WHAT DOES AN ELECTRONICS ENGINEER DO?

Updated: Jun 02, 2025 - The Electronics Engineer designs and develops PCBA systems, specifies hardware requirements, and integrates components for robust functionality across various industries. This position leads compliance efforts for ATEX and IECEx standards, manages debugging, testing, and certification processes, and provides technical advice to support sales and development teams. Collaboration with suppliers, headquarters, and notified bodies ensures efficient product development and software validation.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Electronics Engineer

1. Electronics Engineer Job Description

  • Product Integration: Integrate, test, and support electronic products.
  • Lifecycle Management: Work with products from prototype to mature stages across customer fleets.
  • Fault Diagnosis: Perform fault diagnosis and resolution down to the component level.
  • Configuration Management: Manage the configuration of products deployed across customer fleets.
  • Test System Design: Design and implement test systems and processes, including ATE programming and deployment.
  • Regulatory Compliance: Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements through 3rd party testing.
  • Acceptance Testing: Manage acceptance testing in collaboration with customers.
  • Reporting: Produce and present customer deliverable service reports.
  • Process Improvement: Identify and recommend opportunities for process enhancement.
  • Work Environment Improvement: Recommend ways to improve the working environment.
  • Product Understanding: Understand the functionality of electronic products.
  • Application Development: Analyze, develop, install, test, and modify complex applications using high-level languages.
  • Web Development: Develop web-based applications.
  • Systems Analysis: Conduct systems analysis and programming for proprietary applications.
  • Hardware Design: Design, develop, and implement complex hardware solutions within manufacturing capabilities.
  • Documentation: Complete all engineering documentation to support design efforts.

2. Electronics Engineer Overview

  • Project Management: Handle new lighting projects following the product development process.
  • Product Improvement: Provide improvement solutions for existing products.
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration: Interact with Procurement, WL team, Marketing, SQD, and TPM vendors.
  • Vendor Support: Improve circuit design capability for TPM vendors.
  • Timeline Management: Deliver all project aspects to agreed timescales.
  • Risk Management: Identify project risks and implement contingency activities.
  • Technical Drawings: Prepare product/system layouts and detailed schematics.
  • Design Validation: Demonstrate design suitability using DFMEA and testing.
  • Compliance Testing: Ensure compliance with applicable test standards (EMC, ESD).
  • Customer Support: Interface with customers to provide technical support and guidance.
  • Progress Reporting: Inform the department and project team of progress.
  • Career Development: Plan personal career, discuss with manager, and maintain professional competence.
  • Electronics Design: Provide electronics engineering designs that meet specifications within project timelines and budgets.
  • Design Verification: Ensure designs are properly verified according to engineering procedures.

3. Electronics Engineer Details and Accountabilities

  • Electronics Lead: Act as the anchor point for electronics and sensors in the team, promoting maintenance tasks.
  • Obsolescence Management: Direct input to the roadmap for obsolete electronic parts.
  • Design Updates: Participate in design updates for replacing/updating electronic modules.
  • Control Unit Updates: Ensure continuous updates of existing control unit designs.
  • Component Management: Support handling of obsolete components with sub-suppliers.
  • Process Improvement: Contribute to continuous improvement of processes and tools.
  • Lifecycle Management: Participate in product lifecycle management.
  • Knowledge Sharing: Share knowledge and experience on electronic components with colleagues and partners.
  • Specification Management: Create, review, and compare specifications like TSS and TPS for electronic components.
  • ECR Responsibility: Manage and show responsibility for electronic-related ECRs.
  • Project Support: Support projects and tasks across different WTG brands and platforms.
  • Documentation: Contribute to document creation and work instructions for electronic components (e.g., TSS, TPS).
  • Technical Support: Assist technical writers and the technical sourcing team.
  • Engineering Planning: Contribute to engineering plans and schedules, including planning own activities.

4. Electronics Engineer Tasks

  • Control System Design: Design electronic control systems for electrolyzers.
  • PCB Design: Create PCB board designs for electrolyzers and products using Altium or similar software.
  • Prototyping: Prototype and conduct iterative testing of PCB boards.
  • Component Selection: Select sensors and other electronic components.
  • EMC Design: Design systems and place components for EMC compatibility.
  • Certification Support: Collaborate to certify products in key customer regions.
  • Electrical Development: Plan and coordinate electrical development for new products.
  • Problem Solving: Develop concepts and apply engineering methods to solve complex technical problems.
  • Circuit Development: Develop, simulate, and analyze electronic concepts and circuits.
  • PCB Optimization: Optimize PCB board designs.
  • Project Management: Maintain electronic product development progress according to schedule.
  • Risk Mitigation: Manage risk, design, and cost optimization, ensuring DFM and product vision alignment.
  • Compliance Testing: Meet internal testing (environmental, electrical, EMC, ESD) and agency requirements (UL, FCC, CSA).
  • Manufacturing Transition: Collaborate with cross-functional teams to transition designs to high-volume manufacturing.
  • Global Collaboration: Engage in collaborative development with teams in other locations.

5. Electronics Engineer Roles

  • Process Improvement: Create lean design processes with continuous improvement.
  • Team Management: Manage the performance of the High-Speed Design team across all locations.
  • Technology Research: Research new technologies and recommend future directions to senior management.
  • Circuit Design: Design digital circuits using microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSPs, and programmable logic devices.
  • PCB Design: Design PCBs for high-speed logic, ensuring signal integrity with the PCB team.
  • System Architecture: Participate in architectural design and hardware/software partitioning.
  • Feasibility Studies: Conduct design feasibility studies and investigations.
  • Prototype Management: Manage prototype manufacturing, testing, and approvals with teams in China and Malaysia.
  • Power Supply Design: Design and test switch-mode power supply circuits at industrial line voltage.
  • Circuit Design: Design and test analog, digital, and industrial interfacing circuits.
  • Topology Development: Develop new power supply topologies.
  • Troubleshooting: Perform troubleshooting and analysis of existing power supply designs.
  • Customer Support: Assist customers during start-up and troubleshooting.
  • Design Validation: Validate designs through laboratory tests.
  • Documentation: Prepare and provide thorough documentation.
  • Project Management: Develop and manage new projects based on customer and product management specifications.

6. Electronics Engineer Additional Details

  • Test Development: Translate product specifications into test requirements, create test plans, develop test fixtures, and execute qualification tests.
  • Design Improvement: Identify cost and quality improvements for electronic designs and collaborate on execution.
  • NPI Support: Assist in designing electronics solutions for New Product Introductions (NPI), from scope to production and support.
  • Design Integrity: Ensure design integrity through reviews, feedback incorporation (DFx), and regulatory testing.
  • Root Cause Analysis: Analyze field issues, determine root causes, and implement corrective actions.
  • Component Sourcing: Identify and qualify alternate components to address shortages and obsolescence.
  • Testing Management: Manage testing tools, labs, and equipment to meet product testing requirements.
  • Prototyping: Investigate new features, prototype, and generate new ideas during the Advanced Development Process.
  • Circuit Design: Design, review, and document circuit diagrams following design guidelines and EMC/safety standards.
  • System Architecture: Create and optimize electrical/electronic architectures for systems.
  • Specification Development: Develop and verify technical specifications, and perform analyses, calculations, and circuit simulations.
  • Component Selection: Select electronic components based on design, cost, and reliability requirements.
  • EMC Coordination: Oversee EMC activities, including concept creation, test plans, and interference suppression development.

7. Electronics Engineer Essential Functions

  • Component Design: Design, develop, and evaluate components and assemblies from concept to MP, ensuring customer requirements are met.
  • Peer Review: Critically evaluate design proposals and participate in peer review meetings.
  • Test Development: Develop test procedures to validate designs.
  • Signal Integrity: Study EMC and AMP Signal Integrity issues to eliminate design problems before sample stages.
  • Cross-functional collaboration: Work with teams, customers, and suppliers to deliver products into production, providing technical support.
  • Safety Compliance: Ensure customer, regional (e.g., EN), and general product safety directives are considered.
  • Project Management: Manage electrical/electronic system delivery at trial stages and into production, controlling costs, quality, risks, and progress.
  • Cost Management: Support the Project Leader in ensuring cost requirements for electrical/electronic developments, including sample, MP parts, and tooling costs.
  • Project Planning: Assist the Project Leader in creating and maintaining project plans/schedules for electrical/electronic aspects.
  • Documentation: Ensure project-based AQ and Research and Development documents (NCL, schedule table, etc.) are completed per required processes.
  • Work Instructions: Review work instructions and documentation.
  • Design Modification: Modify the design of electronic products.
  • Stakeholder Communication: Interface with suppliers, customers, manufacturing, and materials organizations.

8. Electronics Engineer Role Purpose

  • Electronics Development: Develop monitoring and protection systems for rotating machines in DS Bently Nevada, acquiring displacement/velocity/acceleration/process variables.
  • Teamwork: Collaborate with cross-functional teams domestically and internationally to deliver EE design work on time while understanding CTQ and design requirements.
  • EE Development: Ensure solid electronic engineering development to meet or exceed design requirements.
  • Design Implementation: Complete detailed design with creative implementation on time.
  • Documentation: Deliver design documents following BN guidelines and rules.
  • Testing and Compliance: Verify design meets requirements, standards, and compliance, and deliver test reports.
  • Research and Development: Contribute to research, technology development, and program execution for new or improved products.
  • Technology Research: Conduct new technology research and apply findings to product development.
  • Circuit Design: Design, simulate, and test circuits, both digital and analog.
  • Hardware Development: Develop product hardware specifications and architectural designs.
  • PCB Design: Layout and debug PCBs.
  • Product Testing: Conduct product testing and validation, focusing on EMC and safety compliance.
  • Testing Plans: Design and implement comprehensive testing plans to assess and improve products.
  • Coordination: Coordinate with production and test engineers for successful product launches.
  • Automation Design: Participate in automation design for the fruit handling and processing industry.

9. Electronics Engineer General Responsibilities

  • Electronics Technician: Being an experienced electronics technician with design skills strengthens the electronics team.
  • PCB Design: Define and design changes to the PCBs of the XenomatiX product portfolio.
  • Technical Documentation: Create and contribute to project and technical documentation.
  • Quality Contribution: Personally contribute to the high-quality requirements for the products.
  • Product Evolution: Work with the engineering team on further product evolution and on preparing the next-generation sensors for highly automated vehicles.
  • Electronics Experience: Use and extend experience in electronics and camera systems.
  • Assembly Modification: Modify electronic assemblies and printed circuit board assemblies to support electro-mechanical medical device sustaining.
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work with cross-functional teams such as mechanical, software, systems, and quality engineering to contribute to project schedules and project budgets in the coordination of overall product sustaining.
  • Design Updates: Evaluate and implement design updates to meet agency requirements (UL, IEC, FDA) and ensure product supply continuity.
  • EMI Testing: Design and test for EMI compliance, safety, and manufacturability.
  • Failure Analysis: Apply failure analysis to determine and document root causes of product, system, or component failures.
  • Test Protocols: Generate test protocols, and test reports, and update product specifications.
  • Design Reviews: Participate in technical design reviews to ensure electrical design integrity and safety.
  • Circuit Design: Design electronic circuits for lighting products to meet performance requirements.
  • Vendor Evaluation: Review and evaluate electronic circuits of lighting products designed by TPM vendors.

10. Electronics Engineer Key Accountabilities

  • Project Management: Manage projects to develop Ionix sensor and system products for customers’ sites across Oil and Gas, Petrochemical, Nuclear and Fossil Fuel Energy and Process Control following the Ionix Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) process.
  • PCBA Design: PCBA design, appraisal, and prototyping including selecting appropriate components with robust layouts, and testing/diagnosing for correct functionality.
  • Hardware Specification: Specify requirements for electronic hardware, including wireless and wired communication, data storage, power management and integration with analog ultrasonic modules with suppliers and partners.
  • Supplier Liaison: Liaise with suppliers and produce bill-of-materials for new board designs.
  • Embedded Software: Embedded software appraisal, modification, development, validation, and verification.
  • Debugging: Fault finding, debugging and customer-led support and modifications to hardware, software and capability.
  • Compliance: Lead electronics design development within the scope of ATEX and IECEx explosive environment requirements.
  • Technical Advisory: Provide technical advice to clients during business development, supporting sales and technical teams.
  • Progress Reporting: Present development progress and feedback to technical and commercial colleagues.
  • Concept Development: Create concepts for heating system controls.
  • Product Development: Lead new development, pre-development, and modifications according to GIP.
  • Testing Environment: Set up development and testing environments.
  • PCB Certification: Manage the PCB certification process.
  • Information Exchange: Collaborate with the headquarters electronic center and local suppliers.
  • Software Validation: Communicate with the notified body for software validation.