Graduate Development Engineer

SME Graduate Employment Ltd; Arun; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 34,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

On-the-job training

IET membership reimbursement

Job summary

SME Graduate Employment Ltd in the Arun area (near Arundel) invites graduates to join a small R&D team designing and developing electronic sub-systems for AC motor controllers used globally. You will work on embedded firmware for 32-bit MCUs, schematic capture, PCB design, design validation and integration testing.

The role offers hands-on training on the job, mentorship from a multi-disciplinary team, and potential career progression as the business scales with recent £4.4M investment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required (1st or 2:1) in Electrical, Electronic or Software Engineering.
• Must be able to commute to the Arun area (e.g., Arundel, Worthing, Littlehampton).
• Some knowledge of embedded web technologies is a plus but not essential.

Responsibilities

• Develop embedded firmware for 32-bit microcontrollers and PC-based applications.
• Perform schematic capture and PCB design tasks across projects.
• Conduct design validation and integration testing to ensure robust performance.

Skills

Embedded firmware

32-bit MCUs

PC-based applications

Schematic capture

PCB design

Integration testing

Education

Bachelor's degree (1st or 2:1) in Electrical/Electronic/Software Engineering

Tools

Schematic capture tools

PCB design tools

Git or similar version control

Job description

You'll be working on an exciting new technology that is set to disrupt the worldwide industrial drives market, enabling process optimisation in manufacturing industries through energy reduction that will significantly reduce operating costs and CO2 emissions.

The technology within the drive is highly innovative (only one other company in the world has commercially exploited it) as it allows direct conversion from fixed voltage, fixed frequency AC mains to a variable voltage, variable frequency output to the motor. It can also transfer energy to and from the load (motor).

You'll be working on the design and development of electronic sub-systems for a range of AC motor controllers ('drives') that are used in industrial processes across the world (80% of company output is exported).

Your work will include: embedded firmware for 32-bit microcontrollers and PC-based applications, schematic capture, PCB design, design validation, and integration testing.

The business has received investment to date totalling £4.4M to accelerate commercialisation. The investors are expecting the business to grow by a factor of ten over the next five years. So it's a good time to be joining them.

LEARNING, DEVELOPMENT, AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

Graduates have done well in the business: one was promoted to senior development engineer within 14 months. And the manager of the team was promoted internally.

You will be working as part of a small research and development team, comprising software, hardware and control engineers.

The team has a range of skills and experience covering power electronics, analogue and digital electronics, embedded software, motor control and cloud/web technologies. There is a lot that you can learn from them.

Training will be provided where the need has been identified (e.g schematic capture tools) although most training is 'on-the-job'.

The company supports membership of professional organisations and will reimburse annual membership fees (e.g IET membership).

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

• A 1st or 2:1 in Electrical, Electronic, or Software Engineering.
• You'll need to be based within commuting distance of the Arundel area; locations such as Brighton, Bognor, Chichester, Worthing, and Littlehampton are good, though you would probably need your own transport if not very local.
• Some knowledge of embedded web technologies would be ideal, but is not essential.

WHAT YOU'LL GET

A basic salary of between £(phone number removed). An incentive plan is in place that entitles employees to a bonus of 10% of base salary. Subject to hitting company performance targets, this will next be paid in November 2027