Electrical Engineer - Hardware

Kopin Corporation; Reston (VA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Kopin Corporation in Reston, VA is seeking a hands-on Hardware Electrical Engineer to design and bring up the electronics behind our microdisplay products. You will lead boards from schematic through prototype bring-up and into production, collaborating with firmware, FPGA, optics, and manufacturing teams.

This role emphasizes working with display driver boards, interface boards, and hardware that connects displays to processors, SOMs, cameras, and sensors, including testing, prototyping, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 5+ years of hands-on PCB-level hardware design experience.
• US Citizenship or permanent residency due to ITAR compliance.

Responsibilities

• Design schematics and guide PCB layout for display driver and compute boards.
• Bring up and debug hardware in the lab, including power-on and functional tests.
• Integrate boards with microdisplays, SOMs, processors, cameras, and sensors.
• Build prototypes, test setups, and fixtures to evaluate concepts and verify designs.
• Define electrical interfaces with mechanical/firmware teams and specify pinouts and power budgets.
• Maintain schematics, BOMs, test procedures, and ECOs under revision control.
• Support design reviews, contract manufacturer builds, failure analysis, and production transitions.

Skills

PCB hardware design

Altium Designer

Power supply design

Digital interfaces SPI/I2C/UART/USB/Mi

MCU/Processor/SOM/FPGA design

Bench skills: oscilloscope/LA

Soldering & rework

Ability to explain trade-offs

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Master's degree in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Oscilloscope

Logic Analyzer

Power Supply

Job description

**This in an onsite, full-time position located in our Reston, VA. facility**

The Hardware Electrical Engineer designs and brings up the electronics behind Kopin's microdisplay products: display driver boards, interface boards, and the hardware that connects our displays to processors, SOMs, cameras, and sensors. These boards go into weapon sights, head-mounted displays, FPV goggles, and related products.

This is a hands-on role. The engineer takes boards from schematic through prototype bring-up, debug, and into production, working closely with firmware, FPGA, optics, mechanical, and manufacturing.

JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Design schematics and guide PCB layout for display driver, interface, and compute boards, including component selection and power design.
• Bring up and debug new hardware in the lab, including power‑on, functional testing, and troubleshooting power, signal, and interface issues.
• Integrate boards with microdisplays, SOMs and processors, cameras, and sensors, working with firmware and FPGA engineers to get systems running.
• Build prototypes, test setups, and fixtures to evaluate concepts and verify designs.
• Define electrical interfaces with the mechanical, optics, and firmware teams, including pinouts, connectors, and power budgets.
• Maintain schematics, BOMs, test procedures, and ECOs under revision control.
• Support design reviews, contract manufacturer builds, failure analysis, and the transition of designs into production.

MINIMUM JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Kopin is a defense contractor and is subject to International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). You must be a US Citizen or Permanent Resident (green card holder) to be considered for this position.
• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 5+ years of hands‑on PCB‑level hardware design for electronic products, including taking boards from schematic through prototype bring‑up.
• Experience with Altium Designer or comparable schematic and layout tools.
• Working knowledge of power supply design and common digital interfaces such as SPI, I2C, UART, USB, MIPI, or LVDS.
• Experience designing boards around microcontrollers, processors, SOMs, or FPGAs.
• Hands‑on bench skills with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power supplies, soldering, and rework.
• Able to explain design trade‑offs, risks, and debug results to engineering leadership and cross‑functional teams.

PREFERRED JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Master's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• Experience with displays, microdisplays, AR/VR, head-mounted displays, weapon sights, or other electro-optical products.
• Basic firmware or scripting skills, such as C or Python, for board bring‑up and test.
• Experience with high-speed interfaces, display or video pipelines, or FPGA-based designs.
• Experience with rugged or military hardware, including EMI/EMC, ESD, environmental testing, or MIL‑STD requirements.
• Flex or rigid-flex design experience.
• Familiarity with DFM/DFT practices and IPC standards.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Able to rotate from sitting to standing, lift up to 20 pounds, and gown according to clean room protocol.

Kopin Corporation is an Equal Employment Opportunity and Aff… it. If an applicant needs a reasonable accommodation due to a disability with the application process, there is additional information on our website at www.kopin.com/careers.