ECU HW Specialist

Role & responsibilities

1. ECU Hardware Ownership: Responsible for end-to-end hardware development and technical ownership of VCU, DC/DC Converter, OBC, PDU and PEU from system requirements, concept design and component selection through validation, vehicle integration and production release.
2. Hardware Architecture & Requirements: Convert system and vehicle requirements into detailed ECU hardware specifications, including power supply architecture, processor selection, analog/digital I/O, communication interfaces, sensing, protection, isolation and diagnostic requirements.
3. Schematic Design & Review: Develop and technically review ECU schematics covering MCU/SoC, PMIC/SBC, power supplies, CAN/CAN-FD/LIN, Ethernet where applicable, ADC, digital I/O, PWM, gate drivers, current/voltage/temperature sensing and protection circuits.
4. PCB Design & Gerber Release: Own PCB placement and routing reviews, stack-up, creepage/clearance, critical power/signal loops, grounding, isolation barriers, thermal design and DFM/DFT, followed by final Gerber/ODB++, BOM, pick-and-place and manufacturing-data release.
5. Automotive Component Selection: Select and qualify automotive-grade MCUs, MOSFETs/IGBTs/SiC devices, gate drivers, transceivers, PMICs, isolated amplifiers, current sensors, voltage sensing circuits, connectors and protection components, considering electrical derating, temperature, lifecycle and availability.
6. VCU Hardware Development: Own VCU hardware interfaces for pedal inputs, ignition/KL15, wake-up, contactor drivers, pre-charge, HVIL, relay/PWM outputs, frequency inputs, analog sensors, CAN/CAN-FD and vehicle I/O, including short-to-battery, short-to-ground and open-load diagnostic capability.
7. DC/DC & OBC Hardware: Support/design high-voltage power conversion hardware including power semiconductor selection, gate-driver circuits, magnetics interfaces, current/voltage sensing, galvanic isolation, auxiliary supplies, thermal sensing, protections and control-board/power-board interfaces.
8. PDU Hardware Integration: Design/review PDU electrical hardware including HV contactors, pre-charge circuit, discharge circuit, fuse coordination, current sensing, voltage sensing, HVIL, insulation/isolation monitoring interfaces and LV control/diagnostic circuitry.
9. PEU Hardware Integration: Own electrical integration between inverter/MCU, DC/DC, OBC and PDU functions within integrated PEU architectures, including HV bus, LV supply, communication, cooling, grounding, shielding and system-level fault interfaces.
10. Circuit Analysis & Design Verification: Perform engineering calculations and simulation for power loss, thermal loading, MOSFET/IGBT/SiC operating margins, gate drive, DC-link, sensing accuracy, filter design, transient protection, voltage derating and component stress.
11. Prototype Board Bring-Up: Lead first-level PCB bring-up, including power-rail sequencing, current consumption, clock/reset, MCU programming, communication, analog/digital I/O, gate drive and sensor-interface verification, before HW/SW integration.
12. HardwareSoftware Integration: Work closely with embedded software teams during MCAL/BSP/driver integration, ADC scaling, PWM control, GPIO mapping, CAN communication, diagnostic monitoring and fault-injection testing, ensuring correct correlation between HW design and software behavior.
13. Part-Level Validation: Prepare DVP&R and test specifications and execute ECU/component-level functional, performance, protection, electrical and environmental verification prior to vehicle installation.
14. Electrical Robustness Testing: Plan and support ECU testing for applicable automotive electrical disturbances such as over/under-voltage, reverse polarity, short circuit, load dump/transients, supply interruption, ground offset and power cycling, based on vehicle/OEM requirements and applicable standards.
15. Environmental & Reliability Validation: Support high/low-temperature operation, thermal cycling, humidity, vibration, mechanical shock, ingress protection and endurance testing, and perform post-test functional checks and failure analysis.
16. EMC/EMI Development: Support conducted/radiated emission and immunity, transient immunity and ESD testing, identify noise paths and implement corrective measures relating to filtering, grounding, shielding, PCB layout or component selection.
17. Power Electronics Protection Validation: Verify key protection functions including over-voltage, under-voltage, over-current, short-circuit, over-temperature, isolation fault, HVIL, gate-driver fault and communication fault, as applicable to the ECU.
18. Bench/HIL Integration: Develop or support ECU test benches, loads, breakout boxes, simulators and HIL interfaces for validating ECU I/O, communication, diagnostics, fault handling and HW/SW interaction before vehicle-level testing.
19. Vehicle-Level Integration: Integrate VCU/DC-DC/OBC/PDU/PEU ECUs into the vehicle and validate power-up/down, wake/sleep, HV pre-charge, contactor control, HV Ready, charging, DC/DC operation, drive operation and fault/degraded modes.
20. CAN & Diagnostics: Debug vehicle issues using CANoe/CANalyzer, oscilloscopes, differential/HV probes, current probes, logic analyzers and diagnostic tools, correlating DTC/CAN data with physical electrical measurements.
21. Charging Integration: Support OBC/VCU/PDU hardware integration during charging, including HV contactor sequencing, charging enable interfaces, low-voltage power management, interlocks, HV sensing and hardware fault handling.
22. Root-Cause & Failure Analysis: Perform structured 8D, 5-Why and FMEA-based root-cause analysis for failures found during bench testing, vehicle testing, production or field operation, including component-level investigation and corrective action definition.
23. Engineering Change Management: Own hardware ECR/ECO and PCB revision management for schematic, Gerber, BOM and component changes, ensuring traceability between HW revision, SW compatibility, validation status and vehicle configuration.
24. Supplier & Manufacturing Coordination: Work with PCB fabrication, EMS and component suppliers for PCB manufacturability, assembly process, component alternates, PCBA defects and production yield improvement, and support resolution of supplier quality issues.
25. EOL & Production Support: Define ECU End-of-Line testing requirements, including power-up, programming/flashing, CAN communication, I/O checks, DTC verification, calibration/configuration, insulation/HV tests where applicable and traceability data.
26. Component Obsolescence & Alternate Validation: Evaluate replacement components for supply-chain/obsolescence issues and carry out form-fit-function, electrical, thermal, EMC and reliability impact assessment before approving BOM changes.
27. Functional Safety Support: Participate in DFMEA, FMEDA and hardware safety analysis, support safety mechanisms and diagnostic coverage implementation, and generate hardware evidence required by the organization's functional-safety process.
28. Design Documentation: Maintain complete ECU technical documentation including HW requirement specification, architecture, schematics, PCB/Gerber release, BOM, design calculations, review records, DFMEA, DVP&R, test reports, validation matrix and engineering change history.
29. Production & Field Issue Support: Analyze failures from vehicle builds, EOL, service and field vehicles through ECU data, electrical measurements and failed-component/PCBA analysis, and drive containment and permanent corrective actions.
30. Design-to-Production Ownership: Ensure each ECU progresses systematically through requirements design simulation schematic PCB/Gerber prototype board bring-up HW/SW integration part-level DV vehicle integration PV/EOL SOP field support.