Senior IC&E Embedded Systems Engineer

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field. 6+ years of experience in electronic hardware, instrumentation and control systems, or related systems design in regulated or high-reliability environments (nuclear, aerospace, medical). Demonstrated expertise in analog and digital circuit design. Proficiency with schematic capture and PCB design tools (e.g., Altium, Cadence, KiCad). Advanced working knowledge of PCB design principles including grounding, power distribution, signal integrity, component derating, and EMI/EMC. Ability to independently translate system and hardware requirements into practical designs. Competency in troubleshooting complex electronic hardware using structured root-cause analysis.

Senior design engineer for Kairos Power's advanced reactor program, responsible for developing safety-critical Instrumentation, Control & Estimation (IC&E) systems and Reactor Protection System (RPS) hardware. This hands-on role spans analog/digital circuit design, PCB development, system integration, and qualification testing within nuclear-grade quality and regulatory frameworks (10 CFR 50, NRC oversight).

Design and develop analog and digital circuits for IC&E and RPS systems, including signal conditioning, power distribution, and control logic. Create and review schematics and PCB layouts in collaboration with manufacturing partners. Support system architecture development, interface definition, and hardware integration. Execute design trade studies balancing performance, reliability, manufacturability, and cost. Bring up, debug, and validate hardware prototypes using lab equipment (oscilloscopes, DAQs, power supplies). Develop and execute functional and qualification test plans; analyze test data and iterate design improvements. Apply fault tolerance, redundancy, and fail-safe design principles per nuclear safety standards. Produce and maintain engineering documentation (schematics, design descriptions, interface definitions, test plans, BOMs) with full requirements traceability. Participate in formal design reviews and configuration control. Mentor junior engineers and share technical expertise across the IC&E team.

PCB layout experience (stackup, routing, EMI/EMC). Structured failure analysis and debugging methodology. System integration and hardware interface design. FPGA or programmable logic exposure (Verilog, HDL, basic interfacing). Embedded systems experience (microcontrollers, firmware bring-up). Demonstrated hardware development contributions (academic or industry). Design-to-test/integration experience.