Lead Electronics Engineer - Life Sciences Instrumentation

NIF; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary & benefits

Job summary

Portal Biotech in London seeks a Lead Electronics Engineer to lead the Platform Development hardware team, based at Scale Space, White City. You will manage an interdisciplinary group building and testing electronic components for nanopore sensing on-site.

You will drive design, simulation and prototyping, collaborate across electronics, mechanical and software groups, optimise low-noise electronics, and liaise with external partners for PCB/chip design and testing.

Qualifications

• M.Sc. or Ph.D. in Electronics / Electrical Engineering with 3+ years experience.
• Strong background in analogue electronics, instrumentation, low-noise design, and small-signal measurement.
• Experience with PCB design tools and multilayer PCBs, signal integrity and shielding.
• Hands-on prototyping, testing and debugging PCBs and PCBAs with lab equipment.
• Proficiency in C, C++, Python for test automation and hardware bring-up.
• Ability to collaborate across multidisciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead an Instrument Team to conceive, develop and test prototypes.
• Integrate electronics with mechanical and software for biosensing platforms.
• Support lab automation through electronic and mechanical devices.
• Define electronics, mechanical and software engineering needs cross-functionally.
• Optimise circuit layouts and shielding to minimise noise.
• Perform circuit simulations and modelling with Spice.
• Document designs, tests, and write requirements and reports.
• Liaise with external partners on PCB/chip design, fabrication, testing.
• Stay updated with trends in precision electronics and sensors.
• Formulate actions and improvement plans with collaborators.

Skills

Low-noise design

Instrumentation

PCB design

Signal integrity

C programming

C++ programming

Python

Test automation

Team leadership

Hardware bring-up

Education

M.Sc. or Ph.D. in Electronics / Electrical Engineering

Tools

Altium

Allegro

Cadence

DipTrace

Job description

About Portal Biotech

Portal Biotech is developing next-generation bench-top instruments for proteomics, building on decades of in-house expertise in nanopore technology. By analysing full-length protein molecules at the single-molecule level, our platform delivers rapid, real-time information on protein identity, abundance, and structure. This insight opens frontiers in drug discovery, diagnostics, and fundamental research, helping scientists and clinicians to better understand human health and disease.

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced and versatile Lead Electronics Engineer to join our Platform Development (/Hardware) team. Based in our headquarters in Scale Space, White City, London, and reporting to the Sr. Director Platform Development, this primarily on-site role will involve managing an interdisciplinary team of engineers building and testing electronic components and systems for current-based nanopore sensing.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Manage an Instrument Team of expert engineers to conceive, develop and test instrument prototypes based on high precision, low noise amplifiers.
• Integrate electronic and mechanical solutions developed internally or in partnership with external organisations into biosensing and nanopore platforms.
• Support lab automation efforts through implementation of electronic and mechanical devices.
• Work cross-functionally to establish electronics, mechanical and software engineering needs.
• Optimise circuit layouts and develop shielding techniques to minimise noise and interference.
• Implement signal processing techniques (hardware/software) to enhance signal-to-noise ratio.
• Perform circuit simulations and modelling using tools such as Spice.
• Document designs and test results, and write requirements, specifications and technical reports.
• Formulate actions and improvement plans with internal and external collaborators.
• Liaise with external partners on subjects including PCB/chip design, fabrication, and testing.
• Stay updated with emerging trends in precision electronics and sensors.

Qualification

Required

• M.Sc. or Ph.D. in Electronics / Electrical Engineering with 3+ years experience.
• Strong background in analogue electronics, with particular emphasis on instrumentation, low-noise design, and small-signal measurement systems.
• Experience with PCB design EDA tools (Altium, Allegro, Cadence, DipTrace, etc.) and in designing multilayer PCBs, with good understanding of signal integrity, grounding, shielding, and noise mitigation.
• Experience characterising and debugging electronic systems and components such as amplifiers, DACs, ADCs, power supplies, and digital interfaces.
• Hands-on experience prototyping, testing and debugging PCBs and PCBAs using electronic lab equipment (oscilloscopes, power supplies, logic analysers, spectrum analysers etc.).
• Demonstrated ability to work across a broad range of engineering problems, from concept design and simulation through prototyping, test, integration, and system-level troubleshooting.
• Working level proficiency in C, C++, Python for test automation and hardware bring-up.
• Good communication skills and ability to collaborate with multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong problem-solving abilities and attention to detail.

Desirable

• Proficiency in analogue or mixed signal ASIC design.
• Hands-on experience with microcontrollers, embedded control systems, and supervisory circuitry.
• Familiarity with life sciences instrumentation and medical devices.

We offer a competitive salary and benefits package.