Manager, Electronics & Firmware in Bellevue, Washington at Cytek Biosciences Inc

The Manager, Electronics & Firmware will lead the design, development, integration, and commercialization of electronics and embedded firmware platforms supporting Cytek's next-generation flow cytometry and imaging instrumentation.

This role combines people leadership with hands-on technical leadership, guiding a team of electrical and firmware engineers through product development from architecture and feasibility through verification, manufacturing transfer, and sustaining support. The ideal candidate brings expertise in mixed-signal electronics, embedded systems, FPGA-based data acquisition, real-time instrument control, and scientific instrumentation.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform essential duties and responsibilities satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Engineering Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of electrical and firmware engineers.
• Establish engineering priorities, technical roadmaps, and development plans aligned with product objectives.
• Drive execution through effective project planning, technical reviews, and engineering best practices.
• Foster a culture of technical excellence, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Electronics & Firmware Development

• Lead architecture and development of electronic subsystems including PCBAs, embedded processors, FPGAs, GPUs, detector interfaces, data acquisition hardware, communications interfaces, and instrument control electronics.
• Oversee development of embedded firmware supporting instrument control, data acquisition, signal processing, diagnostics, calibration, and automated quality control.
• Manage development of GPU-accelerated and CUDA-based solutions supporting image acquisition, feature extraction, real-time processing, and scientific data analysis workflows.
• Guide schematic capture, component selection, PCB design reviews, and design-for-manufacturing and design-for-test activities.
• Drive hardware and firmware integration, debugging, performance optimization, and root-cause investigations.
• Establish subsystem requirements, interface definitions, verification strategies, and technical design standards.

System Integration & Product Development

• Partner with optical, mechanical, fluidics, software, systems, scientific, and product management teams to deliver integrated instrument solutions.
• Lead prototype bring-up, subsystem integration, verification, validation, and manufacturing transfer activities.
• Support production test development, engineering builds, pilot production, and sustaining engineering efforts.
• Collaborate with Operations and NPI teams to improve product quality, reliability, manufacturability, and serviceability.

Technical Leadership

• Serve as the primary technical escalation point for complex electronics and firmware challenges.
• Drive innovation in detector electronics, signal acquisition, embedded control systems, imaging systems, and scientific instrumentation.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and architectures to strengthen future product platforms.
• Collaborate with engineering teams, suppliers, and manufacturing partners in the United States and China.

Regulatory & Quality Compliance

• Ensure designs comply with applicable safety, EMC, quality, and regulatory requirements.
• Support DHF documentation, risk management, design reviews, and verification testing.
• Promote disciplined engineering practices including configuration management, requirements traceability, design controls, and engineering change management.
  
  

REQUIREMENTS & QUALIFICATIONS:

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related engineering discipline; Master's degree preferred.
• 8+ years of experience developing complex electronic and embedded systems for scientific, analytical, medical device, biotechnology, or industrial instrumentation products.
• 3+ years of engineering management or technical leadership experience.
• Strong expertise in analog and digital circuit design, mixed-signal systems, PCB development, and embedded electronics.
• Experience developing embedded firmware in C/C++ for microcontroller, processor, or FPGA-based platforms.
• Experience with FPGA architectures, real-time control systems, and high-speed data acquisition hardware.
• Experience debugging complex hardware and firmware interactions using modern laboratory instrumentation and development tools.
• Experience with EMC/ESD design, testing, and regulatory compliance.
• Proven experience delivering products from concept through commercialization and manufacturing transfer.
• Strong communication, leadership, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with flow cytometry, imaging systems, optical instrumentation, or other advanced analytical instrumentation.
• Experience with detector electronics, photodetectors, signal conditioning, and precision analog front-end design.
• Experience with image processing, machine vision, GPU-accelerated computing, or computational imaging applications.
• Familiarity with automated test systems, calibration methodologies, and production diagnostics.
• Experience working within ISO 13485 or similarly regulated product development environments.
• Experience leading globally distributed engineering teams.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT:  

The physical demands described here are representative of those that an employee must meet to perform the essential functions of this job successfully. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions. 

• Ability to travel up to 10%.
• Ability to work in laboratory, manufacturing, and office environments.
• Ability to lift up to 25 pounds when supporting development and integration activities.
• Ability to work at a computer and engineering workstation for extended periods.

Cytek is an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, genetic information, disability status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.