Electrical Design Engineer

Spectra Defense Technologies Alpharetta location is seeking a motivated Electrical Engineer to support the design and development of ruggedized electronics, displays, and computing systems used in mission-critical defense and aerospace applications. This role contributes to the full hardware development of lifecycles, from requirements and circuit design through integration, testing, and release, while ensuring all solutions meet demanding performance, reliability, and environmental requirements for military environments.

The ideal candidate has 3–7 years of hands-on hardware design experience, a solid understanding of MIL-STD or other high-reliability design practices, and a strong desire to grow technical depth while delivering reliable, high-performance products.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Use Altium Designer or equivalent ECAD tools (such as Cadence Allegro/OrCAD) for schematic capture, PCB layout collaboration, and design validation to ensure compliance with all electrical, mechanical, and ruggedization requirements.
• Select and integrate COTS components to optimize analog and digital performance, ensure compatibility, and meet ruggedization requirements for PCB designs.
• Apply working knowledge or familiarity of the Government-Industry Data Exchange Program (GIDEP) to identify and report part failures, obsolescence issues, and potential counterfeit risks.
• Understand and can apply best practices in Design for Manufacturability (DFM), Design for Assembly (DFA), and Design for Testability (DFT) throughout the product development lifecycle.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to ensure designs meet performance, reliability, and compliance requirements for defense and aerospace applications.

Custom Board Identification and Requirement Definition:

• Identify the need for custom analog and digital PCBs based on system requirements, technical risks, and performance objectives.
• Define and manage detailed board-level requirements and collaborate with vendors to ensure successful design and manufacturing.
• Use ECAD tools to develop reliable, high-performance PCBs that balance analog and digital design needs for ruggedized environments.

Engineering Reviews and Collaboration:

• Work with cross-functional teams to resolve technical challenges, improve system performance, and optimize designs for manufacturability and robustness.
• Participate in formal design reviews (PDR, CDR, TRR, PRR), providing input on analog/digital PCB design, system-level integration, and ruggedization strategies.
• Contribute to peer reviews with expertise in layout, analog/digital design considerations, and ruggedization techniques to ensure product quality.

Engineering Drawing Creation and Ruggedization:

• Ensure all analog and digital components meet durability requirements for vibration, thermal extremes, and shock conditions.
• Develop engineering drawings, PCB layouts, and system block diagrams in Altium Designer that meet ruggedness, reliability, and military/aerospace compliance standards.

Experience and Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related discipline required.
• 3–7 years of experience in hardware design and development, preferably within rugged, defense, or aerospace environments.
• Familiarity with military or high-reliability electronic systems is highly desirable.
• U.S. citizenship or lawful immigration status required; ability to obtain a security clearance may be required.
• Proficiency with CAD and design tools such as Altium Designer, SolidWorks, and/or AutoCAD.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience designing custom PCBs for specialized hardware, including thermal and power management, analog signal processing, and high-speed digital systems.
• Proven experience in designing and optimizing analog front-end circuits and mixed-signal PCB layouts for ruggedized applications, specifically within the fixed-wing and rotorcraft design sectors.
• Knowledge of military or aerospace standards for rugged electronic systems, with a focus on analog and digital circuit design.
• Familiarity with video signal conversion technologies, power management, and embedded system design.
• Working knowledge of military and aerospace electronics, with a focus on both analog and digital design standards and ruggedization techniques.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, talk, see, and hear. The employee is frequently required to walk; use hands to finger, handle, or feel and reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.

Occasional travel (up to 10%) to customer sites or other Spectra locations.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.

Office environment with temperature control, may be exposed to chemicals related to the manufacturing process. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Spectra Defense Technologies provides Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status.