Senior Hardware Engineer

Actalent; City of Pewaukee (WI); Hybrid; USD 62,000 - 117,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental & vision

401(k) plan

Life Insurance

Job summary

Actalent is seeking an Experienced Hardware Engineer to oversee electrical architecture, schematics, bring-up, and validation across boards and systems. You will collaborate with board designers, layout teams, and firmware experts to resolve issues and drive robust designs.

The role involves leading design reviews, BOM management, and supporting EMI/EMC and safety testing. A strong background in high-speed interfaces and system-level debugging is essential.

Qualifications

• BSEE or equivalent with 8+ years of electrical engineering experience.
• Experience with processor and PCIe design on Intel platforms; high-speed interfaces such as PCIe, DDR, USB, Ethernet.
• Proficiency in Cadence Allegro and coordinating outside layout resources.

Responsibilities

• Define electrical architecture and requirements for new boards with teams.
• Design schematics and collaborate with board designers through fabrication release, including constraints and DFM.
• Lead board bring-up, debug, and validation with layout, mechanical, and firmware teams.
• Review BOMs with commodity manager and supply chain.
• Support EMI/EMC, safety, and environmental testing; transition to integration SME.
• Act as electrical SME for standard system development and roadmap systems.
• Identify integration risks early with solution architects and systems engineers.
• Troubleshoot power, SI, thermal behavior, firmware interaction, and component compatibility.

Skills

Electrical engineering

High-speed PCB design

Schematic capture

Power delivery design

Lab testing & analysis

BIOS/firmware understanding

System troubleshooting

Design reviews

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Cadence Allegro

Job description

Job Title: Experienced Hardware Engineer

Job Description

We are seeking an experienced Electrical Engineer to provide expertise across the entire development lifecycle of both boards and systems, from early concept through production launch. This role serves as a subject matter expert for system integration support and customer escalations. As the engineering organization evolves, the role may be broad and may sit in different teams. You will own electrical architecture, schematics, bring-up, and validation, and work closely with board designers during layout. You will also support integration engineers, solution architects, and customer-facing teams with design questions and escalations requiring experienced answers.

Responsibilities

• Define electrical architecture and requirements for new boards with systems engineers, project engineers, solution architects, and product management.
• Design schematics and collaborate with board designers from schematic handoff through fabrication release, including constraints, stackup, high-speed routing, power delivery, and DFM review.
• Lead board bring-up, debug, and validation, working with layout resources, mechanical and firmware teams to resolve issues.
• Conduct design reviews and phase gate reviews, and manage the bill of materials with the commodity manager and supply chain.
• Support compliance testing (EMI/EMC, safety, environmental) and transition to integration SME.
• Act as the electrical SME for standard system development, including standard-roadmap systems built from off-the-shelf components.
• Help define requirements with solution architects and systems engineers to identify integration risks before design commitment.
• Troubleshoot system-level power, signal integrity, thermal behavior, firmware and BIOS interaction, and component compatibility.
• Review component choices, qualification results, and engineering change requests.
• Serve as the escalation point for electrical issues raised by customers, sales, and support, and drive each to root cause.
• Reproduce failures in the lab, analyze test data, and document findings and corrective actions.
• Participate in customer calls as the technical voice when needed, and incorporate lessons into design standards and roadmap decisions.
• Document recurring issues to form design rules, test procedures, or Life Cycle Engineering actions.

Essential Skills

• BSEE or equivalent with 8+ years of electrical engineering experience in designing and shipping complex digital hardware.
• Experience in processor and PCIe design on Intel platforms with hands-on schematic capture and board design for high-speed interfaces such as PCIe, DDR memory, USB, and Ethernet.
• Proficiency in Cadence Allegro and directing outside layout resources.
• Power delivery design experience, including multi-rail sequencing and power plane analysis.
• Strong lab skills with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, protocol analyzers, and board bring-up and debug.
• Working knowledge of firmware and BIOS, sufficient to distinguish hardware faults from software and configuration issues, and ability to read C or embedded firmware.
• System-level troubleshooting on integrated computers, including operating system installs, drivers, and component compatibility.
• Experience supporting customers or internal teams on technical issues with clear written and verbal communication.
• Experience with design reviews and a phase gate or similar structured development process.
• High-speed PCB design and layout experience (5 GHz and above), including signal integrity and power integrity considerations.
• Thermal analysis and system-level thermal considerations.
• Requirements capture and validation, and clear design documentation.
• Test planning, including test plans, cases, procedures, and reports.
• Electrical qualification and certification support.
• Ability to work collaboratively and independently in a small team.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Mentor junior engineers and interns, and share design practices across Product Design Engineering and Systems Integration Engineering.
• Communicate effectively and cross-functionally, within and outside the engineering organization.

Work Environment

You will work on Intel-based compute platforms, including new in-house board designs covering high-speed digital, power, thermal, and edge AI compute, developed in collaboration with silicon partners. The role also involves working on other board-level products, such as drive bay and custom hardware projects, standard-roadmap systems integrated from off-the-shelf components, and rugged defense programs supporting defense-readiness goals. The work environment encourages cross-functional communication and mentoring, fostering a collaborative atmosphere

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Pewaukee, WI.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $45.00 - $85.00/hr.

Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following: Medical, dental & vision Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital 401(k) Retirement Plan Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents) Short and long-term disability Health Spending Account (HSA) Transportation benefits Employee Assistance Program Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Pewaukee, WI.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Nov 19, 2026.

Workplace Type

This is a hybrid position in Pewaukee,WI.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email [e-mail] for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.