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Details

Preferred starting date: ASAP

Weekly availability: full-time (5 days/week)

Location: Aerospace Innovation Hub, Delft, the Netherlands

About the company

Fiducial is a young but fast-growing deep-tech start-up with big ambitions at the frontier of autonomy, perception, and defence. Our core expertise lies in 3D vision and graphics technologies which we deploy in a dual-use context for inspection and defence. This role will focus mainly on the defence context where we are developing software for advanced on-board UAV situational awareness in military applications. Our solutions are aimed to operate with low-cost and widely available sensors and compute. From there, we plan to develop a line-up of interconnected solutions to safeguard European safety.

Our team consists of engineers that are passionate about the technology and solutions they develop. The only time most of us are not thinking about the technology is when we are asleep, and sometimes even then. Our team members have a background in different fields such as Aerospace Engineering, Computational Science and Engineering, Robotics and Computer Graphics. Our office is located in the Aerospace Innovation Hub, a start-up hub located on the TU Delft campus in the faculty of Aerospace Engineering.

We work closely with top-tier partners, ranging from government agencies and prime contractors to academic research institutes and other start-ups. Our projects span from large tender orders in collaboration with partners to low TRL research with government agencies. Whether through formal R&D programs or rapid prototyping tracks, we operate at the intersection of innovation and deployment.

Your role

You will collaborate closely with our embedded software, systems, and hardware and forward deployed engineers to design and bring up the PCBs that power the compute and sensor platforms onboard our UAVs — from schematic to flight-ready hardware. You'll set the technical direction for PCB design and hardware bring-up, working with freelance designers and contract manufacturers along the way.

• Designing multi-layer, high-density PCBs from schematic capture through layout and release.

• Routing high-speed digital buses (PCIe Gen3/Gen4, MIPI CSI/DSI, USB 3.x) with proper impedance control and length matching.

• Designing DC power systems for onboard UAV compute and sensor platforms that hold up under LiPo battery voltage sag and EMI from motors and ESCs.

• Bringing up new boards: debugging schematics and circuits, chasing down electrical issues on the bench, and flashing firmware to validate hardware.

• Setting technical direction for PCB design and bring-up across the hardware team.

• Owning hardware from prototype through to a field-ready product.

What we expect from you

• Senior-level PCB design experience — we'll judge this by the strength and depth of your portfolio rather than a fixed year count.

• Deep experience with multi-layer PCB design and stack-up planning.

• Proven high-speed digital routing experience: PCIe (Gen3/Gen4), MIPI CSI/DSI, USB 3.x — impedance-controlled, length-matched traces on multi-layer boards.

• Experience with DC power filtering and EMI mitigation for battery-powered systems with noisy motor/ESC loads.

• Hands-on PCB bring-up experience: schematic and circuit debugging, bench-level fault-finding, and flashing firmware to validate hardware.

• Proficiency in Altium and/or KiCad, plus a circuit simulation tool.

• A portfolio of PCB projects you've designed and brought up yourself — we will ask to see it.

• Experience designing PCBs for RF/communications or radar applications, ideally with CST Studio Suite or similar EM simulation tools — a big plus, not required.

• Experience with SBC/embedded carrier boards (e.g., NVIDIA Jetson, Rockchip) and camera/sensor interfacing (MIPI CSI cabling, I²C buses) is a plus.

• A willingness to pick up and learn new concepts quickly and to self-acquire missing background knowledge.

• A high degree of autonomy, determination and grit in making cool tech work.

• Full time availability (40 hours)

What we offer

• Money of course.

• 25 vacation days per year.

• Reimbursed travel expenses and company laptop.

• (Really) flexible working hours — this role is bench- and lab-based, so we do need you on-site, but start/end times are yours to shape.

• Working in an international, world-class team of engineers and entrepreneurs solving real-life problems with amazing technology.

• Large freedom in how you work and implement solutions, project ownership is incredibly important to us.

• The opportunity to take technical risks, to implement stuff the 'right' way and to iterate quickly with tight feedback loops. We are innovating, learning is to be expected.

• Responsibility over the things you build, you are the expert on what you design and bring up.

The application procedure

• If after reading the above you are convinced you are the right person for the job, send us a portfolio of PCB projects you've designed and brought up, along with a resume, website, or other source that gives us a clear impression of your background and skills.

• We'll get back to you ASAP. If we feel you could be a fit for the position, we'll invite you for an informal introduction so we can get to know you, and equally important, you can get to know us. After this, a second focused interview could follow.

• If at this point we feel you are the person we are looking for, we'll discuss the specifics.

• Welcome to the team!