Staff Electrical Engineer - Sensor FPGA and PCB

Job Title

Staff Electrical Engineer - Sensor FPGA and PCB

Role Summary

Lead architect for the sensor bridge electronics that aggregate camera and human‑robot interface data for Apptronik's humanoid platform. Own the full electrical and FPGA stack from requirements through prototype, validation, and production release.

This is a hands‑on role that spans schematic capture, PCB layout guidance, FPGA architecture and RTL, bring‑up, validation, and vendor/manufacturer alignment.

Experience Level

Senior - requires at least 8 years of electrical engineering experience.

Responsibilities

Deliver a production‑ready mixed‑signal, multi‑Gbps sensor aggregation board and its FPGA firmware, and guide cross‑functional execution.

• Define requirements, parts selection, system and FPGA architecture, schematics, and PCB layout guidance.
• Develop FPGA RTL for CSI‑2 ingest, Ethernet packetization, timestamp/metadata insertion, and deterministic multi‑camera/IMU synchronization.
• Design and validate high‑speed digital interfaces (CSI‑2, GMSL/SerDes, 10GbE), ensuring signal integrity and length‑matching.
• Architect board power tree, power sequencing, EMC/ESD protection, and thermal constraints.
• Plan and execute bring‑up and validation; build test fixtures and use lab equipment to validate latency, bandwidth, and synchronization.
• Debug across hardware/RTL boundaries (link training, timing violations, ISP configuration, power sequencing) using root‑cause analysis.
• Manage component lifecycle, vendor and CM relationships, and ensure DFM/DFA for manufacturing release.
• Produce and maintain documentation: block diagrams, schematics, RTL architecture docs, test plans, and fab/assembly drawings.
• Mentor junior engineers and drive consensus with stakeholders on critical design and compliance decisions.
• Travel up to 10% for supplier and manufacturing engagement.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and demonstrated hands-on experience.

• Proven depth in FPGA hardware design for high‑performance, time‑sensitive systems.
• RTL development experience in VHDL and/or Verilog; familiarity with Vivado, Quartus, or Lattice toolflows and simulation tools (ModelSim/Questa or equivalent).
• Experience designing high‑speed interfaces such as MIPI CSI‑2, GMSL/SerDes, and Ethernet; PCIe experience is a plus.
• Experience with timing closure, clock‑domain crossing, resource and power budgeting in FPGAs.
• Strong signal integrity and high‑speed PCB design fundamentals: impedance‑controlled routing, differential pairs, stack‑up, and board‑to‑FPGA timing.
• Integration experience with high‑speed transceivers and external PHY devices.
• Hands‑on prototyping and debugging using oscilloscopes, protocol analyzers, logic analyzers, and other lab equipment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to produce clear build and assembly instructions.
• Ability to lead technical initiatives, influence cross‑functional teams, and mentor without direct authority.
• Physical: ability to perform desk and lab work and to lift up to 15 pounds when required.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Electrical Engineering or a related technical field. The posting specifies a minimum of 8 years of electrical engineering experience.

About the Company

Company: Apptronik

Headquarters: Austin, TX, USA

Apptronik develops AI-powered humanoid robots aimed at industrial and future consumer applications. The company builds the Apollo robot and works across applied AI and the full robotics stack to enable safe, scalable robotic solutions for manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and home use.