Staff Electrical Engineer - Rf/emi/emc

Apptronik Apptronik · Robotics · HQ · Hardware

Apptronik is seeking a Staff Electrical Engineer specializing in RF/EMI/EMC and RF communication subsystems for their Apollo humanoid robot. The role involves owning the design, testing, and strategy for these electronic systems, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards and optimizing RF performance. The engineer will also be involved in component selection, PCB design, prototyping, and lifecycle management of electronics, with a focus on bringing the robot to market at scale.

What you'd actually do

  1. Develop and execute comprehensive validation and test plans, design necessary test fixtures, and execute rigorous testing to confirm compliance with performance specifications and regulatory standards (e.g., FCC, CE, UL).
  2. Own architecture and component selection for RF communication subsystems.
  3. Collaborate with leadership, program management, and cross-functional teams to plan and execute company strategy.
  4. Innovate by bringing new core technologies, test practices, and processes into electrical engineering developments.
  5. Define, simulate, and verify electronics and electrical system requirements.

Skills

Required

  • Bachelors, Masters, or PhD degree (or equivalent) in Electrical Engineering or related field.
  • 8+ years of experience in electronics development.
  • Demonstrated experience taking a product through FCC (Part 15b) and CE radiated and conducted emissions testing.
  • Experience with 47 CFR 15.109 and IEC 61000-6 series standards.
  • Experience with RF module selection and integration, particularly for 2x2 (or 4x4) Triband Wifi (5, 6, 6E, 7), high-throughput/data rate wifi systems, mobile device RF design, cellular 5G (carrier and private).
  • Experience with wifi drivers for IEEE 802.11.
  • Experience with antenna integration. Can inform on antenna selection or design, antenna placement, and interaction of antennas and surrounding materials.
  • Experience with RF system performance optimization (mixed HW / SW / FW configuration).
  • Excellent communication (verbal & written); will be expected to develop detailed build assembly instructions and diagrams.
  • Excellent problem-solving and hardware debugging skills.
  • Hands-on experience with prototyping and testing, including the use of lab equipment.
  • Design, simulate, implement, and test multi-layer mixed signal PCBAs.
  • Generate design documentation such as schematics, block diagrams, test plans and procedures, fabrication and assembly drawings.
  • Design hardware to meet functional safety requirements, implementing redundant systems, fail-safe mechanisms, and diagnostic features to meet or exceed industry safety standards.
  • Conduct performance benchmarking and power analysis to optimize the hardware for maximum efficiency and thermal management.
  • Participate in the debugging and root cause analysis related to hardware and software defect resolution.
  • Own the entire lifecycle of electronics and electrical systems from initial concept and architecture definition through design, prototyping, validation, production release, change requests, and ongoing support.
  • Mentor junior and senior engineers.
  • Manage 3rd party relationships with vendors, contract manufacturers, and external design services.

Nice to have

  • Experience with robotics or designing electronics for lightweight, space-constrained systems is a significant plus.
  • RF firmware/software experience
  • Nvidia Orin NX
  • Nvidia Orin AGX
  • Mobile robotics experience is a plus (antennas on robot vacuums or industrial AMRs)
  • Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201

What the JD emphasized

  • own the electronics EMI/EMC design and test strategy
  • own the strategy for requirements, design, and testing of RF, EMI, and EMC
  • Demonstrated experience taking a product through FCC (Part 15b) and CE radiated and conducted emissions testing.