Research Engineer - Hardware design and System Electronics

Research Engineer - Hardware design and System Electronics

Job Reference: Ref.07.21.39

Employer: International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL)

Location: Braga, Portugal

Group/Unit: IMiNa

Number of Vacancies: 1

Employment Type: Full time

Contract Duration: 24 months

Open Date for Applications: September 7th, 2021

Closing Date for Applications: October 7th, 2021, 23h00m (Lisbon Time)

Key words: #Electronics, #Embedded Systems, #Firmware

Overview

The Integrated Micro and Nanotechnologies (IMiNa) research group is dedicated to research in the areas of MEMS and NEMS, sensors and actuators, optical devices, micro and nanofabrication, and advanced packaging, in a wide range of applications.

We are looking for a qualified research Engineer to join our team in electronics development under the European funded project IMOCO4.E.

Project specifications: This project is funded by H2020-ECSEL-2020-2-RIA-two-stage

(a) Name of the project: IMOCO4.E – Intelligent Motion Control under Industry 4.E

(b) Reference number: ECSEL/0006/2020

(c) Scientific Area: Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering

(d) Description: The project addresses motion control systems, which face ever-growing requirements (eg. long-term energy efficiency, size, self-diagnostic) and create new demands on Edge layers (including smart sensors) which cannot be routinely handled via available commercial products. The role of INL is to develop and integrate smart sensors and its demonstration in injection molding technology together with industrial partners.

Job Duties

The job duties will be the following:

• Use electrical models to design and produce electrical circuits based on discrete elements (printed circuit boards);
• Design and fabricate mixed signal interfaces (ADCs, amplifiers, filters, current mirrors, others), and optimizing these for low noise, and if required, low power operation;
• Design and interface passive wireless devices, namely using NFC, integrating these with other systems.

Mandatory Qualifications

Education

• Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, or other relevant subject is required.

Technical Skills

• Ability to design and produce low power mixed signal interfaces;
• Experience in analog front end implementation, embedded integration;
• Solid programming experience in C and C++ for low level embedded device firmware;
• Previous work with instrumentation;
• Lab know-how on validation/debug of digital and analog blocks;
• Experience with scripting and programming language as MATLAB or Python.

The call describes the requirements in terms of qualifications and professional experience deemed appropriate for the position. If a candidate has additional qualifications and professional experience, they can only be recruited at the job category and profile specified.

Applications that not meet these conditions will not be considered.

Preferred Qualifications

• Mechanical design and injection moulding knowledge will be valued;
• Professional experience in the industry field will be highly valued;
• Experience on high-speed electronics will be valued;
• Know-how on test automation will be valued.

Personal Skills

• “Hands-on” approach together with a high commitment in respecting working deadlines;
• Problem Solving ability;
• Ability to work independently and as team player;
• Good communication skills.

Supervision: The work plan will be developed at the INL under the scientific guidance of Lorenzo Pastrana. The successful candidate will be integrated in the Integrated Micro and Nanotechnologies (IMiNa) Group.

Selection Committee:

The selection of candidates will be carried out by a Selection Committee consisting of the following persons:

1)     Lorenzo Pastrana - Scientific Supervisor;

2)     Filipe Alves – Staff Researcher;

3)     Marco Martins – Engineer Group Leader;

4)     Rosana Dias – Staff Researcher;

5)     Rita Milhazes - Human Resources

Duration of the contract

The total duration of the employment contract shall be 24 months. The expected starting date is December 2021.

General Eligibility conditions, required qualifications and expertise:

Candidates must comply with the following requirements:

How to Apply

The application must be in English and include the following mandatory documents:

a)     Cover letter;

b)     Curriculum Vitae;

c)      Academic and/or Professional diplomas;

d)     At least one recommendation letter;

e)     Recognition of academic degrees (only academic degrees awarded by non-Portuguese higher education institutions)*.

* The selected candidate(s) with an academic degree granted by a non-Portuguese higher education institution must present, for hiring purposes, the certificate of recognition of that degree(s), issued by the Portuguese Directorate General for Higher Education or by a Portuguese Public Higher Education Institution. Please consult the website of the Portuguese Directorate General for Higher Education: https://www.dges.gov.pt/en .

At the application stage, the supporting document(s) mentioned in paragraph (d) [Recognition of academic degrees (only academic degrees awarded by non-Portuguese higher education institutions)], may be replaced by a Declaration of Honour (Template)  from the candidate. In this case, the application of the candidate will be provisionally accepted provided that the following conditions shall be satisfied:

Online application instructions:

Important note:

Incomplete applications including the failure to provide mandatory documents or providing inaccurate information will result in the application not being considered.

How the Selection Process works

A. Applications eligibility check

This stage will be carried out on the basis of the mandatory requirements, education, experience and technical skills defined for the job, as well as the validation of the mandatory documents. Only candidates who meet the eligibility criteria will move forward to the next stage.

B. CV Assessment

The Selection Committee will evaluate the eligible applications based on their CV and other submitted documents and the suitability for the position, and shall focus on the relevance, quality and up-to-date of the following items:

• Scientific and Technological Production (‘STP’);
• Applied and Practice-based Research Activities (‘RA’);
• Activities  related to the Dissemination of Knowledge (‘DK’);
• Activities related to the Management of Science, Technology and Innovation programmes (‘MSTI’).

The research experience will be assessed according to the following criteria:

• STP (50%): Academic Qualifications (AQ) – 15%; Technical Profile (TP) – 25%; Research Quality (RQ) – 5%; Innovation Projects (IP) – 5%;
• RA (30%): Coordination Activities (CA) – 5%; Development, operation and maintenance of scientific facilities “instrumentation and/or equipment”  (DOM) – 10%; Conferences, symposia and scientific cooperation activities (CSS) - 2 %; Professional activities (PA) – 8%; Mobility and Interdisciplinarity (MI) – 5%;
• DK (5%): Transfer to other areas of society (TS) – 3%; Promotion of the public understanding of science (PPUS) – 2%;
• MSTI (5%): Laboratory facilities, management of research groups (LFE) – 3%; Evaluation of STI activities (EA) – 2%.

This criteria will have a total valuation of 90%. The minimum threshold for this stage is 60%.

The top four ranked candidates will be shortlisted for interview, provided however that they pass the threshold mentioned above.

C. Interview(s)

The interview(s) may be done in different formats: video recording, online or onsite.

The question based interview will evaluate the match between the candidate’s profile and the requirements for the position, including the technical and personal skills. To better support this stage, the candidate may be requested to prepare a short presentation.

This criterion will have a total valuation of 10%.

D.Assessment

The Selection Committee will draw up the minutes of the R&S process in which candidates will be ranked according to their evaluation scores.

E. Nomination

The selected candidate will be nominated and formally offered the position, including the disclosure of the contractual conditions. 

Our Benefits

• Competitive salary;
• Tax benefits and other Diplomatic privileges;
• Private health insurance;
• Family allowances (according to family situation);
• Free nursery service at INL premises (subject to availability);
• Support for education fees of dependent children;
• Relocation support;
• 30 working days of annual leave.

Financial Benefits

INL offers an attractive financial package appropriate to an international research organization. Due to INL special legal status as intergovernmental organization, financial benefits are exempt for national income tax. Apart from the salary, INL may offer, depending on the personal situation, additional allowances and benefits for families and non-residents.

Additional Information

Applicable legal and regulatory framework, taking into consideration the international status of the Organisation

The contract will be subject to the INL’s Staff Rules, as amended from time to time, as well as to all other relevant instructions issued by the Organisation. For this purpose, a copy of the Staff Rules shall be provided. The contract may also be supplemented by the terms and conditions of the Financing Contract between the Organisation and the FCT governing the implementation of the FCT Project.

Disputes between the Organisation and the Employed Member of the Personnel shall be settled in accordance with the INL´s Staff Rules.

Notification of results

Each candidate notified via email of the result of their individual application. If the first candidate refuses the offer, the Human Resources will send an offer to the second candidate on the ranking, and so on until the vacancy is filled.

We highly value the interest shown from applicants wishing to become a part of the INL experience. It is important for us to maintain good communications with candidates. No matter the outcome of the application, we always send the applicant an answer. 

Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination Principle

INL follows a non-discrimination and equal access principle, wherefore no candidate can be privileged, benefited, impaired or deprived of any rights whatsoever, or be exempt of and duties based on any possible discriminatory issues.

The advertisement deadline may be extended at any time without previous notice in order to improve the suitability and effectiveness of the recruitment process.

About INL

The International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory – INL (http://www.inl.int ), is the first and only Intergovernmental Organisation in the world entirely focused on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.

It was founded under an international legal framework to perform interdisciplinary research, deploy and communicate nanotechnology for the benefit of society. INL aims to be a recognised leading global nanotechnology innovation hub.