Electrical R&D Engineer

Approval of remote and hybrid work is not guaranteed regardless of work location.

For additional information on remote work at Penn State, see Notice to Out of State Applicants.

Your working location will be fully on-site in State College, PA. This position will require periodic travel to remote locations.

We are searching for an Electrical Engineer to join our Deployables and Undersea Connectivity (DUC) Department at the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) at Penn State University. The mission of the DUC Department is to develop and mature technical methods and devices to connect platforms in the undersea domain, as well as, bridge to above the sea-air boundary, support tethered and untethered communication techniques between stationary or moving undersea platforms, and employ these capabilities to solve the most challenging undersea communications problems.

ARL is an authorized DoD Skill Bridge partner and welcomes all transitioning military members to apply.

• Design, build, operate, and maintain electrical, RF, fiber optic, and/or WiFi based circuits for integration in manned and unmanned underwater test vehicles or peripheral test facilities and equipment
• Work with a team of engineers and technicians to creatively evaluate and design solutions to complex technical problems
• Update, modernize, and maintain existing test and evaluation systems to ensure reliable operation
• Meet with sponsors, faculty and staff engineers to define the scope of task requirements and schedule constraints
• Communicate with Principal Investigators (PIs) and project managers to provide progress reports
• Facilitate the identification of resources needed to accomplish the task/project

• Manage projects of small or moderate size and scope; make substantial contributions to determining feasibility of goals and objectives; responsible for assuring quality, cost effectiveness and timeliness of assigned projects
• Plan and perform tasks of a larger scope and lead specific tasks within the project scope; assemble research team members
• Manage multiple or large projects; plan, schedule, conduct or coordinate detailed phases of the work of a major project
• Provide innovative problem-solving approaches to enhance organizational capabilities; use peer network to expand technical capabilities and identify new research opportunities
• Understand broad strategic objectives and contribute to them; nurture and maintain relationships with major customers/grantors of external research and development grant funding

• Candidates should have experience with electronics and electrical testing and troubleshooting, digital and analog circuit design, schematic creation, PCB layout, microcontrollers, FPGA, embedded computing, firmware development and test systems
• Heavy emphasis on problem solving skills, identifying technical issues that can be addressed for long-term success. Ability to provide technical rigor and discipline to problem solving process
• Effective communication and teamwork skills demonstrated by conveying information and collaborating with others to drive decisions toward action

• Support field testing of vehicles and test platforms which could include travel to support test events.
• LabVIEW, Matlab, Solidworks, NX, Xilinx Vivado, Xilinx Vitis, Micropchip MPLAB, Git, CAN, Serial, UDP comms, SSH, SCPI and interfaces
• Ability to learn and work across disciplines (mechanical, electrical, software, logistics) in a small team environment of engineers, technicians, and US Navy personnel
• Very high attention to detail
• Current eligibility for access to classified information at the Secret level or higher and may be subject to a government background investigation to upgrade clearance eligibility, if required

If filled as R&D Engineer
- Electrical (ARL) - Advanced Professional, this position requires:

Bachelor's Degree
- Engineering or Science5+ years of relevant experience

Required

Certifications:

None If filled as R&D Engineer
- Electrical (ARL) - Intermediate Professional, this position requires:

Bachelor's Degree
- Engineering or Science2+ years of relevant experience

Required

Certifications:

None

ARL's purpose is to research and develop innovative solutions to challenging scientific, engineering, and technology problems in support of the Navy, the Intel Community (IC), and…