Technical Talent Group

Job Description Job Description Job Description Hardware Engineer - New Product Development Location: Chandler, AZ (Onsite) Employment Type: Full-Time / Contract-to-Hire About the Role We are seeking a hands-on Hardware Engineer to design and develop next-generation electronic products for defense and rugged commercial applications. The ideal candidate does their own schematic capture and PCB layout end-to-end; this is not an architecture-only or oversight role. The right person has taken boards from concept through production, debugged them when they broke, and learned from it. Key Responsibilities Own hardware design end-to-end: schematic capture, PCB layout, prototyping, board bring-up, and debug through production release. Design circuit boards for rugged, industrial, commercial, or defense-adjacent applications (not high-volume consumer electronics). Work with microprocessor-based designs, including digital interfaces (GPIO, ADC, high-speed buses) and general digital/mixed-signal circuit design. Design power electronics in the 1-5kW range (not low-power audio/amplifier-scale work). Design hardware in a way that supports the embedded/firmware team's work, even without writing firmware directly. Prior firmware exposure is a plus. Collaborate with mechanical and systems engineers to integrate hardware into full electro-mechanical products. Participate in client-facing design reviews and program updates. Use AI-assisted tools (e.g., for design review) as part of the standard workflow; comfort with this is expected, not optional. Required Skills & Experience Enough experience to have been through a full product cycle, from design through production through field issues, but not so specialized that the candidate has only worked on isolated pieces of larger programs. Ground-up PCB design experience is required. Candidates who have only worked at large companies with dedicated layout technicians (i.e., don't do their own layout) are not a fit. Proficiency with Altium Designer preferred. Candidates with only KiCad/Eagle experience will be viewed as more hobbyist-level; Altium experience is a plus but not a strict filter if the rest of the background is strong. Experience with microprocessor-based digital design and high-speed routing/bus design. Power electronics experience (battery or power supply design in the 1-5kW range) is valued. Strong hands-on debugging ability. Candidates should be able to bring past board work to an interview and walk through what went wrong and how they fixed it. No fear of or resistance to AI tools in the engineering workflow. This has become a real culture filter for the team. Preferred Qualifications Experience in rugged product design for automotive, medical, industrial, or defense/aerospace applications. Defense/aerospace background is a plus but not required. Familiarity with relevant MIL-STDs (461 EMI, 810 environmental) or equivalent rugged design standards from automotive/medical work. Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, or related discipline preferred, not a hard requirement if experience supports the above. Soft Skills / Culture Fit (Critical) High emotional intelligence and comfort working directly with clients. Strong accountability and humility around design mistakes; the team wants to see how a candidate responds when something breaks, not blame-shifting or overconfidence. Comfortable in a culture that includes firearms and alcohol on-site. Well-presented and professional in appearance. Certifications / Clearance Must be a U.S. Citizen (born or naturalized). Green card holders and other work-authorized non-citizens are not eligible. No sponsorship available. No active clearance required. Candidate must be eligible to become ITAR-compliant. Key changes from the old JD: Removed "5+ years" as a hard requirement, replaced with the "seen a full product cycle" framing since that mattered more to Andy than a specific number. Cut OrCAD/Mentor Graphics mentions and centered on Altium as the real preference, with the KiCad/Eagle nuance Andy raised. Removed system-architecture framing from the intro and responsibilities. Andy was explicit: no system architects, this is a layout/bring-up/debug role. Removed DFM/DFT, UL/CE/FCC/ISO regulatory language, and EMI/EMC compliance detail as formal requirements since none of that came up as a priority on the call. Added the AI-tool comfort requirement, since Andy flagged this as an active screening factor now. Added the same culture-fit section as the ME role (client-facing, humility, guns/alcohol comfort, presentation) since Andy made clear this applies identically to both hires. Fixed citizenship language to match the ME JD: US citizens only, no green card sponsorship.