Staff Electrical Hardware Design Engineer
IonQJob Title
Staff Electrical Hardware Design Engineer
Role Summary
Lead end-to-end PCBA design and delivery for spaceflight systems, driving concepts through schematic, layout, bring-up, verification, and low-volume production. Work closely with RF, mechanical, software, FPGA/SoC, systems, and operations teams to deliver flight-ready electronics that meet environmental and mission requirements.
Experience Level
Senior level — Staff role. The posting specifies 8+ years of experience designing and debugging PCBAs.
Responsibilities
Deliver and scale flight-quality electronics by owning board-level hardware development and cross-functional integration.
- Own full electrical design lifecycle: requirements, schematic capture, PCB layout, bring-up, test, and manufacturing handoff.
- Design robust analog and digital circuitry for mission-critical systems under thermal, vacuum, vibration, and other space constraints.
- Lead board-level bring-up and debugging, integrating firmware/software/FPGA with embedded systems and verifying performance.
- Define test plans, verification strategies, and flight-readiness criteria; execute failure analysis and root-cause investigations.
- Run cross-disciplinary design reviews and provide technical direction across electrical, RF, mechanical, and software teams.
- Support manufacturing scale-up and coordinate with contract manufacturers to resolve DFM/DFT and production issues.
- Provide input on scheduling, hardware requirements, and process improvements to improve reliability and throughput.
- Mentor early-career engineers and contribute to documentation and internal process standards.
- Engage with external vendors and ensure on-time delivery and quality control for hardware components and assemblies.
Requirements
Key must-have technical skills, security/eligibility, and hands-on experience needed to perform this role.
- 8+ years designing and debugging PCBAs for complex systems.
- Proficiency with ECAD tools (Altium Designer or similar) and strong documentation practices.
- Hands-on experience with lab instruments (oscilloscope, logic analyzer, power analyzer, etc.) and board bring-up workflows.
- Solid understanding of digital interfaces and buses (I2C, SPI, UART, RS422, CAN, USB, PCIe, Ethernet) and system integration.
- Experience interacting with contract manufacturers, performing DFM reviews, and resolving production issues.
- Experience designing for harsh environments (thermal, vacuum, vibration) and implementing EMI/EMC best practices.
- Familiarity with high-speed/impedance-controlled layouts and exposure to radiation effects and mitigation techniques.
- Basic scripting or automation skills in Python or C for hardware test and validation workflows.
- Familiarity with satellite electrical systems (EPS, GNSS, ADCS, propulsion, space robotics) is required.
- U.S. Person status required for export-control and government-contract work (U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident/Green Card holder, refugee/asylee, or otherwise eligible for required authorizations).
Education Requirements
The posting specifies both a Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or a related field and a Master’s degree in electrical engineering or a related field. The listings state degrees in EE or related technical fields; no certifications were specified.
About the Company
Company: IonQ
Headquarters: College Park, Maryland, United States
Quantum computing company developing integrated quantum systems for computing, networking, sensing, and security. Provides quantum hardware and services to cloud providers and enterprise customers across industries including drug discovery, materials science, and defense.
