Senior Electronics Engineer: Electro-Optics Design and Development at Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

About the job:

• The CSIR has a vacancy for a Senior Electronics Engineer: Electro-Optics Systems Design and Development in the Optronic Sensor Systems Impact Area, within the Defence and Security cluster.
• The incumbent will be responsible for researching, design and developing electro optics systems and subsystems, providing input into the definition of fine mechanics and optics within the Optronic Systems Applications (OSA) Research Group, and contributing towards leading-edge technology and research. This is based in Pretoria and will report to the Research Group Leader.

Key responsibilities:

• Design and development of for electro-optical systems;
• Conduct research and development of new electro-optical technologies.
• Interact with customers and successfully capture user requirements in the form of a URS document, interface control document, etc.
• Design and build concept demonstrators in a short time by making use of basic electronic components and/or development boards such as Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Nvidia Jetson, STMicroelectronics, PIC, etc.;
• Research and perform trade-off studies for products or systems required by the management or client;
• Guide engineers in the field of electro-optics engineering to work as a team and deliver quality project outputs;
• Prepare PCB manufacturing data packs and source components;
• Assemble, integrate, and test the electro-optical systems and subsystems;
• Write acceptance test procedures;
• Conduct the system testing and field evaluations together with the customer and suppliers;
• Capture and process the test results and present the project outcome and recommendations to the client;
• Document research outcomes to the satisfaction of management and customers.

Qualifications, skills and experience:

• A Bachelor’s degree in electronic/mechatronics/electrical engineering, or related fields with at least five years’ experience in electronic circuit design and development, embedded software design and development, and control system design;
• A Honour’s degree in physics, mathematics or mechatronic engineering will be advantageous
• Excellent working knowledge and understanding of System Engineering process and design review process;
• Excellent working knowledge of electronic CAD design workflow, software development on Windows, and Linux operating systems and real-time operating system environments;
• The following training, knowledge, and experience will be advantageous:
• Computer programming (C, C++, Python, MATLAB, VHDL, etc.) experience;
• Experience with developing concept demonstrators using development boards (i.e., Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Beaglebone, PIC, STM32, Nvidia Jetson, etc);
• Design of optical systems (cameras, spectrometers, interferometers, etc);
• Laboratory and field characterization, testing, and evaluation of optical components and systems;
• An understanding of electro-optical and photonic sensors;
• Control systems design and implementation;
• PCB and schematic design skills, preferably using Altium CAD;
• Understanding and application of project and task scope, risk assessment, cost estimation, timelines and demonstrated ability to plan activities;
• Writing reports and documentation with Microsoft Office Tools;
• Able to conduct field testing and contribute towards physical involvement in projects;
• Ability to adapt easily to ever changing circumstances;
• Ability to work independently and across disciplines to integrate subsystems into complete solutions;
• Ability to work well under pressure and establish good working relationships with both internal and external clients;
• Demonstrated skills in analytical thinking and decision-making, flexibility and adaptability, investigative orientation, planning and organising, problem solving, verbal and written communication, diverse and dynamic team work, self-management (planning, prioritising and time management – includes the ability to work independently), systems level thinking, collaborating, multi-disciplinary knowledge; configuration management.