Principal Electronics Engineer
Horsham, West Sussex - £65,000 – £75,000 + Benefits
A leading electro‑optic / defence technology business is looking for a Principal Electronics Engineer to take a key role in driving electronics design and systems architecture across a team of around 15 engineers. This is a senior, hands‑on and influential position, combining deep technical ownership with project leadership, mentoring and R&D.
The role
As Principal Electronics Engineer, you will:
- Lead electronics design activities across complex, multi‑discipline projects, covering both circuit‑level design and higher‑level electrical architecture.
- Act as technical authority for key topics such as EMC, power management, servo control, processor interfacing, and communications.
- Define and review system‑level electrical architectures, including power distribution, signal transmission, wiring and production considerations.
- Own and deliver analysis‑based tasks such as circuit emulation, performance calculations and power budgets.
- Take technical leadership of multi‑disciplinary project teams, setting standards of good engineering practice and fostering a systematic, quality‑driven culture.
- Proactively review and improve engineering processes, tools and design methodologies, driving innovation across the function.
- Investigate and resolve complex technical issues at PCB and system level, identifying root cause and recommending design or procedural improvements.
- Support bids and proposals, working closely with senior management, directors and key customers to shape solutions, estimate work and present technical approaches.
- Provide line‑management style support for a small sub‑team of engineers, including development, coaching, and input into resource and training plans.
About you
You are an experienced, hands‑on electronics engineer who enjoys combining deep technical work with leadership, mentoring and process improvement.
Essential:
- Strong degree in Electronics, Electrical & Electronic Engineering or similar (IET‑accredited), with typically 10+ years’ relevant experience.
- Solid theoretical and practical understanding of electronics design, including modern PCB and component technologies.
- Proven experience leading projects and/or supervising engineers in a product development environment.
- Experience across areas such as EMC, power management, servo / motor control, embedded interfaces and communications.
- Strong analytical capability – able to perform circuit analysis, power/performance budgeting and trade‑off studies.
- Clear understanding of the full project lifecycle, from bid and concept, through design, verification, production and in‑service support.
- Demonstrable track record of innovation in engineering solutions and/or ways of working.
- Strong fault‑finding skills at PCB and system level, with a structured approach to root‑cause analysis and corrective action.
- Excellent communication skills, comfortable engaging with senior management, customers and cross‑functional teams.
Desirable:
- Chartered Engineer (or working towards).
- Experience leading, managing or mentoring other engineers.
- Experience of EMC to military standards and designing for harsh / defence environments.
- Knowledge of motors and drive technologies, and an understanding of control systems analysis and performance.
- Familiarity with management and collaboration tools (e.g. JIRA, Confluence, MS Project).
- Experience with PCB design tools (e.g. Altium, Cadence OrCAD) and design resilience techniques such as FMEA.
- Awareness of lightning direct and indirect effects.