Senior Electrical Engineer, X-Ray Sources

Job Description

Job Description

Title: Electrical Engineer, Senior

Job Summary:

Work within the X-ray Sources Development group focusing on the design, development, simulation, and validation of high-voltage power supplies, control electronics, and supporting circuitry used to operate X-ray tubes. Responsibilities include analog and digital circuit design, power electronics, PCB design and layout, component selection, circuit and system simulation, prototype development, verification testing, troubleshooting, and design documentation.

This is a hands-on engineering position requiring independent technical judgment and ownership of electrical designs from concept through production release and sustaining support. The Senior Electrical Engineer will work as an integral member of a cross-functional team including electrical, mechanical, manufacturing, production, quality, test, and other engineering personnel.

The position requires the ability to independently investigate complex technical problems, develop and evaluate solutions, document engineering decisions and tradeoffs, and provide technical guidance and mentoring to less-experienced engineers and technicians. The Senior Electrical Engineer may also serve as the technical lead for assigned development projects.

Essential Functions:

1. Design analog, digital, embedded-control, and power-electronic circuits, including high-voltage power conversion and control systems.
2. Develop engineering requirements and translate system-level requirements into electrical design specifications.
3. Perform circuit design, schematic capture, PCB design/layout, and technical review of PCB layouts.
4. Perform circuit and system simulation to evaluate design performance prior to and during prototype development.
5. Design, build, test, and evaluate prototype electrical assemblies and systems.
6. Develop and execute design verification and validation test plans to demonstrate compliance with design and system requirements.
7. Perform worst-case circuit analysis, tolerance analysis, component derating, and design-margin evaluations as appropriate.
8. Identify, characterize, and resolve electrical issues involving power conversion, control systems, EMI/EMC, grounding, signal integrity, isolation, thermal performance, and high-voltage design.
9. Perform empirical testing and structured root-cause analysis of electrical, system, manufacturing, and field failures and implement appropriate corrective actions.
10. Participate actively in design reviews, peer reviews, FMEA activities, risk assessments, and engineering change processes.
11. Research, select, evaluate, and qualify electrical components, tools, test equipment, and technologies.
12. Evaluate component availability, lifecycle, obsolescence, alternate components, and supply-chain risks and recommend technically appropriate solutions.
13. Develop prototypes, test fixtures, engineering tools, and test methods required to characterize and validate electrical designs.
14. Work with Development, Manufacturing, Production, Quality, and other resources on new product development and sustaining engineering activities.
15. Support product qualification, regulatory compliance, and electrical safety testing applicable to X-ray source electronics.
16. Support released products through component substitutions, manufacturing issues, product improvements, failure investigations, and other sustaining-engineering activities.
17. Plan, schedule, coordinate, and execute assigned engineering activities and projects to meet technical and schedule requirements.
18. Document engineering results, test findings, design decisions, calculations, requirements, tradeoffs, and conclusions.
19. Develop and document new assembly, test, calibration, and manufacturing processes as required.
20. Train and hand off newly developed designs, tools, test methods, processes, and procedures to manufacturing and production personnel.
21. Maintain appropriate engineering documentation throughout the product development lifecycle.

Technical Leadership Responsibilities:

1. Mentor and provide technical guidance to junior engineers, technicians, and production personnel.
2. Provide technical oversight during the transfer of new products, processes, test equipment, and engineering tools into manufacturing and production.
3. Explain design intent, circuit operation, test methods, and troubleshooting techniques to engineering and technical personnel.
4. Assist with the development and review of engineering, manufacturing, test, and troubleshooting documentation.
5. Lead or participate in technical design reviews and communicate engineering decisions, risks, and tradeoffs to cross-functional teams.
6. Independently execute complex engineering assignments with limited technical supervision and exercise engineering judgment in selecting methods, components, architectures, and technical solutions.
7. Serve as technical lead for assigned development or sustaining-engineering projects when required.

Education and Experience:

1. Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or a closely related engineering discipline with five or more years of relevant electrical design experience; or a master's degree with three or more years of relevant experience.
2. Experience developing electrical products from initial concept through prototype, verification, production release, and sustaining support is preferred.
3. Experience with high-voltage electronics, power electronics, scientific instrumentation, analytical instrumentation, medical equipment, or other precision electronic systems is preferred.
4. Previous X-ray system or X-ray source design experience is beneficial but not required.
5. Equivalent combinations of education and directly applicable engineering experience may be considered.

Competencies:

To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies to perform the essential functions of this position.

1. Strong analog and digital circuit design and troubleshooting skills.
2. Practical knowledge of power electronics, including switching power supplies, MOSFET drive circuits, magnetics, feedback and control systems, and power conversion.
3. Knowledge of high-voltage circuit design principles, including insulation, creepage and clearance, isolation, electric-field considerations, stored energy, and high-voltage component selection.
4. Proficiency with schematic capture and PCB design tools such as Cadence OrCAD X, Altium Designer, or equivalent.
5. Experience with circuit simulation and analysis tools such as LTspice, PSpice, or equivalent.
6. Experience designing and troubleshooting analog, digital, power, and mixed-signal PCB assemblies.
7. Ability to create, read, interpret, and review electrical schematics, PCB layouts, wiring diagrams, and technical documentation.
8. Understanding of PCB fabrication and assembly processes, including component footprints, stack-ups, grounding, DFM, DFT, and good PCB layout practices.
9. Practical knowledge of electrical and electronic components and the ability to interpret component datasheets and evaluate component suitability beyond nominal specifications.
10. Understanding of component tolerances, temperature effects, aging, derating, reliability, and design margins.
11. Working knowledge of microcontrollers and embedded control systems, including ADCs, DACs, PWM generation, and serial communication interfaces such as I²C, SPI, and UART.
12. Ability to work effectively at the hardware/firmware interface when developing or troubleshooting embedded electronic systems.
13. Experience using laboratory test equipment including oscilloscopes, voltage and current probes, digital multimeters, LCR meters, logic analyzers, electronic loads, power supplies, and related instrumentation.
14. Knowledge of EMI/EMC, grounding, shielding, filtering, and electrical noise troubleshooting techniques.
15. Knowledge of electrical safety principles including high-voltage safety, stored-energy hazards, dielectric isolation, protective grounding, and single-fault considerations.
16. Familiarity with applicable product safety and regulatory standards. Experience with IEC 61010-1 or similar electrical equipment safety standards is preferred.
17. Ability to independently troubleshoot complex electrical and electromechanical systems using systematic diagnostic and root-cause analysis techniques.
18. Ability to design experiments, develop test methods, collect and analyze data, and draw technically defensible conclusions.
19. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to evaluate multiple solutions and clearly communicate engineering tradeoffs.
20. Strong technical writing and communication skills, including the ability to document designs, test results, investigations, requirements, and engineering decisions.
21. Ability to lead technical design reviews and communicate effectively with engineering, manufacturing, production, quality, suppliers, and other cross-functional resources.
22. Ability to mentor engineers and technicians and provide technical leadership without direct personnel-management responsibility.
23. Ability to manage multiple technical assignments, establish priorities, and execute work with limited supervision.