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Salary: USD 180,000 - 230,000 / annual
Mesa Quantum is building chip-scale quantum devices for Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) applications serving defense, telecom, space, and critical infrastructure. The company combines expertise in AMO physics, photonics, microfabrication, and engineering to scale quantum technology from research to production.
You will own the board-level control electronics for Mesa Quantum's chip-scale atomic clock, taking precision analog and RF boards from schematic through layout, bring-up, characterization, and production. This is a hands-on principal role where you personally execute the bulk of circuit and PCB design work rather than delegating it. You will be the senior hardware engineer on the clock, owning the analog front end, microwave synthesis chain, laser drive and thermal control electronics, and integration boards. You will work daily with AMO physics, photonics, firmware, and systems teams, and set the standard for hardware design across the company. You report to the CTO.
Key responsibilities include:
- Design and lay out multi-layer precision analog and RF circuit boards from schematic capture and simulation through PCB layout, fabrication, bring-up, and debug
- Own the precision analog front end: photodetector signal conditioning, low-noise transimpedance and instrumentation amplification, and lock-in detection for weak atomic signal recovery
- Design and validate the microwave synthesis chain including PLL and VCO design, phase noise optimization, and reference distribution
- Design precision VCSEL current drive and thermal control electronics
- Architect successive generations of control electronics, driving size, power, and noise down at each iteration
- Build characterization protocols, test fixtures, and automation to validate clock performance against Allan deviation, phase noise, and holdover targets
- Partner with firmware engineers on hardware-software interface and with physicists on system noise budget
- Drive Design for Manufacturability and Design for Test with PCB fabricators, assembly houses, and contract manufacturers as the company scales
- Set hardware design standards, lead design reviews, and mentor engineers
Requirements:
- 10+ years of board-level analog and RF hardware design, including at least one product taken from prototype through volume production
- Track record of multi-layer boards you personally designed and laid out, mixing sensitive analog, RF, and digital circuits: stack-up definition, controlled impedance, grounding and return-path control, shielding, and thermal management
- Current, hands-on proficiency in a professional PCB design tool such as Altium Designer, Cadence Allegro/OrCAD, or KiCad
- Deep expertise in low-noise precision analog: signal conditioning, low-noise amplifiers, ADC and DAC interfacing, and rigorous noise budgeting
- RF circuit design through GHz frequencies, with hands-on experience in low phase noise frequency synthesis, PLLs, and VCOs
- Strong SPICE simulation and circuit analysis skills, including noise, stability, and tolerance analysis
- Hands-on bench proficiency with oscilloscopes, spectrum and phase noise analyzers, network analyzers, source measure units, and signal generators
- Scripting experience for instrument control, characterization, and data analysis
- Version control (Git or similar) for hardware design files
Strongly preferred:
- Chip-scale atomic clocks, rubidium or cesium oscillators, OCXOs, or other precision frequency references
- Optoelectronics: VCSEL or laser diode drive, photodetector readout, laser frequency locking
- Embedded firmware in C/C++ on ARM Cortex-M class microcontrollers
- FPGA development in Verilog or SystemVerilog, including real-time DSP (lock-in detection, PID, digital filtering)
- Hardware design under hard size, weight, and power budgets
- Board-level integration of custom mixed-signal silicon, including block specification or characterization
- Hands-on management of PCB fabricators, assembly houses, and contract manufacturers
- Defense, aerospace, or space-qualified hardware experience
- Familiarity with atomic physics or other quantum sensing modalities
- Experience leading or mentoring a small hardware team
Note: Due to U.S. Department of Defense funding requirements, applicants must be U.S. persons (U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents). The ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance may be required for certain projects.
