Hardware Engineer

Jobtailor; Dearborn (MO); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor is seeking an experienced Electrical Hardware Engineer to drive automotive SI/EMC design across ECU hardware. You will design, simulate, and verify high‑speed digital and mixed‑signal circuits, collaborating with software/firmware during bring‑up and ensuring robust, industry-compliant testing.

You will perform design reviews, run simulations, and lead root‑cause analysis for prototypes and production vehicles, including DFMEA/WCA considerations for high‑volume manufacturing.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related technical field.
• 3+ years of electronic hardware design experience focusing on high-speed digital and mixed-signal designs.
• 2+ years of SI simulation or PCB design with listed tools.
• 2+ years hands-on lab experience with oscilloscopes, VNA, TDR, and PCB rework.
• Familiarity with CAN, LIN, SerDes, Ethernet.
• Solid grasp of transmission line theory, S-parameters, BER, crosstalk, impedance, eye diagrams, and time-domain analysis.
• Experience with EMC/EMI in automotive settings and high-volume, high-reliability electronics using DFMEA and WCA.

Responsibilities

• Conduct design reviews of ECU circuits to meet automotive SI/EMC and robustness requirements.
• Run simulations and validate with lab measurements.
• Define SI budgets for board, cable, and connectors considering jitter, noise, and EMI/EMC.
• Formulate board-level layout and interconnect requirements.
• Create test methods and verify against industry standards.
• Lead root-cause analysis for prototypes and vehicles.
• Review EMI/EMC and conformance reports for networking components used in Ford products.
• Collaborate with EMC, EDS, and Vehicle Validation teams to integrate SI considerations.
• Provide guidance on feasibility and design oversight for in-vehicle networks.
• Collaborate with software/firmware during hardware bring-up.
• Build relationships with silicon, cable, and connector vendors to adopt new tech.
• Contribute to industry standards to reduce costs and improve testing.

Skills

SI simulation

PCB design

High-speed digital

Mixed-signal design

Lab measurements

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Altium Designer

Mentor Graphics

Cadence Allegro

HyperLynx

SIwave

Polar Instruments

Job description

Responsibilities

• Conduct design reviews of ECU circuit designs to ensure they meet industry standards and automotive requirements for SI, EMC, and electrical robustness.
• Run simulations to catch potential issues early, and follow up with lab measurements to validate.
• Define SI budgets for different parts of the system (board, cable, connector, etc.), keeping jitter, noise, crosstalk, and EMI/EMC in mind.
• Formulate board-level requirements for layout, interconnects, routing, and components.
• Create design verification test methods and run tests based on industry standards and internal requirements.
• Lead functional failure root-cause analysis and corrective actions for prototypes and production vehicles.
• Lead component-level qualification of networking components for use in Ford products by reviewing EMI/EMC, interoperability, and other conformance reports.
• Work closely with other Product Development teams (like EMC, Electrical Distribution Systems, and Vehicle Validation) to ensure SI is considered throughout the whole process.
• Provide technical guidance to Product Development teams on feasibility, design alternatives, and design oversight for in-vehicle network implementations.
• Collaborate with software and firmware teams during hardware bring‑up and testing.
• Build strong relationships with silicon, cable, and connector vendors to evaluate and introduce emerging technologies.
• Contribute to industry standards efforts to reduce component cost, improve test automation, and address common automotive challenges in collaboration with industry experts.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a similar technical field.
• 3+ years of experience in electronic hardware design, mainly focusing on complex high-speed digital and mixed-signal designs.
• 2+ years working with SI simulation or PCB design tools (e.g., Altium Designer, Mentor Graphics, Cadence Allegro, HyperLynx, SIwave, Polar Instruments).
• 2+ years of hands‑on lab experience using equipment like oscilloscopes, Vector Network Analyzers (VNA), Time Domain Reflectometers (TDR), and doing circuit board rework.
• Familiarity with standard automotive communication interfaces (CAN, LIN, SerDes, Ethernet).
• A solid grasp of transmission line theory, S-parameters, bit error rate (BER) testing, crosstalk, characteristic impedance, eye diagrams, and time-domain analysis.
• Good understanding of EMC/EMI principles in automotive settings.
• Experience with high-reliability electronics for high-volume production, including using DFMEA and Worst-Case Analysis (WCA).

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in electronic hardware design with a focus on high-speed digital and mixed-signal designs, including SI simulation and PCB design. Proficient in conducting design reviews, running simulations, and leading root-cause analysis in automotive environments.