Optoelectronics hardware engineer

At Praxa Sense, we are redefining non-invasive health monitoring with our optical innovation ALIS® – a speckle-based biosensor enabling new frontiers in remote vital sign tracking.

We are looking for a hands-on Optoelectronics Hardware Engineer who owns the full optical-electrical chain of the ALIS® sensor: VCSEL drivers, image sensors and electronics, the optical stack and the PCB. You design hardware yourself in Altium, from schematic to production-ready board. You also own the electrical, optical, and mechanical integration of ALIS® into our customers’ host hardware, which means that you are involved in many customer projects.

What you will do

• Design, iterate and test the optoelectronic hardware of the sensor: VCSEL drivers, photodetectors and image sensor interface, analog front-end and power supply.
• Design PCBs end-to-end in Altium: schematics, multilayer layout, component selection, BOM, design reviews and manufacturing files.
• Manage prototype builds and small series with PCB and assembly suppliers, and solve issues in production.
• Optimize the optical configuration, including VCSEL positioning and orientation, source-detector geometry, diffusers, windows and encapsulation materials.
• Characterize sensor performance in the lab: signal quality, SNR, noise, power consumption and temperature behavior, including VCSEL stability.
• Own the electrical, optical and mechanical interface between ALIS® and customer host systems: power, grounding, shielding, connectors, layout around the sensor and cover windows.
• Review customer schematics, layouts and prototypes, and help diagnose integration and signal-quality issues, on site or in our lab.
• Write hardware integration guidelines, design rules, and reference designs for customers.
• Work closely with the firmware team on the communication interface and on the roadmap towards SiP or ASIC.

What we are looking for

• MSc in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics or Optoelectronics.
• 3 to 7 years of hands-on experience developing optoelectronic hardware, such as optical sensors, laser-based systems or photodetection modules.
• Proven experience designing PCBs in Altium Designer from schematic to production, including multilayer layout, DFM and working with PCB and assembly suppliers.
• Solid knowledge of analog and mixed-signal electronics, in particular low-noise front-ends for photodetection and laser/VCSEL drivers.
• Good understanding of optics and semiconductor light sources, VCSELs in particular.
• Hands-on lab skills with optical setups and measurement equipment such as oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, and optical power meters.
• Data analysis skills in Python.
• Strong communication skills: you can discuss integration topics clearly with customer engineers from electronics, mechanical and firmware backgrounds.
• Willingness to travel occasionally to customers in Europe.
• Fluent in English; Dutch is a plus.

Additional skills we would be happy to hear about

These are not requirements for the position, but if you have any knowledge of the following subjects, we would love to hear about it.

• Experience with PPG or other wearable sensing modalities (strong plus).
• Experience with wearables, miniaturization, or battery-powered devices.
• Experience with bare-die components, chip-on-board or optical packaging.
• Experience in a customer-facing technical role or in a start-up environment.

What we offer

• Salary matching your experience with potential equity participation.
• 25 holiday days per year, additional special leave days for big life events such as weddings, moving houses and funerals.
• 7% of your salary as a contribution to life annuity.
• Free office lunch on Fridays.
• Fun company outings, but no unnecessary obligations.
• If you live more than 5km from the office: travel cost reimbursement of €0,23 per kilometer, also (or especially) when you come by bike.
• Work-from-home reimbursement so you can also drink quality coffee at home.
• Hybrid work culture: in-person collaboration at the Groot Handelsgebouw in Rotterdam at least 3 days/week, work from home when you need to focus (or do some laundry).
• Direct collaboration with experts in optics, signal processing, and biomedical engineering and very friendly and ambitious colleagues.
• The satisfaction of contributing to technology that directly improves health monitoring.