Senior Electrical Systems Engineer

SWITCH; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

SWITCH is seeking an experienced electrical engineer to own the complete electrical lifecycle for avionics systems, from defining architectures to release, ensuring safety and reliability under demanding conditions.

You will design power management, create PCB schematics, integrate batteries, BMS, flight controllers, and interfaces (CAN, UART, Ethernet), while applying EMI/EMC practices to improve power integrity and fault tolerance. Relocation to the Netherlands may be required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• Minimum 5 years in embedded electronics/avionics/high-reliability industries.
• Demonstrated success delivering hardware through full development lifecycle.
• Strong expertise in DC power, grounding, protection, and monitoring.
• Experience designing schematics and multilayer PCBs with Altium KiCad or comparable ECAD.

Responsibilities

• Develop electrical system architectures including power distribution, grounding concepts, load analysis, and critical load prioritization.
• Design power management and protection solutions covering undervoltage, overvoltage, reverse polarity, inrush, short-circuit, and UPS operation.
• Create schematics and multilayer PCBs for power electronics, avionics, sensing, timing, and mission-critical hardware.
• Integrate batteries, BMS, flight controllers, onboard computers, sensors, and payload systems.
• Define wiring harnesses, connector layouts, pin assignments, shielding, and interface control documentation.
• Implement and validate interfaces (CAN, UART, Ethernet, timing).
• Raise system reliability via EMI/EMC best practices, electrical isolation, derating, and fault injection validation.

Skills

Electrical systems

DC power

System architecture

PCB design

Hardware debugging

EMI/EMC

High-reliability engineering

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Altium Designer

KiCad

Job description

Mission

In this role, you will take ownership of the complete electrical lifecycle—from defining system architectures and designing embedded hardware to integration, validation, flight testing, and product release. You will ensure that avionic systems operate safely and reliably under demanding operating conditions, electrical disturbances, and subsystem failures while maintaining the highest standards of performance.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop complete electrical system architectures, including power distribution strategies, grounding concepts, load analysis, and prioritization of critical electrical loads.
• Design reliable power management and protection solutions covering undervoltage, overvoltage, reverse polarity, inrush current, short-circuit protection, and uninterrupted power operation.
• Create high-quality schematics and multilayer PCB designs for power electronics, avionics, sensing, timing, and mission-critical hardware.
• Integrate batteries, Battery Management Systems (BMS), flight controllers, onboard computers, communication modules, sensors, servos, and payload systems.
• Define wiring harnesses, connector layouts, pin assignments, shielding requirements, and interface control documentation.
• Implement and validate communication interfaces including CAN, UART, Ethernet, and precision timing interfaces.
• Increase system reliability by applying EMI/EMC best practices, electrical isolation, derating methodologies, power integrity improvements, and fault injection validation.

Required Experience & Skills

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Mechatronics, Avionics, or a related engineering discipline, or equivalent hands-on industry experience.
• Minimum 5 years of professional experience in embedded electronics, avionics, robotics, aerospace, defense, or other high-reliability industries.
• Demonstrated success delivering electrical hardware through the full development lifecycle, from architecture and design to validation, troubleshooting, and product release.
• Strong expertise in DC power systems, electrical architectures, grounding strategies, protection circuits, and monitoring.
• Experience designing schematics and multilayer PCBs using Altium Designer, KiCad, or comparable ECAD platforms.
• Practical experience with PCB bring-up, board debugging, rework, laboratory instrumentation, and hardware failure analysis.

Candidate Profile

• Systems-oriented thinker who connects hardware design decisions to overall platform performance
• High ownership, accountability, and resilience in complex development environments
• Comfortable working in fast-paced environment.

*This role is located in the Netherlands; therefore, candidates should be open to relocation if currently based elsewhere.