Senior Electrical Engineer

Kopin Corporation; Reston (VA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Kopin Corporation Senior Electrical Engineer - Hardware leads design, integration, and validation of custom electronics for microdisplay-based solutions, including driver boards, interface modules, imaging electronics, and rugged embedded platforms. Role spans concept to production with ownership of complex PCB designs and system-level hardware.

You will mentor engineers, drive hardware trade studies, and collaborate across Systems, FPGA, Optics, Mechanical, and suppliers to deliver

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 8–12 years of PCB‑level hardware development for embedded systems.
• Proficiency with Altium Designer for schematic/layout.
• US citizenship or Permanent Resident (green card) to be considered due to ITAR.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical direction for PCB layout including stack‑up definition, controlled‑impedance routing, high‑speed placement, grounding, shielding, thermal management, manufacturability, testability, and rigid‑flex/flex considerations where applicable.
• Define and document electrical interfaces to optics, mechanical, firmware, FPGA, and system teams, including pinouts, timing, power budgets, connector/harness requirements, EMI/ESD concerns, and interface constraints.
• Lead board bring‑up, integration, and debug activities, including power‑on sequencing, functional validation, and margin evaluation; signal integrity, timing, interface reliability, and noise investigations; integration with firmware, FPGA logic, optics modules, microdisplays, sensors, and host systems; environmental, thermal, vibration, EMI/EMC, and ruggedization testing; build and characterize prototypes and test fixtures.
• Lead design reviews, peer reviews, risk reviews, and trade studies; identify technical risks early and drive closure through analysis, prototyping, simulation, or test.
• Generate and maintain schematics, BoMs, design reports, ICDs, ECOs, test procedures, verification records, and revision‑controlled hardware artifacts.
• Mentor junior and mid‑level electrical engineers, review designs, and help establish practical design guidelines, reusable circuits, and hardware best practices.
• Support DFM/DFT reviews, NPI, supplier and contract manufacturer interactions, failure analysis, sustaining engineering, and transition from prototype into production.
• Contribute technical inputs to estimates, schedules, proposals, customer discussions, and program planning involving hardware scope, risk, or architecture.

Skills

Power design

High-speed digital

FPGA/SoC integration

Schematic/layout review

Lab debugging

Mentoring

Technical leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Altium Designer

Oscilloscopes & test equipment

Job description

The Senior Electrical Engineer - (Hardware) leads the design, integration, and validation of custom electronics used in Kopin's microdisplay-based solutions. This includes microdisplay driver boards, interface modules, imaging electronics, sensor/camera interface boards, and system-level hardware for weapon sights, HMDs, medical viewers, FPV goggles, and related embedded platforms.

The role owns complex PCB-level designs from concept through prototype validation and production transition, leads hardware trade studies, mentors less experienced engineers, and serves as a technical lead with Systems, Embedded Software, FPGA, Optics, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing, and suppliers. Strong embedded hardware, power, high-speed digital, mixed-signal, SWaP-optimized design, and hands‑on lab debug experience are required.

JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide technical direction for PCB layout in Altium, including stack‑up definition, controlled‑impedance routing, high‑speed placement, grounding, shielding, thermal management, manufacturability, testability, and rigid‑flex/flex considerations where applicable.
• Define and document electrical interfaces to optics, mechanical, firmware, FPGA, and system teams, including pinouts, timing, power budgets, connector/harness requirements, EMI/ESD concerns, and interface constraints.
• Lead board bring‑up, integration, and debug activities, including:
• Power‑on sequencing, functional validation, and margin evaluation
• Signal integrity, timing, interface reliability, and noise investigations
• Integration with firmware, FPGA logic, optics modules, microdisplays, sensors, and host systems
• Environmental, thermal, vibration, EMI/EMC, and ruggedization testing
• Build and characterize prototypes, development boards, evaluation setups, and test fixtures for concept evaluation, verification, and troubleshooting.
• Lead design reviews, peer reviews, risk reviews, and trade studies; identify technical risks early and drive closure through analysis, prototyping, simulation, or test.
• Generate and maintain schematics, BoMs, design reports, ICDs, ECOs, test procedures, verification records, and revision‑controlled hardware artifacts.
• Mentor junior and mid‑level electrical engineers, review designs, and help establish practical design guidelines, reusable circuits, and hardware best practices.
• Support DFM/DFT reviews, NPI, supplier and contract manufacturer interactions, failure analysis, sustaining engineering, and transition from prototype into production.
• Contribute technical inputs to estimates, schedules, proposals, customer discussions, and program planning involving hardware scope, risk, or architecture.

MINIMUM JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Kopin is a defense contractor and is subject to International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). You must be a US Citizen or Permanent Resident (green card holder) to be considered for this position.
• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 8 to 12 years of PCB‑level hardware development experience for embedded systems, including ownership of complex designs from concept through prototype validation and production release.
• Proficiency with Altium Designer or comparable schematic/layout tools, with the ability to create, review, and release high‑quality design packages.
• Demonstrated experience with:
• Power supply design, sequencing, protection, power budgeting, grounding, and noise control
• High‑speed digital interfaces, mixed‑signal board design, and embedded interface validation
• FPGA/MCU/SoC‑based board implementation, bring‑up, and hardware/software integration
• Component selection, trade studies, margin analysis, and lifecycle/availability risk management
• Strong hands‑on lab experience with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power/protocol analyzers, JTAG/debug tools, soldering/rework equipment, and related bench instrumentation.
• Ability to lead designs independently from requirements definition through architecture, schematic design, layout guidance, bring‑up, integration, verification, and production transition.
• Experience leading or participating in design reviews, peer reviews, root‑cause investigations, and cross‑functional integration.
• Working knowledge of DFM/DFT, PCB fabrication/assembly, test‑point strategy, BoM control, ECO/ECN processes, and supplier or contract manufacturer interactions.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present tradeoffs, risks, and recommendations to engineering leadership and cross‑functional teams.

PREFERRED JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Master's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• Experience with near‑eye displays, AR/VR devices, imaging sensors, weapon sights, HUD/HMD electronics, microdisplay drivers, or compact electro‑optical systems.
• Experience with FPGA‑centric designs, high‑speed data paths, display pipelines, image/video interfaces, timing generation, memory, or SERDES architectures.
• Experience with SI/PI tools, SPICE or behavioral modeling, timing analysis, or pre/post‑layout validation.
• Experience with EMC/EMI compliance, ESD protection, rugged hardware design, environmental qualification, or MIL‑STD‑style testing.
• Flex or rigid‑flex design experience, including stack‑up definition, impedance control, bend‑radius constraints, miniature connectors, and compact mechanical integration.
• Embedded engineering familiarity, including MCU/SoC architectures, boot and power‑control sequencing, firmware integration, peripheral configuration, and hardware abstraction boundaries.
• Working knowledge of embedded protocols and display/imaging interfaces, including SPI, I2C, UART, LVDS, MIPI-DSI/CSI, HDMI/DisplayPort, USB, GPIO, and peripheral buses.
• Familiarity with IPC standards, IPC‑WHMA‑A‑620, IPC‑A‑610, J‑STD‑001, and basic MIL‑STD environmental requirements.
• Experience mentoring engineers, developing reusable design approaches, or improving hardware development processes.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Able to rotate from sitting to standing, lift up to 20 pounds, and gown according to clean room protocol.

Kopin Corporation is an Equal Employment Opportunity and Aff… all qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status, age or any other federally protected class. If an applicant needs a reasonable accommodation due to a disability with the application process, there is additional information on our website at www.kopin.com/careers.