Sr. System Engineer

Location: Sichuan, China

Work Schedule

Standard (Mon-Fri)

Environmental Conditions

Office

At Thermo Fisher Scientific, our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Join a multidisciplinary R&D team developing reliable instruments that help customers advance research, improve analytical results and solve practical laboratory and inspection challenges.

Role overview

As Senior Systems Engineer, you will bring a strong electrical engineering background to the development of life science and chemical analysis instruments and related inspection systems. Your primary responsibility will be hands-on electrical subsystem and printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) design, from requirements and circuit architecture through board bring-up, verification and production transfer. You will work with the R&D Manager and firmware, mechanical and applications engineers to ensure the electronics meet system performance and integration requirements.

The development portfolio includes EDXRF instruments, the Varioskan ALF Multimode Microplate Reader, X-ray inspection systems and the Power Blotter Station. Assignments will depend on project needs and relevant expertise.

Key responsibilities

• Translate instrument requirements into electrical specifications, circuit architecture, interface definitions and measurable board-level acceptance criteria.
• Design analog, digital and mixed-signal circuits, including sensor interfaces, signal conditioning, ADCs/DACs, embedded control, power regulation and actuator interfaces.
• Perform component selection, circuit calculations and simulation; develop schematics and controlled engineering BOMs using tools such as Altium.
• Develop or guide PCB layout, including stack-up, component placement, grounding, signal/power integrity, thermal behavior and EMC considerations.
• Bring up prototype PCBAs, measure circuit performance and debug power, signal, timing, noise and communication issues with firmware engineers.
• Develop electrical verification plans, test fixtures and procedures; assess accuracy, noise, stability, timing, power and fault behavior against requirements.
• Integrate PCBAs, power supplies, sensors, detectors, motors and cabling; resolve electrical interfaces with mechanical and firmware teams.
• Address electrical safety, protection, isolation and interlock requirements with system and compliance specialists, as applicable to the product.
• Apply design for manufacture and test; support contract manufacturers with PCBA fabrication/assembly data, test coverage, pilot builds and yield issues.
• Maintain design records and engineering changes; investigate failures, manage component risks and support manufacturing and service throughout the product lifecycle.

Required qualifications

• Advanced degree plus at least 3 years of relevant experience, or bachelor's degree plus at least 5 years, in electrical/electronic design and product development.
• Degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering or a closely related discipline with substantial circuit design training.
• Demonstrated hands-on PCBA development from requirements and schematics through PCB layout review, board bring-up, verification and production release.
• Strong analog, digital and mixed-signal design skills, including signal conditioning, data conversion, embedded processor interfaces and power circuitry.
• Proficiency in schematic capture and PCB design tools such as Altium, plus circuit simulation and component selection.
• Practical understanding of grounding, low-noise design, signal/power integrity, EMC and electrical protection, with ability to apply relevant design constraints.
• Hands-on use of oscilloscopes, multimeters, power supplies, logic analyzers and other equipment for circuit characterization and debugging.
• Experience with requirements, electrical interfaces, design verification, root-cause analysis and controlled design documentation and change management.
• Ability to own electrical work packages, support peers and communicate effectively in English with global, cross-functional teams.
• Ability to travel as needed for suppliers, manufacturing builds and collaboration with global teams.

Preferred qualifications

• Electronics development for life science and chemical analysis instruments, spectroscopy, optical detection, X-ray equipment or laboratory automation.
• Experience with precision low-level signals, detector electronics, motor drives, controlled power delivery or high-voltage interfaces relevant to the assignment.
• Python, MATLAB or LabVIEW for test automation and data analysis; experience with statistical analysis and DOE.
• Experience with PCBA DFM/DFT, automated production testing, component lifecycle management and product safety or EMC pre-compliance testing.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted tools for engineering tasks such as analysis, documentation, or coding is a plus.

Additional Locations: China - Shanghai - Xin Jin Qiao Road