Senior Electronics / Embedded Hardware Engineer

CF Systems Pty Ltd; City of Melbourne; On-site; AUD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

CF Systems Pty Ltd in Melbourne is seeking a Senior Electronics / Embedded Hardware Engineer to own the electronics of our building automation platform, from embedded Linux on the controller board to RS-485 modules. Take designs from concept through schematic, layout, prototype, compliance, production test and volume manufacture.

Work alongside the firmware and platform team so hardware, I/O module firmware and the controller software evolve together.

Qualifications

• Degree in electrical or electronic engineering or equivalent experience.
• Several years designing mixed-signal embedded hardware with volume production.
• Fluency with EDA tools (Altium or KiCad) including multi-layer and controlled-impedance layouts.
• Experience integrating Ethernet PHYs, magnetics, Wi‑Fi modules with regulatory constraints.
• Hands-on experience with RS-485 or similar industrial serial buses and isolated I/O.
• Experience designing production test rigs and test software.

Responsibilities

• Own the electronics for our building automation platform from the embedded Linux controller to RS-485 I/O modules.
• Take designs from concept through schematic, layout, prototype, compliance, production test and volume manufacture.
• Design and revise controller hardware around an embedded Linux SoC, including power, Ethernet, Wi‑Fi, RS-485, RTC, storage and status indicators.
• Write and maintain firmware for I/O modules and support in-field firmware updates.
• Define power architecture for 24 V field supply and safe relay states on power loss.
• Build production test rigs, fixtures, and test sequences; support hardware-in-the-loop tests.

Skills

Embedded hardware design

Mixed-signal design

Firmware collaboration

Electrical safety compliance

Problem solving

Education

Degree in electrical or electronic engineering

Tools

Altium Designer

KiCad

Scope / logic analyzer

Job description

Senior Electronics / Embedded Hardware Engineer

Own the electronics for our building automation platform, from the embedded Linux controller board to the RS-485 I/O modules it supervises. Take designs from concept through schematic, layout, prototype, compliance, production test and volume manufacture. Work alongside the firmware and platform team so hardware, I/O module firmware and the controller software evolve together.

Key responsibilities

Design and revise the controller hardware around an embedded Linux system-on-module: power input and protection, Ethernet PHY and magnetics, Wi-Fi module and antenna integration, RS-485 transceivers, RTC, storage and status indication.

Design I/O module hardware: relay outputs, digital inputs, and universal inputs covering 0 to 10 V, 4 to 20 mA, thermistor and dry-contact sensing.

Specify and validate RS-485 bus design including termination, biasing, isolation, surge protection and cable length limits for multi-drop installations.

Write and maintain the microcontroller firmware for the I/O modules, including the serial protocol, CRC framing, and the in-field firmware update path used by the controller.

Define power architecture for 24 V AC/DC field supply, brown-out and power-failure behaviour, and safe relay states on loss of power.

Design and build production test rigs and bench fixtures: bed-of-nails or connector-based jigs, automated functional test sequences, calibration of analog channels, and pass/fail reporting.

Support the software team's automated hardware-in-the-loop tests with fixtures that exercise real I/O, serial links and network interfaces.

Run design verification: signal integrity on Ethernet and RS-485, RF performance of the Wi-Fi section, thermal, EMC pre-compliance, environmental and long-duration soak testing.

Own the manufacturing hand-off: BOMs, assembly drawings, pick-and-place data, test procedures and firmware programming steps, and work with the contract manufacturer through pilot runs and yield issues.

Manage component lifecycle, obsolescence and second sourcing across the product range.

About you

Degree in electrical or electronic engineering, or equivalent experience.

Several years designing mixed-signal embedded hardware that has shipped in volume, including at least one product taken through contract manufacturing.

Fluency with a professional EDA tool such as Altium or KiCad, including multi-layer and controlled-impedance layout.

Experience integrating Ethernet PHYs and magnetics, and Wi-Fi modules with their antenna, matching and regulatory constraints.

Hands-on experience with RS-485 or similar industrial serial buses, and with isolated, protected field I/O.

Experience designing production test rigs and writing the test software that drives them.

Embedded C for microcontrollers such as STM32 and ESP32, and comfort debffdugging protocol traffic with a scope and logic analyser.

Working knowledge of switch-mode and linear power supply design and protection for industrial inputs.

Familiarity with EMC, electrical safety and radio compliance requirements for industrial or building control equipment.

Ability to write clear specifications, test reports and manufacturing documentation.

Nice to Have

Experience integrating a Linux system-on-module onto a custom carrier board.

Knowledge of BACnet, Modbus or other building automation protocols.

Exposure to HVAC, lighting or energy metering applications and the sensors and actuators they use.

Design for manufacture and test experience, including yield improvement with an external contract manufacturer.