About Droplet Scientific
Modern hospitals continuously track heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen levels. Yet biochemical measurements still depend on infrequent and intermittent blood samples. Important changes between tests can go unseen, making it harder to recognise trends, assess treatment response and act at the right time.
We are working to change that.
Droplet Scientific is a startup developing a new platform for continuous biochemical monitoring. Using proprietary droplet microfluidics, our technology is designed to measure clinically important biomarkers and therapeutic drug concentrations automatically and in near real time, giving clinicians a clearer and more actionable picture of each patient’s condition.
We are building a multidisciplinary team across engineering, chemistry, product development and manufacturing to turn our established research-use technology into robust, scalable products for healthcare and the life sciences. Join us to help create this new monitoring technology with the potential to improve clinical decision-making and patient care.
About the role
We are looking for a Senior Electronics & Embedded Systems Engineer to lead the development of the electronics and embedded firmware for our next generation of portable biochemical analysers.
You will take end-to-end technical ownership of system design, integration, verification, compliance testing and transfer to manufacture. This is a hands-on role combining electronic hardware design, embedded C/C++, system debugging and product engineering.
You will play a key role in transforming an R&D platform into a robust, manufacturable and dependable product suitable for regulated clinical use and scalable production.
What you will do
- Lead development of the product’s electronic hardware and embedded firmware from prototype through to production release.
- Define the product electronics and embedded architecture, including processor selection, power management, memory, communications, interfaces and firmware structure.
- Design, build and refine multilayer PCBAs, using test results to improve performance, reliability, manufacturability and supply resilience.
- Develop robust embedded C/C++ firmware for device control, sequencing, measurement timing, data acquisition, communications, diagnostics and fault handling.
- Integrate sensors, motors, actuators, optical components and other subsystems into the complete instrument.
- Lead board bring-up, bench testing, debugging and system-level fault diagnosis.
- Develop test fixtures and repeatable verification methods for electronics, firmware and subsystem performance.
- Support EMC and electrical-safety pre-compliance, risk-management activities and formal testing with external laboratories.
- Apply DFM and DFT principles, manage component lifecycle and alternative-part qualification, and support initial production builds.
- Transfer released designs, production documentation and test methods to manufacturing partners.
- Maintain controlled schematics, PCB layouts, BOMs, code, test specifications, design records and configuration management appropriate for a regulated product.
- Work closely with colleagues across mechanical engineering, microfluidics, software, assay development, quality and manufacturing.
What you will bring
- Typically 5+ years of relevant industry experience, including development of embedded products from prototype towards verified, production-ready designs.
- Electronics or firmware development for medical devices, IVDs, scientific instruments or other regulated products.
- Strong hands-on experience in electronic architecture, schematic capture, multilayer PCB design, board bring-up and hardware debugging.
- Strong embedded C/C++ skills, including microcontroller peripherals, communications, timing-sensitive control and low-level debugging.
- Practical mixed-signal experience, including analogue interfaces, noise, grounding, power management and signal integrity.
- Experience integrating sensors, actuators and electromechanical components into complete systems.
- Ability to diagnose complex problems spanning electronics, firmware, software and physical hardware.
- A structured approach to verification, technical documentation, configuration control and engineering decision-making.
- The organisation and technical judgement to lead a major engineering workstream within a growing multidisciplinary team.
Particularly valuable experience
- Experience with relevant electrical-safety, EMC, risk-management or software-lifecycle standards, such as IEC 61010, IEC 61326, ISO 14971 or IEC 62304.
- Development of precision optical, analytical or sensor-based instrumentation.
- Experience supporting design transfer, production testing and external manufacturing partners.
Why join Droplet
- Meaningful ownership: You will have the opportunity to shape a core capability within the company, rather than inherit a narrowly defined role or task list.
- A real product challenge: Your work will sit at the intersection of science, engineering, regulated product development and manufacturing, with a clear path towards clinical use.
- Multidisciplinary collaboration: You will work closely with the founders, clinicians and colleagues across microfluidics, chemistry, engineering, quality, regulatory and manufacturing.
- Visible impact: In a small, fast-moving team, your work can quickly become part of a real product, with the potential to improve how patients are monitored and cared for.
- Share Option scheme
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