Principal Electrical Systems Engineer

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

Position Summary

As Principal Electrical Systems Engineer, you will oversee the electrical system architecture of complex DNA sequencing instruments. This highly technical, hands‑on role spans system architecture, board‑level electronics, power and signal distribution, cabling and harnessing, while collaborating with firmware, software, manufacturing, new product introduction, quality, and service to deliver robust, reliable, scalable, and production‑ready instrument designs.

Responsibilities

• Create and maintain instrument system level electronic block diagrams.
• Define, design, document, prototype, and validate cables and wire harnesses, including connector selection, pinouts, wire and shielding requirements, grounding, signal integrity, mechanical routing constraints, and test requirements. Work with internal technicians and external suppliers to transition cable designs into production.
• Design, prototype, bring up, debug, modify, and validate complex mixed‑signal circuit boards incorporating embedded processors and microcontrollers, high‑speed digital interfaces, programmable logic (FPGAs), power electronics, motor and actuator drivers, and sensor interfaces.
• Collaborate closely with other teams including firmware, software, sequencing integration, consumables, mechanical, optical, fluidics, thermal, manufacturing, quality, service, and others to define interfaces and deliver fully integrated instrument designs.
• Lead system‑level troubleshooting and root‑cause investigations involving interactions of electrical hardware, firmware, software, mechanical and optical systems, etc.
• Implement design and process improvements that increase instrument reliability and manufacturability.
• Own and analyze electrical system performance margins, including power integrity, grounding, shielding, noise, ESD, EMI/EMC, high‑speed signal integrity, timing, thermal loading, motor and actuator control, and sensor signal quality across operating conditions and production variation.
• Plan and lead design reviews.
• Partner with NPI, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and suppliers to document designs for production, including component selection and lifecycle management, DFx considerations, manufacturing test strategy, prototype and production builds, and post‑launch issue resolution.
• Ensure electrical designs comply with applicable regulatory, safety, EMC, and environmental requirements, including UL, CE, FCC/EMC, IEC, FDA, and ISO requirements as applicable to laboratory and clinical instrumentation.
• Lead or contribute to electrical and system‑level failure mode and effects analyses (FMEA) and drive appropriate risk mitigations into the design.
• Stay current with emerging technologies including processors, FPGAs, sensors, high‑speed interconnects, control buses including USB, CAN, and EtherCAT, power electronics, and communications technologies, and apply them where they improve instrument performance, reliability, scalability, or cost.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Typically requires 11‑14 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 9‑12 years with a Master's degree; or 8‑11 years with a PhD.
• Strong hands‑on experience with schematic capture and PCB design/layout using Altium, Cadence, or similar professional EDA tools, including review of multilayer and mixed‑signal PCB designs.
• Past experience incorporating communication protocols and interfaces such as USB, CAN, or EtherCAT in electronic architectures.
• Experience working with suppliers and manufacturing partners on PCB layout, component selection and availability, fabrication, assembly, prototype builds, and production release.
• Demonstrated strength in cable and harness architecture, design, documentation, prototyping, and sourcing.
• Strong laboratory and troubleshooting skills, including experience with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, DMMs, power supplies, or similar electrical test equipment.
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, with the ability to lead technical discussions and work effectively across engineering and operational organizations.
• All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
• Candidates must have current authorization to work in the United States without the need for present or future sponsorship.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing life science, medical, diagnostic, semiconductor, robotics, or other complex scientific instruments combining electronics, firmware, software, optics, motion control, fluidics, thermal control, high‑speed electronics, and high‑speed data transmission.
• Experience with high‑speed digital interfaces such as Ethernet, PCIe, USB, DDR, or other multi‑gigabit serial interfaces, including signal‑integrity considerations.
• Experience with FPGA‑based systems and close collaboration with FPGA/RTL engineers.
• Experience with precision motion control, motors, encoders, sensors, and electromechanical control systems.
• Experience with EMC/EMI design and troubleshooting, safety certification, and regulatory requirements for laboratory or clinical instrumentation.
• Experience with product lifecycle management (PLM), configuration control, engineering change orders, and formal design documentation in a regulated or quality‑controlled product‑development environment.
• Experience supporting NPI, manufacturing scale‑up, reliability improvement, serviceability, and sustaining engineering for complex products.

Onsite Requirements

Non‑Field Based Employees are required to be onsite Monday‑Thursday (Friday work from home). Depending on the role, some employees may be required to be 100% onsite. You may be required from time to time to visit and work at PacBio locations and for such times as the Company considers necessary for the proper performance of your duties. All listed tasks and responsibilities are deemed essential functions of this position; however, business conditions may require reasonable accommodations for additional tasks and responsibilities.

Salary Range

$195,900.00 - $293,900.00

Equal Opportunity Employment

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, national origin, protected veteran status, or on the basis of disability, gender identity, and sexual orientation.

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