Electrical Engineer, Hardware Development

Job Summary

Vitamix is seeking a Hardware Development Engineer to research, develop, and provide technical support for electro‑mechanical systems in both commercial and household products. The engineer will design and integrate control boards, embedded firmware, motors, EMI filters, cord sets, wiring, and other electro‑mechanical components to meet performance, cost, and schedule objectives. Responsibilities include participating in the NPD Stage‑Gate process, ensuring product reliability, safety compliance, and EMC/EMI design goals.

• Provide technical support to Engineering, Production, and Quality on electro‑mechanical components.
• Assist in developing control systems.
• Assist in designing electro‑mechanical components.
• Manage the Bill of Materials process.
• Perform various change control activities.
• Develop embedded systems control and firmware.
• Coordinate and assist in developing test plans and testing electro‑mechanical components and/or products.
• Support change activity concerning circuit boards and electro‑mechanical components on existing product lines.
• Identify and implement performance, quality improvement, and cost‑saving opportunities related to motors, EMI filters, cord sets, circuit boards, and wiring.
• Assist in ensuring all relevant technical and agency system requirements, internally and externally, are met for new and existing products.
• Participate in FMEA sessions, contributing to identification of safety‑critical failure modes and design controls for new and existing products.
• Support UL/IEC safety compliance activities, including design‑to‑standard, test preparation, and coordination with certification labs.
• Apply EMC/EMI design principles, including grounding, filtering, and shielding strategies to achieve pre‑compliance and agency requirements.
• Execute applicable deliverables within the NPD Stage‑Gate (STEP) process, ensuring EE documentation and design artifacts are completed and approved at each gate review.
• Support electrical reliability activities, including derating analysis, thermal analysis, and DVP/PVP test execution.
• Perform motor control hardware tasks including thermistor/TCO setpoint evaluation and motor fault response validation in support of product programs.

• 2‑4 years of engineering experience.

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or related field required.
• Master’s degree in electrical engineering is a plus.

• Proficiency in MS Office.
• Previous experience using Pro‑Engineer or similar 3D modeling software.
• Experience with Electrical CAD (Altium) desired.
• Working knowledge of ERP systems such as Oracle and/or SAP.
• Fundamental knowledge of motors (Universal, Induction, Permanent Magnet, BLDC).
• Experience with communications and wireless technologies.
• Familiarity and/or experience with PLC, HMI, Control Panel Design, and PCB Layout.
• Knowledge of motor control hardware, including motor controllers, power stages, MOSFETs/gate drivers, thermistors, and TCO devices.
• Experience with sensor technologies and implementation.
• Proficiency in schematic capture and PCB layout using Altium Designer, with consideration for noise, thermal performance, signal integrity, and DFM requirements.
• Analog and digital circuit design fundamentals, including independent design of analog/digital subcircuits and MCU support circuitry.
• Knowledge of electrical safety standards (UL/IEC) and product compliance requirements.
• Understanding of EMC/EMI fundamentals.
• Familiarity with FMEA methodology and ability to participate in risk analysis activities.
• Proficiency in using oscilloscopes, digital multimeters, power supplies, and other lab equipment for circuit debug, validation, and data collection.
• Understanding of the NPD Stage‑Gate process…