Apprentice Electrical Hardware Engineer Jobs in Washington

General Function

The Electrical Engineer III Hardware is responsible for designing, implementing, and validating custom electronics for microdisplaybased systems. This includes driver boards, interface modules, imaging subsystem electronics, and systemlevel hardware for compact embedded platforms such as portable viewing devices, headworn systems, and related applications.

The engineer performs PCBlevel design with substantial independence, executes detailed hardware analysis, and participates in crossfunctional integration with systems, firmware, optics, and mechanical engineering teams. This role requires strong experience with embedded hardware development, power systems, highspeed digital interfaces, and SWaPoptimized electronics.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

• Architect and design custom PCB assemblies for:
• Display driver and timing boards
• Sensor/IMU and camera interface boards
• Control and communication modules for integration into host systems (e.g., portable, vehiclemounted)
• Perform schematic capture and component selection (FPGAs, MCUs, power ICs, regulators, ADC/DACs, serializers/deserializers, level translators) with consideration for SWaP, cost, and component availability.
• Design robust power distribution networks for batterypowered and vehiclepowered electronics, including DCDC converters, sequencing, protection circuitry, and efficiency optimization.
• Implement and validate highspeed and mixedsignal interfaces including LVDS, MIPI, HDMI/DP, SPI/IC, UART, USB, GPIO, and embedded sensor interfaces.
• Define and document electrical interfaces to optics, mechanics, and firmware teams, including pinouts, timing requirements, EMI/ESD concerns, connector/harness guidelines, and interface constraints.
• Support or execute PCB layout in Altium Designer (or comparable tool), including stackup development, controlledimpedance routing, placement for thermal behavior, and manufacturability considerations.
• Execute board bringup and debug:
• Poweron sequencing, functional validation, and testpoint evaluation
• Signal integrity, timing closure, and digital interface reliability
• Integration with firmware, FPGA logic, optics modules, and sensors
• Conduct environmental and thermal stress testing where applicable
• Build, iterate, and characterize lab prototypes and test fixtures for concept evaluation and verification.
• Generate and maintain engineering documentation such as schematics, BoMs, design reports, ECOs, test procedures, and revisioncontrolled hardware artifacts.
• Work closely with Systems, Embedded Software, Optics, and Mechanical Engineering teams to ensure systemlevel functionality, performance margins, and requirement compliance.
• Participate in DFM/DFT reviews and support NPI activities with manufacturing partners and contract assemblers.

Minimum Job Requirements

• U.S. citizenship or permanent residency required due to applicable export control regulations.
• Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field.
• 58 years of experience in PCBlevel hardware development for embedded systems.
• Proficiency with Altium Designer or comparable schematic/layout tools.
• Demonstrated experience with:
• Power supply design (buck/boost, PMICs, protection circuits)
• Highspeed digital interfaces and mixedsignal board design
• FPGA/MCUbased board implementation and bringup
• Strong handson lab experience (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power analyzers, JTAG, rework).
• Ability to execute designs independently from concept through prototype validation.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to participate in technical design reviews.

Preferred Job Requirements

• Experience with neareye displays, AR/VR devices, imaging sensors, or headworn electronics.
• Experience with:
• FPGAcentric designs (highspeed data paths, display pipelines)
• SI/PI tools and SPICE or behavioral modeling
• EMC/EMI compliance and ruggedenvironment hardware design
• Flex circuit design experience, including rigidflex stackups, impedance control, bendradius constraints, and miniature connector selection.
• Basic embedded engineering familiarity, including MCU/SoC architectures, firmware integration considerations, and power/control sequencing.
• Working knowledge of embedded communication protocols including SPI, IC, UART, LVDS, MIPIDSI/CSI, HDMI/DisplayPort, USB, GPIO, and peripheral buses.
• Experience in smalltomidsize R&D environments involving both design and handson prototyping.
• Familiarity with IPC standards and basic military environmental requirements.