What are the responsibilities and job description for the Principal Electrical Systems Engineer position at SiPhox Health?
About SiPhox Health
SiPhox Health is transforming clinical diagnostics by integrating silicon photonics, microfluidics, embedded electronics, and semiconductor manufacturing into a compact, consumer-ready diagnostic platform. Our system orchestrates optics, fluidics, motors, pumps, heaters, sensors, and multiple microcontrollers to deliver high-precision biomarker measurements at home.
The electrical system is the backbone of the platform. Every movement, every optical read, every thermal transition, and every pump actuation depends on robust, reliable, safety-controlled electronics.
The Opportunity
We are hiring a Principal Electrical Systems Engineer to architect, design, and scale the electronics that power the entire SiPhox diagnostic instrument. You will define and own the electronics that unify the motion system, camera module, pumps, heaters, stepper motors, encoders, valves, sensors, and photonic reader into a cohesive medical-grade device.
This is a role for an engineer who thrives at the intersection of mixed-signal design, motor control, power electronics, embedded interfaces, and system-level reliability. Your work will directly enable the world’s first mass-market photonic blood analyzer.
What You Will Do
System Architecture and PCB Design
- Own the electrical architecture for the full diagnostic instrument, including:
- Stepper and BLDC motor drivers
- Pump and valve control
- Linear actuators and gantry control
- Camera and LED subsystem
- Centrifuge motor with encoder feedback
- Resistive heater and NTC sensing
- SPI-connected photonic reader MCU
- Power distribution and external PSU integration
- Lead schematic design, PCB layout, component selection, and design documentation
- Develop mixed-signal circuits for optical sensing, thermal control, motor control, and fluidic actuation
- Ensure designs meet performance, safety, EMC, and reliability requirements for medical devices
Embedded Hardware Integration
- Collaborate closely with firmware engineers (ESP32 and STM32) on HAL requirements, timing constraints, and motor-control behavior
- Support real-time interfaces including SPI, UART, RS485, USB, and GPIO triggers
- Validate hardware communication with the Linux SBC, reader subsystem, motion modules, and cartridge heater system
Electromechanical and Motion Integration
- Architect and tune electronics for:
- Multi-axis gantry (X, Y, Z)
- Centrifuge with incremental encoder
- Lift slider and drawer motor
- Camera trigger and illumination control
- Lead hardware bring-up, system debug, and cross-functional root-cause analysis for motion, thermal, and sensing issues
Reliability, Safety, and Compliance
- Own electrical risk analysis and contribute to FMEAs and hazard controls
- Design for IEC 60601, IEC 61010, ISO 13485, and relevant diagnostic device standards
- Implement electrical protections, safety interlocks, and fault-tolerant behavior
- Drive EMC testing, mitigation, and design improvements
Manufacturing and Scale-Up
- Work with suppliers, CM partners, and PCB fabrication houses
- Design automated test fixtures and production validation tools
- Improve yield, robustness, and cost efficiency as the platform scales
What We Are Looking For
Required Experience
- Deep experience designing electronics for complex electromechanical or instrumentation systems
- Strong background in stepper, servo, or BLDC motor control electronics
- Expertise with sensors, encoders, heaters, NTCs, and precision analog signaling
- Proficiency with PCB design tools such as Altium
- Strong cross-functional debugging skills
- Familiarity with SPI, USB, RS485, UART, CAN, and other real-time interfaces
- Experience designing for EMC, safety, and regulatory compliance
- Bachelor’s or Master’s in Electrical Engineering or related field
- Authorized to work in the U.S. and available onsite in Burlington, MA
Highly Desirable
- Medical device, IVD, or laboratory instrument experience
- Experience with fluidic or motion-system electronics
- Experience with power systems and external PSU integration
- Experience with automated manufacturing test systems
- Experience working with microcontrollers (ESP32, STM32, NXP)
Why This Role Is Unique
At SiPhox, you will:
- Design the electronics backbone for the first at-home photonic diagnostic platform
- Integrate optics, fluidics, motion, sensing, and thermal control into one cohesive system
- Build hardware that directly impacts diagnostic accuracy and patient outcomes
- See your work ship in a consumer device used by real people, at scale
If you want to architect the electronics that power the future of home diagnostics, we want to meet you.