spanning four sites and multiple critical-infrastructure product lines.

Requirements

Bachelor's (Master’s preferred) degree in Electrical Engineering or equivalent practical experience - Required
10+ years of formal hardware design experience in a regulated market (e.g., industrial automation, utility/substation, medical, or aerospace/defense) within a mature, process-driven engineering organization - Required
Demonstrated experience designing mixed-signal circuitry: analog inputs and digital I/O - Required
Demonstrated experience with high-speed digital design - Required
Experience with FPGA-based hardware design and integration - Required
Experience designing Ethernet/networking hardware interfaces - Required
Experience with EMC design and compliance testing (e.g., IEC 61000 series, radiated/conducted emissions and immunity) - Required
Schematic capture and PCB layout review (Altium or equivalent) - Required
Full product lifecycle experience: concept through DVT/PVT and certification - Required
Signal integrity analysis for high-speed digital design - Required
Familiarity with regulatory certification processes (UL, CE, FCC, and related bodies) - Required

Nice To Haves

Experience with power supply design and magnetics (transformer/inductor selection or custom design) - Preferred
Experience with IEC 61850 or substation automation protocols - Preferred
Experience in electric utility, substation automation, or similarly regulated critical-infrastructure markets - Preferred
FPGA firmware/HDL familiarity (VHDL/Verilog) sufficient to collaborate closely with firmware engineers - Preferred
Root cause analysis and design-for-reliability practices - Preferred

Responsibilities

Lead architecture, schematic, and PCB design reviews across the hardware organization, providing senior technical judgment on design tradeoffs before release
Partner directly with the Director of Hardware Engineering to define standard designs, reference architectures, and reusable building blocks for a common platform architecture across product lines
Establish and maintain design guidelines, templates, and reference schematics that raise the baseline quality and consistency of hardware designs across sites
Identify opportunities to consolidate and standardize hardware building blocks across products to reduce design variation and accelerate future development
Lead design of mixed-signal hardware, including analog input circuitry and digital I/O, for critical-infrastructure product lines
Own high-speed digital design and signal integrity analysis across new product development
Architect and integrate FPGA-based subsystems in collaboration with firmware engineering
Design Ethernet and networking hardware interfaces meeting industrial and utility-grade requirements
Design and specify power supplies and magnetics, including transformer and inductor selection or custom design, for embedded and industrial hardware
Drive design decisions from concept through DVT/PVT exit, ensuring designs are audit-ready and fully documented
Execute EMC design practices in hardware, including radiated/conducted emissions and immunity design-in, per established pre-compliance strategy
Support certification bodies and internal quality teams in driving products through UL, CE, FCC, and related regulatory processes
Apply cybersecurity and regulatory compliance requirements (e.g., IEC 62443, EU Cyber Resilience Act) to hardware design decisions
Serve as the senior technical escalation point for hardware design challenges across the organization
Mentor mid-level and junior hardware engineers on design rigor, documentation standards, and root cause analysis
Represent hardware engineering in cross-functional design reviews, CCB assessments, and program milestones
Work directly with firmware, quality, and program management to align hardware design decisions with product and compliance timelines
Partner with the Director of Hardware Engineering on architecture strategy across Bethlehem, Lenexa, and Lima sites