Electrical Engineer - Coblation Product Support (Austin, TX)

Life Unlimited. At Smith+Nephew we design and manufacture technology that takes the limits off living.   

Provide technical support for the maintenance, design and development of high frequency surgical equipment and accessories related to Smith and Nephew’s product lines. Assist manufacturing groups with the evaluation and resolution of technical problems. Support senior engineers with documentation, testing and organization, including coordinating external compliance testing to applicable standards, IEC certifications, product design, EOL/long lead-time part replacement, returns support, verification/validation testing, test procedure updating/creating.  

What will you be doing?

• Design, test, debug, document, prototype and develop analog and digital electronic circuits, and support hardware used within instrument products.  Identify and test alternate components when obsolete. Contribute to protocols for verification and validation testing, perform risk analyses, write test reports, and maintain a laboratory notebook. Identify, collaborate and manage outside suppliers on material selection, tool design, manufacturing technologies and specifications for components, sub-assemblies, and finished assemblies.

• Coordinate and support electrical safety (IEC 60601-1), safety of HF Surgical Equipment (IEC 60601-2-2) and EMI/EMC (IEC 60601-1-2) certification testing.  Study the latest revision of standards to ensure existing products meet those standards. Analyze existing product specifications to provide key design information necessary for international regulatory submissions.

• Investigate instrument failures from field returns in order to understand failure mechanism and institute design changes to improve product reliability.  Provide engineering support to customer service, manufacturing, marketing and other departments for instrument or system performance problems in the field. 

• Provide continuous technical support to maintain and improve cost, performance and quality.  Work with contract manufacturers and suppliers to ensure product is built to specifications, investigating production issues, qualifying new parts due to new suppliers or process changes, transfer product to production or moving from one manufacturing facility to another. 

• Support new suppliers by reviewing IQ, OQ, PQ protocols and reports to ensure capable of producing high quality parts consistently.

• Ensure compliance with Smith & Nephew quality system and all relevant internal procedures and policies.

What will you need to be successful?

• Bachelor’s degree (B.S.) in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field required; advanced degree preferred.
• B.S. with 0–2 years of experience in the medical device industry or electronic design within a regulated environment, or M.S. with 1+ year of experience in the medical device industry or another regulated industry.

• Must have experience designing circuits (mixed-signal, analog and digital), PCBAs (creepage, clearance, etc.), simulation and testing.  Must be familiar with Safety design (isolation, transformers, opto-isolators).  Must be comfortable with benchtop work using lab equipment and debugging tools such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, multimeters, soldering irons, etc.  Experience in high frequency layout or RF design a plus.

• Experience in Electrical Safety (IEC/UL 60601-1), safety of HF Surgical Equipment (IEC 60601-2-2), and EMI/EMC (IEC60601-1-2) certification testing preferred.

• Competences: Excellent communication skills both verbal and written.  Must be effective working independently as well as in cross-functional teams with strong problem solving and troubleshooting skills.  Need to be able to investigate issues to determine logical conclusions based on data collected.

• Computer skills: good knowledge of MS Office Suite; knowledge of schematic capture software and PCB layout software for circuit design (Altium, ORCAD, Eagle) preferred.

• The ideal candidate is passionate, driven and motivated to succeed while maintaining a positive team environment. 

Physical Demands: Mostly sitting, using a computer with minimal weight lifting (5.1 kg - 30 kg).  No chemical exposure or PPE required.

Travel Requirements:  Domestic and International ≤ 10%

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