Hardware Design Engineer

$90,000 - $110,000/Yr

Unigen Corporation - Newark, CA

Full-time - Mid Level

Newark, CA

Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing

About the position

We are looking for a system/board-level hardware design engineer to join our team. This position is focused on product development and requires a thorough background in developing high-end systems. The responsibilities will include board and system level design, PCB layout, simulations, component selection, and providing support to manufacturing and customer support on various activities. The ideal candidate will be involved in architecting, designing, and developing Flash-based SSD and DRAM (DDR3/4) modules, determining electrical, thermal/environmental, and performance characteristics of product designs, and generating PCB layout guidelines. The engineer will perform board bring-up and collaborate with firmware and logic engineers to ensure product functionality. They will also validate the physical feasibility of designs and prepare technical documentation, including engineering specifications. Additionally, the role involves identifying the physical needs of product enclosures or mechanical parts and working with mechanical engineers to design product enclosures that align with electrical designs. Support for manufacturing and customer support on various issues will also be a key responsibility. In terms of purchasing and testing, the engineer will select components to comply with sourcing strategies and meet customer requirements. They will provide technical advice to the purchasing team and ensure that design solutions comply with regulations for sales in regional markets, including EMC/EMI standards. The engineer will create test and debug instructions for manufacturing to aid in testing and troubleshooting newly designed boards, as well as analyze root causes and solve issues with engineering test equipment. The role also requires the development and maintenance of product design documentation, including electrical design documentation such as product schematics, electrical BOM, PCB Fab Package, and mechanical design documentation like pick-and-place XY files and critical components inspection documents. The engineer will provide technical support on design solutions for products, purchasing, and sales to the internal team, assisting with manufacturing sign-off on PCB Panel Arrays and developing packaging instructions and special handling documents. Other duties related to hardware design and product development may be assigned as needed.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and implement electrical and mechanical (product) design solutions for Unigen products.
• Architect, design and develop Flash-based SSD and DRAM (DDR3/4) modules.
• Determine electrical, thermal/environmental and performance characteristics of a product design.
• Capture PCB stack-up and impedance control for the design.
• Generate PCB layout guidelines.
• Perform board bring-up and work with firmware/logic engineers to ensure product functionality.
• Validate the physical feasibility of the design.
• Prepare technical documentation including engineering specifications.
• Provide documentation and technical support to the production department during the product sample and production stages.
• Identify the physical needs of the product's enclosure or mechanical parts for acceptance.
• Work with a mechanical engineer to design product enclosures and cross-check with electrical designs.
• Support Manufacturing and Customer Support on various issues.
• Create, develop, and implement product design solutions for purchasing and testing.
• Select components for purchasing to comply with sourcing strategy/policy and meet customer requirements/restrictions.
• Provide technical advice to the Purchasing team.
• Review and apply design solutions to comply with regulations to allow sales of products in regional markets, with EMC/EMI standards.
• Create test and debug instructions for Manufacturing to aid in testing/troubleshooting newly designed boards.
• Analyze root causes and solve issues with engineering test equipment.
• Determine and document clock test and reset signal test points.
• Develop and maintain product design documentation.
• Develop and deliver Electrical Design documentation: Product schematics, electrical BOM, PCB Fab Package, Design for Manufacturing (DFM), board bring-up instructions, assembly drawing, stack-up drawing PCBA, SI and PI test reports.
• Develop and deliver Mechanical Design documentation: Pick-and-place XY file, ODB file, critical components inspection documents.
• Develop and deliver label design and labeling instructions, packaging instructions/drawings/BOM, special handling/inspection documents, licensing agreements/LOAs.
• Provide technical support on design solutions for products, purchasing, and sales to the internal team.
• Assist with manufacturing sign-off on PCB Panel Array.
• Other duties and responsibilities related to hardware design and product development as assigned.

Requirements

• BS Eng. minimum in Electrical / Electronic Engineering.
• 3+ years of experience in designing boards.
• Experience in PCB design and schematics capture is required.
• Experience with system design (mechanical, electrical, electronics, thermal, and software aspects) is a plus.
• Experience in digital design (FPGAs) is a plus.
• Experience in embedded software development is a plus.
• Experience with volume electronics manufacturing is a plus.
• Minimum of 10 years of system/board level design experience designing and developing high-end, high-speed embedded platforms including the latest bus topologies, CPU, and memory interfaces.
• Excellent knowledge of high-speed (10Gbps or higher) design methodologies and simulation, including the latest bus technologies such as DDR3/4, SAS, SATA, PCIe, Toggle, ONFI, NVMe, USB.
• Excellent knowledge of high-speed clock circuit design, implementation, and measurements.
• Knowledge in high-speed simulation using HSpice, Hyperlinx, or similar tools and applying the concepts to board layout.
• Good interpersonal, organizational, and communication skills.
• Strong background in debugging, high-speed Timing, and Jitter analysis and measurement.
• Working knowledge of various EMC/EMI control methods and implementation at the PCB/component level.
• Working experience with various schematic entry tools and test/measurement equipment including high-speed, real-time oscilloscopes, network/spectrum analyzers, and logic analyzers.
• Strong system development experience with a holistic approach.
• Team player. Be able to share knowledge, learn from others, and support other groups within an organization.

Nice-to-haves

• FPGA logic development experience.
• MS in EE or CE (MS preferred).

Benefits

• Health insurance coverage.
• 401k benefit for retirement savings plan.