Lead Electrical Systems Architect for Precision Instruments

Pacific Biosciences of California; Menlo Park (CA); On-site; USD 196,000 - 294,000; Full time

Job summary

Pacific Biosciences of California seeks a Principal Electrical Systems Engineer to own the electrical system architecture of advanced DNA sequencing instruments. You will oversee boards, cables, power distribution, and sensor interfaces while partnering with firmware, software, and manufacturing to deliver production‑ready designs.

You will lead system reviews, drive reliability improvements, and ensure regulatory and safety compliance across instruments for high‑end sequencing solutions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 11–14 years with a Bachelor's, 9–12 with a Master's, or 8–11 with a PhD.
• Hands‑on schematic capture and PCB design with Altium or Cadence.
• Experience with USB, CAN, EtherCAT in electronic architectures.
• Collaboration with suppliers and manufacturing partners on PCB design and production.
• Cable and harness architecture, design, and sourcing.
• Strong lab and troubleshooting skills with oscilloscope, logic analyzers, DMMs.

Responsibilities

• Create and maintain instrument system‑level electronic block diagrams.
• Design, prototype, and validate cables and wire harnesses; manage transition to production.
• Design and bring up mixed‑signal boards with processors, FPGAs, and power electronics.
• Collaborate across firmware, software, mechanics, optics, and manufacturing to define interfaces.
• Lead system‑level troubleshooting and root‑cause investigations.
• Improve design for reliability and manufacturability.
• Document designs for production with DFx considerations and lifecycle management.
• Ensure regulatory, safety, EMC, and environmental compliance.
• Lead or contribute to FMEA and risk mitigations.

Skills

Electrical system architecture

Cable & harness design

FPGA/RTL collaboration

Power electronics

EMC/EMI design

Testing and debugging

Cross‑functional collaboration

Regulatory/compliance awareness

Signal integrity

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Altium

Cadence

PCB Layout

Job description

Pacific Biosciences of California seeks a Principal Electrical Systems Engineer to own the electrical system architecture of advanced DNA sequencing instruments. You will oversee boards, cables, power distribution, and sensor interfaces while partnering with firmware, software, and manufacturing to deliver production‑ready designs.

You will lead system reviews, drive reliability improvements, and ensure regulatory and safety compliance across instruments for high‑end sequencing solutions.