Circuit Design Expert

What you'll do

The ad says it plainly: this is a very coding-heavy role. Each task is an electrical engineering problem you create, solve, review or validate end to end. A typical one means reading a set of circuit requirements, producing or editing a netlist or hardware description, running simulation or verification tools from the command line, and deciding from the output whether the design actually meets its electrical and functional constraints.

Python is the glue. You use it to generate simulator inputs, automate runs, sweep parameters, drive instruments and analyse results, and the ad expects you to already work with coding agents as part of that loop. The named toolset is open-source and scriptable (ngspice, Xyce, Yosys, Verilator, KiCad scripting, PySpice, cocotb and the scientific Python stack), though any comparable CLI-driven EDA tool counts.

Who fits

• An MS or PhD in Electrical Engineering or close; or a BS in EE with at least 1–2 years of professional circuit design
• Real design experience in analog, digital, power, mixed-signal or RF
• Designs that were fabricated, integrated, shipped or taped out, not only simulated
• Practical Python and hands-on use of coding agents

The bar is lower on seniority than micro1's Electrical & Circuit Design Expert listing (which wants five years of hands-on design and eight for BS holders) but higher on programming. A two-year hardware engineer who automates everything in Python is the profile here.

What it pays

Quoted as $80–150/hour, but the mechanism is output-based: you are paid per task that meets the project specification, and the ad says task time varies with your experience and workflow. So the hourly figure is what a competent, fast contributor should reach, not a rate for time logged. Minimum submission requirements apply, and the ad does not publish them.

The expected load is around 15 hours a week, on any days and hours you choose, weekends included.

Worth knowing

Good:

• Open globally, fully remote, with a flexible schedule
• 100 openings and a high-demand flag
• A BS plus 1–2 years qualifies
• Open-source tools mean no expensive EDA licence of your own
• A clear three-step process: screening questions, a roughly 30-minute AI interview, then hiring manager review

Less good:

• Per-task pay: slow or rejected tasks lower your effective rate
• Unpublished minimum submission requirements
• Heavy coding expectation will rule out design engineers who work mainly in GUI tools
• Expected to start within 24–48 hours of onboarding
• Contractor engagement: no benefits, your own tax to manage

About this listing

Posted by micro1 on its own jobs portal and read on 24 September 2026. The $80–150/hour quote, the output-based pay, the roughly 15 hours a week and the qualifications above are its published text. Location is given as "Global, fully remote", so no country restriction applies. See micro1.