Senior Electronics Design Engineer, Laboratory Instruments

About the role

Hands-on senior designer in a mission-driven electronics team developing the next generation of material-characterisation laboratory instruments and sustaining the existing product range. You will own subsystems from requirements to verified hardware: low-noise detection front-ends, power distribution, MCU- and FPGA-based control boards, and the integration of cables, actuators and motors. You bring the two things the team needs most: a structured product-design approach and high-speed digital / Xilinx FPGA capability.

What you will do

• Design and verify circuits for the new instrument: low-noise analogue front-ends, mixed-signal, power and control boards.

• Own high-speed digital and FPGA/SoC (Xilinx Zynq) design, and PCB design in Altium 365 to IPC standards.

• Take technical ownership of the electronics architecture for your subsystems, from early concept through prototype, verification and product release.

• Run the product-design process for your subsystems: hardware and product requirements (HRS/PRS), design proposals, design reviews, DFMEA, verification plans and reports.

• Prototype quickly — breadboards, proto and rework boards — to validate concepts ahead of full PCBA spins.

• Bring up, debug and validate boards on the bench with the firmware team; solder, modify and test hardware yourself.

• Own the electrical BOM, component datasheets and the related safety/EMC considerations; support DFM/DFA as designs move from prototype to production.

• Sustain released products: obsolescence and alternates, manufacturing and field issues, root cause.

• Work with optics, mechanics, firmware, software and scientists to prove out designs; coordinate cross-functional issue resolution.

Essential

• Degree in electrical/electronic engineering or a closely related discipline; 5+ years of design engineering in instrumentation or test & measurement products.

• Mixed-signal design in a low-noise environments.

• Digital hardware: MCU-based control boards and communication interfaces — 1G/10GEthernet, USB, SPI, I²C, UART/RS-232, RS-485, CAN, PCIe.

• High-speed multilayer (8+ layer) digital design from schematic to PCB, including DDR3/DDR4 memory interfaces; FPGA/SoC design on Xilinx Zynq in VHDL or Verilog.

• Schematic and PCB design in Altium 365 to IPC-2221 / IPC-7351 with managed-library and version-control discipline; design for manufacture and assembly with a contract manufacturer, including DFM checks (e.g. Valor NPI) and Gerber review (e.g. ViewMate).

• Hands-on PCBA bring-up, test and troubleshooting with digital oscilloscopes, DVMs, spectrum, and logic analysers; test rigs and test plans; disciplined root-cause analysis. Not afraid of practical work — tinkering with circuits and debugging on your own initiative.

• EMC and product safety for laboratory equipment: IEC 61326-1 and IEC 61010-1, through to passing compliance testing.

• Structured product-design approach: requirements, design reviews, DFMEA, verification plans and reports.

• Obsolescence management and sustaining of released products.

• System-integration mindset: how a board fits the rest of the system — cabling, connectivity, harnessing, system diagrams — not only what it does.

Desirable

• Experience with power supply design.

• Working with suppliers and manufacturers: quotes, cost comparisons, assembly options.

• Familiarity with PLM and task-tracking tools.

• Git and Git-based workflows; lean product development with Jira and Confluence.

• Applied use of AI tools and agentic workflows in engineering work

• UV instruments and high-voltage lamp drivers; thermal control and thermal-equipment design.

How we work

• Analytical and data-driven, with attention to detail; sees both the small and the big picture.

• Task- and goal-oriented and well organised; works independently or as part of a larger team; comfortable in a high-paced, hands-on hardware environment.

• Communicates clearly in writing and in person; adaptable across several projects with shifting priorities and deadlines.

• Open-minded and confident to push back on design changes and tasks when the evidence says so.

• A problem-solver and fixer: not afraid to break things, cut to the cause and debug quickly.

• Brings energy, mentors others and helps grow the team.

What we offer

• A well-equipped personal bench, all the test equipment and software you need.

• A lab and instrument set-up that is being built now — you will help shape it.

• Cross-discipline project teams; an electronics team of two engineers plus placement students; direct influence on the next-generation instruments.