Principal Electrical Systems Engineer

Pacific Biosciences; Menlo Park (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Pacific Biosciences is seeking a Principal Electrical Systems Engineer to oversee the electrical system architecture of advanced sequencing instruments. You will lead system-level design across boards, cabling, and power, partnering with firmware, software, manufacturing, and quality teams to deliver robust, scalable instrument designs.

Responsibilities include defining system block diagrams, designing cables and harnesses, prototyping complex boards with FPGAs and microcontrollers, and driving

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering with 8–14 years of related experience.
• Hands-on PCB design/layout using Altium, Cadence, or similar EDA tools.
• Experience with USB, CAN, EtherCAT in electronic architectures; supplier collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Create and maintain instrument system-level electronic block diagrams.
• Design, prototype, and validate cables, wire harnesses, and connectors for production.
• Prototype and validate mixed-signal boards with processors, FPGA, and power electronics.
• Lead design reviews and work with NPI, Manufacturing, and suppliers for production.
• Ensure compliance with UL, CE, FCC/EMC, IEC, FDA where applicable.

Skills

Leadership

Troubleshooting

Cross-functional collaboration

Hands-on debugging

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Altium

Cadence

Oscilloscopes

Logic analyzers

DMMs

Power supplies

Job description

Principal Electrical Systems Engineer

At PacBio we create the world's most advanced sequencing systems to provide the most complete and accurate view of genomes, transcriptomes, and epigenomes. Our founders invented a new way to study the synthesis and regulation of DNA, RNA, and proteins. Driven by a desire to advance human health, we're harnessing advances in biochemistry, optics, nanofabrication, and more. Our mission is to enable the promise of genomics to better human health.

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.

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