Hardware Design/Test Engineer

Job Title

Hardware Design/Test Engineer

Role Summary

Engineer in the Hardware Solutions Competency Center (HWS-CC) responsible for board-level hardware design, prototype bring-up, validation, EMI/EMC support, and sustaining engineering for reference designs, silicon validation, and reliability applications.

Independently own assigned circuit blocks and validation activities while coordinating with layout, firmware, mechanical, manufacturing and compliance teams.

Experience Level

Mid-level - 3 to 5 years of relevant board-level hardware design, bring-up, testing, or validation experience.

Responsibilities

Accountable for design, implementation, testing, and support of board-level hardware and related validation activities.

• Capture requirements and contribute to board-level architecture and component selection.
• Design analog, digital, power-supply, clock, reset, boot-configuration, and interface circuits; develop and review schematics.
• Define PCB placement, routing, stack-up, grounding, impedance, and power-distribution needs; coordinate with PCB layout engineers.
• Prepare and execute prototype bring-up plans; validate power, clock, reset, boot, and interfaces; perform debugging using lab equipment.
• Develop and run functional, electrical, power, thermal, and margin test procedures; document measurements, failures, and corrective actions.
• Support EMI/EMC design reviews and pre-compliance/certification testing; investigate and validate corrective actions for failures.
• Maintain design data in PDM/PLM or version control; support ECOs, NPI, and sustaining-engineering activities.
• Communicate technical status, estimate effort, and flag design risks and component availability issues to project leads.

Requirements

Core technical skills and practical experience required to perform the role.

• 3–5 years of board-level hardware design, bring-up, testing, or validation experience.
• Hands-on experience designing and debugging analog and digital electronic circuits; experience with microcontrollers, processors/SoCs, memories, PMICs, regulators, clock devices, and standard board peripherals.
• Practical experience with schematic capture and participation in PCB design review (e.g., Cadence OrCAD/Allegro or equivalent).
• Understanding of multilayer PCB design: grounding, return paths, controlled impedance, decoupling, and power distribution.
• Experience bringing up prototype boards and troubleshooting power, clock, reset, boot, memory, and interface-related issues.
• Familiarity with UART, I2C, SPI, USB, Ethernet, CAN, JTAG, SD/eMMC, SMBus/PMBus; exposure to high-speed interfaces (PCIe, DDR4/5, LPDDR, SerDes).
• Working knowledge of signal integrity, power integrity, transmission-line effects, termination, crosstalk, and timing; ability to interpret SI results.
• Experience using lab equipment: oscilloscopes, DMMs, logic analyzers, programmable power supplies, electronic loads, protocol analyzers, and JTAG/boundary-scan tools.
• Practical understanding of EMI/EMC design practices and experience supporting pre-compliance or certification debugging.
• Ability to prepare clear design documents, test procedures, validation and failure-analysis reports; strong troubleshooting and communication skills.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's or master's degree in Electronics/Electrical Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.

About the Company

Company: NXP Semiconductors

Headquarters: Nijmegen, Netherlands

NXP Semiconductors N.V. is a global semiconductor company that provides High Performance Mixed Signal and Standard Product solutions. With over 45,000 employees and operations in more than 35 countries, NXP is a leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, catering to automotive, industrial IoT, mobile, and communication infrastructure markets. The company is committed to innovation and sustainability, advancing a smarter, safer, and more sustainable world through technology.