Overview

As an Electrical Design Engineer at Nucleon, you will design, build, bring up, and test the electronic hardware used to characterize components in radiation environments. This role is ideal for a recent graduate or early-career engineer who wants hands-on experience in PCB design, lab testing, radiation test campaigns, and the full hardware lifecycle from schematic through post-test analysis.

You will work on test coupons, custom PCBs, breakout boards, fixtures, and instrumentation used in heavy-ion, proton, neutron, and total-ionizing-dose testing. You will turn test requirements into reliable hardware, validate that hardware in the lab, support test campaigns, and help translate results into actionable engineering data for customers building high-reliability space systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Design electrical schematics and PCB layouts for radiation test coupons.
• Perform board-level development from requirements definition through component selection, schematic capture, layout, fabrication release, assembly, bring-up, debugging, and documentation.
• Use Altium Designer to create schematics, PCB layouts, fabrication outputs, bills of materials, and design documentation.
• Develop and execute pre-test checkout procedures to verify that test coupons and supporting electronics are functioning correctly before testing.
• Support radiation test campaigns at facilities such as the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory and other heavy-ion, proton, and neutron test facilities.
• Conduct post-irradiation electrical evaluations to verify device performance, identify degradation or failure modes, and document results.
• Work with oscilloscopes, power supplies, multimeters, logic analyzers, function generators, source meters, and other lab equipment to characterize electrical performance.
• Collaborate with software and data teams to automate measurements, capture clean test data, and connect hardware results to Nucleon's radiation-effects database.
• Create clear engineering documentation, including specifications, test plans, checkout procedures, test reports, assembly notes, and failure-analysis summaries.
• Troubleshoot board-level issues quickly and methodically, including power integrity problems, signal integrity issues, assembly defects, measurement errors, and unexpected device behavior.
• Work directly with internal engineers, external partners, vendors, and customers to support rapid, high-quality test execution.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or a related technical field with GPA 3.5 or higher.
• Academic, internship, project, or professional experience designing, building, or testing electronic circuits.
• Experience reading datasheets, selecting components, creating schematics, and validating circuits in the lab.
• Familiarity with analog and digital circuit design fundamentals.
• Hands-on experience with common lab equipment such as oscilloscopes, bench power supplies, digital multimeters, and soldering or rework tools.
• Ability to communicate clearly through written documentation, test procedures, design reviews, and technical discussions.
• Willingness to work full-time, on-site in New York, NY, Huntsville, AL, or Roswell, GA.

Preferred Experience

• 0-10 years of professional, internship, research, or project experience in PCB design, electronics testing, hardware bring-up, or related electrical engineering work.
• Experience using Altium Designer or a similar PCB design tool.
• Experience designing mixed-signal circuit boards involving microcontrollers, ADCs, DACs, operational amplifiers, sensors, power supplies, communication interfaces, or digital logic.
• Familiarity with digital communication protocols such as I2C, SPI, CAN, UART, and other common board-level interfaces.
• Experience with power-supply design, low-noise analog measurements, high-reliability electronics, or test instrumentation.
• Understanding of radiation effects in electronics, including total ionizing dose, single-event effects, single-event latch-up, single-event upset, displacement damage, or radiation-hardness assurance.
• Experience supporting environmental, aerospace, reliability, qualification, or component-level test programs.
• Strong ownership mindset and ability to drive ambiguous technical tasks to completion.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, cross-functional startup environment.

Additional Requirements

• May require extended hours or schedule adjustments to support time-sensitive test campaigns, board bring-up, customer deadlines, or facility test windows.
• Must be willing to travel 2-3 times per month to radiation test facilities, customer sites, vendors, or partner labs.
• Must be able to perform the essential functions of the role, with or without reasonable accommodation, including working in a hands-on electronics lab environment.

ITAR Requirement

Due to the nature of the work and applicable export control laws, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), candidates must be able to access ITAR-controlled information. Accordingly, applicants must be U.S. Persons (U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, or individuals granted refugee or asylee status). Employment is contingent upon verification of eligibility. Applicants may be subject to additional export control screening.

Pay: $85,000.00 - $150,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Flexible schedule
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Professional development assistance
• Relocation assistance
• Retirement plan
• Tuition reimbursement
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person