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Apptronik is seeking a Staff Electrical Engineer to architect the electronics and FPGA systems for Apollo, a humanoid robot designed for manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and beyond. This is a full-stack ownership role spanning requirements definition through production release.
You will own the complete electrical and FPGA architecture for Apollo's sensor bridge board—a multi-Gbps, mixed-signal PCBA that aggregates camera sensor data and human-robot interface functions. Responsibilities include:
**Electronics & FPGA Architecture**: Define requirements, select components, capture schematics, guide PCB layout, and develop RTL for a complex board that routes across dynamic joints. Carry designs from concept through prototype, validation, and manufacturing release. Maintain comprehensive documentation including block diagrams, schematics, RTL architecture, test plans, and manufacturing drawings.
**High-Speed & Mixed-Signal Design**: Design and validate high-speed digital interfaces (CSI-2, GMSL2, FPD-Link, 10GbE) with attention to signal integrity, impedance control, and length matching. Architect power trees for proper sequencing and low-power operation. Design for EMC, ESD, and thermal constraints.
**FPGA Development**: Select FPGA devices and define architecture. Develop RTL in VHDL/Verilog for CSI-2 ingest, Ethernet packetization, timestamp/metadata insertion, and multi-camera/multi-IMU synchronization. Own timing closure, clock-domain crossing, resource budgeting, and high-speed transceiver integration.
**Validation & Debugging**: Develop and execute comprehensive validation plans. Build test fixtures and use lab equipment (oscilloscopes, protocol analyzers, logic analyzers) to validate latency, bandwidth, and synchronization. Debug across hardware/RTL boundaries using rigorous root-cause analysis.
**Vendor & Lifecycle Management**: Own component lifecycle through PLM systems. Manage relationships with hardware vendors and contract manufacturers to ensure production scaling and design-for-manufacturability.
**Cross-Functional Leadership**: Collaborate with perception, software, mechanical, thermal, and systems teams. Mentor junior engineers on hardware design best practices. Drive project execution, define component roadmaps, lead debugging efforts, and align technical decisions with company goals.
Required expertise: Strong depth in FPGA hardware design for time-sensitive, high-performance applications (image processing, real-time data acquisition, networking). Proficiency in FPGA device selection, RTL development (VHDL/Verilog), high-speed interface design (CSI-2, GMSL, SerDes, Ethernet, PCIe), timing closure, clock-domain crossing, and FPGA tool flows (Vivado, Quartus, Radiant). Deep understanding of signal integrity, impedance-controlled routing, differential pairs, and board-to-FPGA timing analysis. Experience with camera/image sensor hardware, SerDes protocols (GMSL, FPD-Link), and production-scale hardware bring-up.
