Electrical Engineer (Instrumentation, Data Acquisition, and Controls)

Spinor Energy Inc.; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Spinor Energy is hiring an Instrumentation, Data Acquisition and Controls Engineer to build the sensing and nervous system of operating superconducting magnets.

You will define how we measure electromagnetic, mechanical, and thermal states across cryogenic, high-field, high-voltage, and vacuum environments, selecting sensors and designing signal conditioning, calibration, and isolation for accurate measurements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience in electrical/related engineering.
• 2+ years hands-on instrumentation, data-acquisition, embedded-control, or mixed-signal systems.

Responsibilities

• Define measurement of electromagnetic, mechanical, and thermal states across cryogenic, high-field, high-voltage, and vacuum environments.
• Select sensors and design signal conditioning, filtering, calibration, isolation for accurate measurements.
• Develop synchronized embedded data-acquisition and control systems using microcontrollers, FPGAs, and software.
• Turn measurements into real-time state detection, fault protection, interlocks, and commands.
• Lead system bring-up, debugging, calibration, validation from sensor to control response.
• Integrate across magnet, power electronics, cryogenic, vacuum, mechanical, firmware, and controls engineering.

Skills

Electrical engineering

Embedded systems

Sensor interfaces

Analog electronics

A/D conversion

FPGA

STM32

Real-time systems

Education

Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or related

Tools

FPGAs

Embedded C/C++

RTOS

Job description

Build where superconductors, cryogenics, and megawatts meet

Spinor Energy's mission is to accelerate the global transition to renewable energy with breakthrough technology.

We’re building the real-life flux capacitor: Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES), a battery that stores electricity in the magnetic field of a superconducting coil instead of through chemical reactions. It never degrades, discharges megawatts in milliseconds, and is the most efficient form of energy storage ever conceived.

Our engineering spans four disciplines at once: fusion‑grade superconducting tape, megawatt‑scale high‑voltage power electronics, cryogenics, and vacuum systems. At Spinor, you'll get your hands on all of them.

Our founders came from SpaceX, where they designed Starlink solar arrays and helped scale production to 70 satellites per week. We are bringing the same first‑principles engineering, rapid iteration, and design‑for‑scale mindset to energy storage.

You will own consequential hardware architecture and first schematic through bring‑up, validation, and field deployment.

The role

We are hiring an Instrumentation, Data Acquisition and Controls Engineer to build the sensing and nervous system of operating superconducting magnets.

You will:

• Define how we measure the electromagnetic, mechanical, and thermal state of the system across cryogenic, high‑magnetic‑field, high‑voltage, and vacuum environments

• Select sensors and design the signal conditioning, filtering, calibration, digitization, and isolation required to produce accurate, reliable measurements

• Develop synchronized embedded data‑acquisition and control systems using microcontrollers, FPGAs, and software

• Turn measurements into real‑time state detection, fault protection, interlocks, and equipment commands

• Lead system bring‑up, debugging, calibration, and end‑to‑end validation from physical signal through control response

• Integrate across magnet, power‑electronics, cryogenic, vacuum, mechanical, firmware, and controls engineering

• Take ambiguous multi‑physics measurement challenges from first principles to dependable operation in the field

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, applied physics, another relevant discipline, or equivalent practical experience

• 2+ years of hands‑on experience (including internships or co‑ops) developing instrumentation, data‑acquisition, embedded‑control, or mixed‑signal systems

Preferred Qualifications:

You have built consequential measurement or control hardware end to end. You have taken a system through sensor selection, circuit design, firmware development, bring‑up, calibration, validation, and operation in a real environment.

You bring several of the following:

• Strength in analog electronics, sensor interfaces, filtering, grounding, isolation, and analog‑to‑digital conversion

• Experience with STM32 microcontrollers, FPGAs, embedded C/C++, or real‑time systems

• Experience measuring high‑voltage, high‑current, floating, low‑noise, or fast‑transient signals

• The ability to troubleshoot across sensors, electronics, firmware, software, and physical system behavior

• A record of turning incomplete requirements and ambiguous measurement problems into dependable hardware

Relevant experience may include scientific instrumentation, battery management systems, superconducting magnets, cryogenic systems, power electronics, industrial controls, test equipment, fusion systems, accelerators, aerospace hardware, or other complex electromechanical systems.

We do not expect one person to have worked in every one of these areas. We care most about technical depth, learning velocity, and evidence that you can build and ship.

Spinor Energy is an equal‑opportunity employer.