About Us
Sangster Engineering Ltd. designs and builds training equipment for military and law enforcement agencies from our facility in Amherst, Nova Scotia. We are a small, fast-moving team that takes products from concept through prototype, testing and production in-house. Our work blends mechanical, electrical and software engineering, and we ship systems to customers across Canada and internationally.
We are hiring an entry-level engineer (mechanical or electrical) to join our R&D team. You will help take new products from the first sketch through prototyping, testing, certification and production release, and you will step onto the production floor when builds need to go out the door. This is a hands-on, high-ownership role. You will own your designs end to end, with mentorship from the engineering team, and your work will count toward the experience required for your P.Eng.
What You Will Do
Research and development (primary)
- Support new product development from concept through detailed design, prototype, test, certification and release to production.
- Design, build and iterate prototypes using 3D printing, machining, PCB assembly and bench testing.
- Design, integrate and test wireless links between our devices: radio module selection, antenna placement and matching, link-budget estimates, range and interference testing.
- Develop and test sensing and detection features (impact, acoustic, optical and RF-based) and the signal processing that turns raw sensor data into reliable events.
- Plan and run testing sessions in the lab and in the field; collect, analyze and document results so the team can act on them.
- Prepare CAD models, drawings, schematics, bills of materials and work instructions that let a prototype become a repeatable production build.
- Support regulatory and certification work for radio products (ISED RSS, FCC Part 15, CE) including pre-compliance emissions testing and working with external test labs.
- Document designs, test results and design decisions clearly.
Production (as required)
- Assemble, wire, program and test production units to spec.
- Troubleshoot RF faults on the bench and in the field; feed fixes back into the design.
- Help improve production processes, fixtures and test procedures as volumes grow.
What You Bring
Required
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Computer or Mechatronics Engineering from a CEAB-accredited program or equivalent.
- Registered, or eligible to register, as an Engineer-in-Training with Engineers Nova Scotia.
- 0 to 2 years of experience. Recent graduates with strong capstone, co-op or personal project experience are encouraged to apply.
- Working knowledge of radio communications: RF fundamentals, analog and digital modulation (AM/FM, FSK, PSK, spread spectrum), link budgets, antennas and propagation, and the basics of receiver sensitivity, noise and SNR. Coursework, a capstone, a co-op term, an amateur radio certificate or hobby projects all count.
- Hands-on experience with standard lab equipment (oscilloscope, DMM, spectrum analyzer, signal generator, VNA or SDR).
- Comfortable with CAD (SolidWorks, Fusion 360 or similar) and reading or producing schematics and drawings.
- Mechanically inclined and hands-on: comfortable with hand tools, 3D printers, soldering and basic machining.
- Scripting ability in Python for test automation and data analysis.
- Hands-on experience with AI coding tools. We use Claude Code in our day-to-day work.
- Strong problem-solving, clear written and verbal communication, and high self-direction on a very small team.
- Legally entitled to work in Canada, able to work on-site in Amherst, NS.
Nice to Have
- Experience with sub-GHz ISM (902 to 928 MHz), 2.4 GHz, LoRa, BLE, Wi-Fi, Zigbee or mesh networking in a real product or project.
- Software-defined radio experience (RTL-SDR, HackRF, USRP) or GNU Radio.
- Embedded firmware experience (ESP32, STM32, nRF52 or similar) in C/C++.
- Exposure to EMI/EMC design and testing: grounding, shielding, radiated and conducted emissions.
- Familiarity with radar or RF-based detection, DSP, filtering or FFT-based signal analysis.
- Construction and manufacturing experience.
- Ability to obtain a Firearms Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL).
How to Apply
Apply to this posting with your resume and a short portfolio: capstone report, project write-ups, schematics, CAD, code, or photos of things you have built. Anything that shows how you think and what you have made. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
