Staff Electrical Engineer - RF/EMI/EMC
Apptronik · Austin, TX · 2 wk ago
On-siteEngineeringFull-time
Essential Duties and Responsibilities or Key Accountabilities
- Develop and execute comprehensive validation and test plans, design necessary test fixtures, and execute rigorous testing to confirm compliance with performance specifications and regulatory standards (e.g., FCC, CE, UL).
- Own architecture and component selection for RF communication subsystems.
- Collaborate with leadership, program management, and cross-functional teams to plan and execute company strategy.
- Innovate by bringing new core technologies, test practices, and processes into electrical engineering developments.
- Define, simulate, and verify electronics and electrical system requirements.
- Design, simulate, implement, and test multi-layer mixed signal PCBAs.
- Rapid prototyping of electrical systems at both system and board levels.
- Generate design documentation such as schematics, block diagrams, test plans and procedures, fabrication and assembly drawings.
- Design hardware to meet functional safety requirements, implementing redundant systems, fail-safe mechanisms, and diagnostic features to meet or exceed industry safety standards.
- Conduct performance benchmarking and power analysis to optimize the hardware for maximum efficiency and thermal management.
- Participate in the debugging and root cause analysis related to hardware and software defect resolution.
- Own the entire lifecycle of electronics and electrical systems from initial concept and architecture definition through design, prototyping, validation, production release, change requests, and ongoing support.
- Mentor junior and senior engineers.
- Manage 3rd party relationships with vendors, contract manufacturers, and external design services.
Skills and Requirements
- Demonstrated experience taking a product through FCC (Part 15b) and CE radiated and conducted emissions testing.
- Experience with 47 CFR 15.109 and IEC 61000-6 series standards.
- Experience with RF module selection and integration, particularly for 2x2 (or 4x4) Triband Wifi (5, 6, 6E, 7), high-throughput/data rate wifi systems, mobile device RF design, cellular 5G (carrier and private).
- Experience with wifi drivers for IEEE 802.11.
- Experience with antenna integration. Can inform on antenna selection or design, antenna placement, and interaction of antennas and surrounding materials.
- Experience with RF system performance optimization (mixed HW / SW / FW configuration).
- Excellent communication (verbal & written); will be expected to develop detailed build assembly instructions and diagrams.
- Excellent problem-solving and hardware debugging skills.
- Hands-on experience with prototyping and testing, including the use of lab equipment.
- Experience with robotics or designing electronics for lightweight, space-constrained systems is a significant plus.
- Nice-to-have: RF firmware/software experience, Nvidia Orin NX, Nvidia Orin AGX, Mobile robotics experience is a plus (antennas on robot vacuums or industrial AMRs), Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201.
Education and/or Experience
- Bachelors, Masters, or PhD degree (or equivalent) in Electrical Engineering or related field.
- 8+ years of experience in electronics development.
Physical Requirements
- Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
- Must be able to lift 15 pounds at times
- Vision to read printed materials and a computer screen
- Hearing and speech to communicate