Apple logo

Hardware Systems Design & Integration Engineer - AirPods

Apple
1 day ago
Remote
Worldwide
At Apple, new ideas can quickly transform into amazing products, services, and customer experiences. Sound is an essential facet of that experience, and we are committed to making a difference through innovative electronic design. Our team owns the electronics inside small form-factor audio products - pushing the boundaries of physical architecture, wireless and silicon technologies.\\n\\nThe AirPods System Integration team turns these ambitions into shipping hardware. We are looking for engineers who want to understand how things work, thrive in ambiguity, and lift the teams around them - people who can dig into a hard problem in the lab and then bring the team along on what they learned and where to go next. \\n\\nIf you love building things and shipping products that millions of people wear every day, come help us build the next generation of AirPods.

You will own system hardware deliverables across the full product lifecycle - from early architecture and PCB/flex design through prototype bring-up, validation, and production ramp. You will work shoulder-to-shoulder with silicon, RF, power, audio, sensor, mechanical, software, and manufacturing teams, translating complex electrical trade-offs into decisions the whole program can get behind.

Drive system-level electrical architecture decisions and contribute to product definition in partnership with cross-functional engineering teams.\\nOwn schematic design, layout direction, and design reviews for rigid PCBs and flexible circuits,\\ndelivering to program milestones.\\nGet hands-on with prototype bring-up, debug, and system validation β€” building validation plans that prove performance in the lab and guarantee quality at the factory.\\nDefine and drive manufacturing test requirements; partner with contract manufacturers and operations to enable a smooth ramp to high-volume production.\\nLead complex, multi-disciplinary investigations across electrical, mechanical, and software domains, often with incomplete data and drive them to root cause and durable resolution.\\nTranslate complex technical trade-offs into clear narratives for cross-functional partners, contract manufacturers, and executive audiences; build alignment and drive decisions, including the hard calls.\\nMentor peers, share best practices, and help raise the technical bar and culture of the team.\\nTravel occasionally to support builds and manufacturing activities.

Bachelor"s or Master"s degree in Electrical Engineering, or equivalent directly-related work experience\\n5+ years of relevant industry experience designing electronics and/or embedded systems\\nStrong electrical engineering fundamentals, including analog and digital design, signal integrity, and power integrity\\nHands-on experience with prototyping, bring-up, debug, and validation of electronic systems\\nProficient in a lab environment with oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, frequency counters, and related instrumentation

Proficiency in PCB and flex design (schematic and layout), with a track record of delivering high-quality designs to aggressive timelines\\nWorking knowledge across several system domains such as SoC integration, power and battery, inductive power, analog and audio, RF, sensors, ESD, or design of test and automation infrastructure that scales across a program β€” with the curiosity to go deeper wherever the problem demands\\nTrack record of driving ambiguous, cross-disciplinary problems to root cause when the path forward isn"t obvious and comfortable making measured decisions with incomplete data\\nProven ability to build alignment across teams and influence decisions with cross-functional partners, contract manufacturers, and executive stakeholders\\nExperience taking hardware from proof of concept toward mass production, with exposure to contract manufacturing partners a plus\\nDesign validation experience spanning bench characterization through factory test coverage,Experience mentoring engineers and fostering a team environment where ideas from any level are welcomed, challenged, and made better\\nExcellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex electrical trade-offs to non-EE audiences β€” from industrial designers to executives