Embedded Firmware / Hardware Design Engineer (Early Career)
Posting Duration
This posting will be open for application submissions for a minimum of seven (7) calendar days, including the ‘posting date’. Sandia reserves the right to extend the posting date at any time.
What Your Job Will Be Like
We are seeking an R&D Embedded FW/HW Design Engineer to join a multidisciplinary team that is designing and developing advanced components, subsystems, and systems for national defense programs. General responsibilities for electrical engineers range from conceptual design, detailed design (a combination of analog, digital, embedded firmware, schematic capture, board layout), analysis, overseeing fabrication of hardware, defining and executing qualification/testing plans, field support, as well as project management. Successful candidates will work in a team environment with opportunities to acquire increasing levels of responsibility.
On any given day, you may be called on to:
- Design analog front end signal conditioning circuits to prepare an analog input for digitization;
- Programming of FPGAs or microcontrollers to collect/organize data from various ICs/sensors via any manner of serial/parallel communication protocols (e.g., SPI, I2C, USB, 8b10b) and disseminate that data in a multitude of ways (e.g., serial outputs such as USB, UART, NRZL, biphase);
- Perform hands-on test and debug of circuitry;
- Develop documentation of a given design and give technical presentations to peers/managers;
- Design and develop specific manufacturing design requirements (i.e., PC board material, trace impedances, routing requirements, PC board stack-up, etc) and oversight of the manufacturing of PC boards;
- Create software allowing customers to configure or download data from our embedded instrumentation systems, and view and analyze that data in novel ways;
- Develop a system-level understanding of the collected data and support for anomaly resolution.
This position involves being a member of 3-10 person interdisciplinary design teams and supporting multiple programs/teams simultaneously. Travel to test facilities can be common feature of the job, depending on the program being supported, the job may require up to 25% travel.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
- Technical knowledge and competencies appropriate to the position.
- Thorough knowledge of and applied experience with scientific and engineering methods and with the discipline’s standards for the ethical conduct of research.
- Thorough knowledge of and experience with designing, planning, and executing research, design, and development projects.
- Demonstrated knowledge of and experience with implementing Sandia policies affecting research, design, and development activities, projects, or initiatives.
- Demonstrated ability to team across disciplines.
Qualifications We Require
- Bachelor’s degree in relevant discipline, or equivalent: higher degree (MS, PhD) in relevant discipline; or engineering or scientific experience and/or achievements that demonstrate the knowledge, skills and ability to perform independent research and development
- Ability to obtain and maintain a DOE Q security clearance
- Ability to travel
Qualifications We Desire
- Active DOE Q security clearance
- Demonstrated experience with circuit design and analysis
- Demonstrated experience with embedded firmware design (preferably VHDL) and testbed development
- Proven experience with design and analysis tools (e.g., Matlab and LabVIEW), analog simulation codes (e.g., LTSpice), and HDL simulation codes (e.g.,ModelSim)
- Hands-on experience testing and de-bugging circuitry, with clear mastery of tools such as oscilloscopes, logic/network/spectrum analyzers, function/pulse generators, etc.
- Knowledge of and experience with PC-board layout tools (e.g., EAGLE PCB or Mentor Graphics), and PC-board fabrication and assembly design principals.
- An obvious passion for engineering and building new things
- Strong communication skills (especially technical writing skills), interpersonal skills, and the ability to influence others
- Ability to juggle competing priorities and deadlines
About Our Team
Sandia California's Telemetry and Stockpile Support Department develops and maintains telemetry systems in support of the nuclear deterrence surveillance mission. Telemetry systems has responsibility for all aspects of telemetry development, including conceptual design, prototype development and testing, and transitioning production work to DOE production agencies. Telemetry systems integrate precision sensor electronics and signal conditioning with RF communication systems to support flight testing of Joint Test Assemblies. Work is performed by teams of electrical engineers and mechanical engineers, in partnership with quality engineering, reliability engineering, and project management. Current development mission assignments include the W88 ALT370 JTA8 project, the W78 JTA6R project, and the W76 JTA3 project. Stockpile support oversees the quality, reliability, and availability of all qualified telemetry systems that are being used in the on-going surveillance mission.
Position Information
This Limited Term Employee (LTE) position is a temporary position for one year term, which may be renewed at Sandia's discretion up to a maximum of seven years.
Individuals in LTE positions may bid on regular Sandia positions as internal candidates, and in some cases may be converted to regular career positions during their term if warranted by ongoing operational needs, continuing availability of funds, and satisfactory job performance.
About Sandia
Sandia National Laboratories is the nation’s premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation, with teams of specialists focused on cutting-edge work in a broad array of areas. Some of the main reasons we love our jobs:
- Challenging work with amazing impact that contributes to security, peace, and freedom worldwide
- Extraordinary co-workers
- Some of the best tools, equipment, and research facilities in the world
- Career advancement and enrichment opportunities
- Flexible schedules, generous vacations, strong medical and other benefits, competitive 401k, learning opportunities, relocation assistance and amenities aimed at creating a solid work/life balance*
World-changing technologies. Life-changing careers. Learn more about Sandia at: http://www.sandia.gov
*These benefits vary by job classification.
Security Clearance
Sandia is required by DOE to conduct a pre-employment drug test and background review that includes checks of personal references, credit, law enforcement records, and employment/education verifications. Applicants for employment need to be able to obtain and maintain a DOE Q-level security clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship. If you hold more than one citizenship (i.e., of the U.S. and another country), your ability to obtain a security clearance may be impacted.
Applicants offered employment with Sandia are subject to a federal background investigation to meet the requirements for access to classified information or matter if the duties of the position require a DOE security clearance. Substance abuse or illegal drug use, falsification of information, criminal activity, serious misconduct or other indicators of untrustworthiness can cause a clearance to be denied or terminated by DOE, resulting in the inability to perform the duties assigned and subsequent termination of employment.
EEO
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status and any other protected class under state or federal law.