ELECTRICAL ENGINEER

As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem-solving skills and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world.

UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty.

The Electronic and Photonic Systems team at the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington is hiring – see yourself at APL!

The Applied Physics Laboratory is a research unit at the University of Washington. Our research expertise is in ocean physics and engineering, ocean and medical acoustics, polar science, environmental remote sensing, and signal processing. We conduct research and development that is sponsored by a variety of federal and state agencies, and take great pride in our long-standing status as a US Navy-designated University Affiliated Research Center (UARC). Our work takes place not only on the University of Washington campus and medical centers, but in field locations around the world – at sea, in the air, and on polar ice caps. We apply rigorous scientific inquiry and engineering excellence in pursuit of solutions to important problems for the good of our region, nation, and world.

Diversity is a core value at University of Washington and the Applied Physics Laboratory shares this commitment. We are focused on building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable research environment for all students, staff, and collaborators. We believe every member on our team enriches our community by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to discover, design and deliver solutions.

The National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) Cabled Array (CA) is an underwater cabled ocean observatory off the Washington and Oregon coasts. This type of network – multiple scientific instruments connected over such a great distance, and operating at ocean depths of nearly 3000 meters – is the first of its kind, and enables new and exciting science experiments to help explore ocean processes critical to our understanding of the environment.

APL is hiring an Electrical Engineer with Control System experience to work on cutting edge applied ocean projects for a diverse set of customers and applications. The successful candidate will be part of an integrated engineering team that designs, builds, installs, operates and maintains complex electrical/mechanical systems to solve challenging problems in novel ways. The candidate will be responsible operating and maintaining a one of kind subsea cabled winched profiling system for the NSF sponsored OOI-RCA project. The candidate will also be responsible for the design of new subsystem electronics systems including acoustic recording systems, subsea tracking systems and other highly integrated and complex ocean instrument packages. This candidate will be part of the design team for building subsea cabled systems including high voltage power control systems and long-range telemetry interfaces. Opportunities to work on field experiments around the globe with world class researchers at the University of Washington and partner institutions.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Directs, plans and manages all electrical engineering deliverables.
• Works closely with sponsor and APL Leadership on scope of work, oversight, and reporting.
• Approaches novel assignments and applies sophisticated research techniques, networks, and resources, move the project forward from inception to execution.
• As a subject matter expert, this person will be expected to work on extremely complex research endeavors which results in the creation of new concepts, applications, designs or new areas of research.
• Manage team members, including coaching, assign work, providing feedback, and performance manage as needed.
• Creates and presents detailed electrical subsystem designs at programmatic reviews.
• Designs complex circuit boards using the PADS software suite.
• Prepares and analyzes detailed electrical power budgets.
• Designs low noise, high data rate data acquisition devices.
• Performs electrical component fabrication, assembly, integration, and bench testing as needed.
• Proposes and leads new initiatives, and sought out by national and international agencies for collaboration.
• In collaboration with Principal Investigators, plans and manages at-sea installation and recovery operations of the shallow profiler system.
• Analyzes system performance of installed systems and perform failure analysis with corrective actions as needed.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering or related engineering field AND 10 or more years of experience in a related engineering field.

•     Eligible to obtain and maintain a federal security clearance.
•     US Citizen.
•     Experience with electromechanical control systems including VFD motor design.
•     Proficient in PCB design and layout.
•     Proficient in analog electronics design both signals and power systems.
•     Experience with microcontroller interface design and programming in assembly and C.
•     Ability to plan and organize technical projects.
•     Ability to participate in ship-based field work.
•     Demonstrated excellent written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills.
•     Demonstrated organizational skills, self-motivation, flexibility, and the ability to thrive in a creative, entrepreneurial environment.
•     Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.

Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.

DESIRED:
•     Experience with higher level programming skills including Python and Java.
•     Experience with Real Time Operating systems.
•     Experience designing system for the ocean environment.
•     Experience designing low noise data acquisition systems.
•     Experience with low power design techniques.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

May be subject to successful completion of E-Verify process.
To be eligible for this position, proof of US citizenship must be provided and you must be able to obtain or maintain a federal security clearance.

Application Process:

The application process for UW positions may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process.  These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others.  Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.