Digital Design Engineer

Digital Design Engineer

The Digital Design Engineer will design a small, microcontroller-based control board of moderate complexity and own the full hardware design lifecycle from concept through release to production. The role focuses on schematic capture, component selection, low-power switch-mode power supply design, point-of-load power supply design, and close collaboration with the PCB layout team. This position supports advanced tactical radio products used in secure communications and signals intelligence applications.

Responsibilities

• Design microcontroller-based control boards of moderate complexity, focusing on robust and reliable digital hardware solutions.
• Perform schematic capture and create complete, accurate schematics for digital and power circuitry using professional electronic design tools.
• Select appropriate electronic components to meet performance, reliability, cost, and manufacturability requirements.
• Design low-power switch-mode power supplies (approximately 5–10 watts) with 12–48 volt input and 3.3/5 volt outputs.
• Develop point-of-load power supply solutions, including low drop-out (LDO) regulators, to support various digital loads on the board.
• Create digital hardware designs incorporating STM
  32 or PSoC5 microcontrollers, focusing on hardware-only design aspects.
• Design small FPGA-based hardware solutions (such as Lattice devices), ensuring proper integration with microcontrollers and supporting circuitry.
• Implement RS-422 hardware interfaces and gigabit Ethernet hardware interfaces using appropriate adapter chips.
• Interface closely with the PCB layout team, providing guidance on component placement, routing constraints, power distribution, and signal integrity.
• Lead board bring-up activities, including initial power-on, hardware debugging, and validation of digital and power subsystems.
• Drive the design through to release for production, including documentation, design reviews, and support for manufacturing introduction.
• Collaborate with a team of digital hardware engineers to support secure communications and SIGINT radio product lines.
• Contribute examples and documentation of prior microcontroller-based designs to support design reviews and knowledge sharing.
• Ensure designs meet the requirements of a heavy engineering design and manufacturing environment, including reliability and producibility considerations.

Essential Skills

• 10+ years of digital hardware design experience, including FPGA-based hardware design.
• Strong proficiency in schematic capture and digital circuit design.
• Hands-on experience with microcontroller-based hardware design, particularly STM
  32 or PSoC5 (hardware design only).
• Experience designing small FPGA-based hardware solutions (for example, using Lattice devices), without requiring VHDL or Verilog development.
• Proven capability in switch-mode power supply design in the 5–10 watt range, with 12–48 volt inputs and 3.3/5 volt outputs.
• Experience designing point-of-load power supplies, including low drop-out (LDO) regulators.
• RS-422 hardware interface design experience.
• Gigabit Ethernet hardware interface design experience using simple adapter chips.
• Proficiency with Altium for schematic capture and PCB-related design tasks.
• Mid-level overall experience (approximately 10–15 years) with demonstrated examples of simple microcontroller-based hardware designs.
• Solid understanding of digital electronics, hardware design, and digital circuits in a product development context.
• Experience in electrical engineering or closely related discipline, with strong practical design skills.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience working on secure communications and SIGINT (signals intelligence) radio hardware is beneficial.
• Familiarity with low-speed serial interfaces, including stereo RS ports and related digital interfaces.
• Experience collaborating with PCB layout engineers in a tightly integrated design and manufacturing environment.
• Exposure to designing products for mission-critical or safety-critical applications is an advantage.
• Ability to document designs clearly and participate effectively in design reviews.
• Strong problem-solving skills and a methodical approach to debugging and…