Electrical Hardware Engineer

About us

nEye.ai, a well-funded optical switch startup, is poised to revolutionize the future of data centers. nEye’s MEMS-based silicon photonics optical circuit switches (OCS) eliminate critical bottlenecks in AI processing by enabling direct optical connections among thousands of GPUs and memory units. The company's OCS is an ultra-low power consumption, high radix, compact chip-scale design, offering hyperscale data centers enhanced performance, efficiency, and scalability.

Job Overview

We are seeking an Electrical Hardware Engineer to join our hardware team and work closely with the Lead Hardware Engineer, Digital & Embedded Systems to develop, bring up, debug, and validate electronic systems that control our optical switching platform.

This role is ideal for an engineer who enjoys hands-on hardware development and lab work: someone who can move between schematic design, PCB layout, board bring-up, debugging, and system testing.

You will play a key role in bringing new hardware designs to life, helping integrate electronic systems with MEMS and photonics technology.

Hardware Bring-Up & Debugging

• Perform initial bring-up of new circuit boards and hardware prototypes

• Debug and troubleshoot electrical issues using lab equipment

• Diagnose problems related to power systems, digital interfaces, and mixed-signal circuits

• Work closely with firmware and FPGA engineers to validate hardware functionality

Hardware Testing & Validation

• Develop and execute test plans for prototype hardware

• Build test setups and validation environments for electronic systems

• Characterize hardware performance and identify root causes of failures

• Support system-level testing and integration

Hardware Design Support

• Assist with schematic capture and PCB design using Altium Designer

• Contribute to the design and implementation of mixed-signal electronic systems

• Work with the hardware lead to implement subsystem designs and revisions

• Support component selection and board revisions as designs evolve

• Assist in defining electrical hardware standards, processes and libraries for nEye designs

System Integration

• Integrate control electronics with optical switching hardware

• Collaborate with photonics, firmware, and FPGA teams

• Participate in design reviews and hardware validation activities

• BS or MS in Electrical Engineering

• 5–10 years of experience designing and debugging electronic hardware

• Strong PCB design experience using Altium Designer

• Hands-on experience with board bring-up, debugging, and hardware validation

• Strong lab skills using equipment such as:

  • oscilloscopes

  • multimeters

  • electronic loads

  • logic analyzers

  • Strong soldering skills, including ability to work with small components (down to 0402 size)

  • Experience with digital and mixed-signal circuit design

  • Strong troubleshooting and root-cause analysis skills

  • Deep familiarity using AI tools (e.g., LLMs, copilots) to accelerate engineering workflows, debugging, and problem-solving.

• Experience working with FPGA-based systems (including knowledge of Verilog/VHDL)

• Embedded firmware experience (C/C++)

• Familiarity with high-speed interfaces (PCIe, DDR, Ethernet, LVDS, etc.)

• Experience building prototype hardware systems

• Experience working in early-stage hardware development environments