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Principle Manufacturing PCB DFX Engineer Verified today

Blue Origin · Bay, CA · Electronics · first seen 2026-09-10
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About the Role

You will own the end-to-end hardware design integration of TeraWave modules, architecting for performance, manufacturability, testability, reliability, and serviceability at constellation scale. This is a hands-on role for an engineer who has designed and shipped complex electronic products in fast-moving environments and wants to apply that experience to hardware operating at orbital scale.

TeraWave is a satellite communications constellation powered by advanced optical communications architecture: thousands of optically interconnected satellites delivering symmetrical data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere on Earth.

Hardware Design, Integration and Test

  • Lead multi-layer PCB design for switch line cards: stackup definition, impedance-controlled routing, thermal management, and DFM.
  • Manage CCA BOM procurement, vendor coordination, and assembly oversight.

Design for Excellence (DFX)

  • Drive Design for Excellence principles (DFM, DFT, DFA, DFR, DFS) across the full switching subsystem lifecycle to ensure hardware scales from prototype through volume production.
  • Design for Manufacturability: Optimize PCB stackups, component footprints, and assembly processes to maximize yield and minimize cost at constellation-scale production volumes.
  • Design for Test: Architect built-in test structures, boundary scan (JTAG), test points, and automated test coverage to enable efficient factory acceptance and in-field diagnostics.
  • Design for Assembly: Simplify component placement, connector selection, and mechanical integration to reduce assembly time and error rates.
  • Design for Reliability: Apply derating, worst-case circuit analysis, FMEA, and reliability prediction to ensure long-duration operation in the orbital environment.
  • Design for Serviceability/Supply Chain: Coordinate with supply chain and manufacturing partners to drive component standardization, second-sourcing strategies, and obsolescence mitigation.
  • Partner with manufacturing, quality, and supply chain teams to define acceptance criteria, drive yield optimization, and support production ramp for sustained TeraWave operations.

Minimum Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field.
  • 10+ years of experience in hardware design, power electronics, or embedded systems in a product development environment.
  • Experience designing multi-layer PCBs with high-speed digital interfaces and mixed-signal power distribution; proficiency in Altium, Cadence, or equivalent.
  • Hands-on experience designing and integrating high-speed Ethernet switch hardware, including network processors (NPUs), SerDes interfaces, and optical or copper PHY technologies.
  • Demonstrated application of DFX principles (DFM/DFT/DFA/DFR) in bringing hardware from design into volume production.
  • Excellent technical documentation and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Master's degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering.
  • 15+ years of relevant experience.
  • Experience with radiation effects on electronics (SEE, TID, displacement damage) and mitigation techniques.
  • Experience designing electronics for space, aviation, or other high-reliability thermal-vacuum environments.
  • Experience with FPGA or ASIC integration in board management or data-path contexts.
  • Background in production hardware including comprehensive DFX practices (DFM/DFT/DFA/DFR), supply chain coordination, and yield optimization at scale.
  • Hands-on environmental qualification testing (TVAC, vibration, EMI/EMC).

Compensation and Benefits

Base Pay Range for CA applicants: $183,193.00 to $256,469.85. Other site ranges may differ.

Benefits include medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability, 401(k) with company match up to 5%, Education Support Program, stock options for regular employees, and up to four weeks paid time off plus up to 14 company-paid holidays annually.

Location and Travel

Bay Area, CA. Relocation assistance available. Travel up to 50%.

Requirements

Applicants must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum. Blue's Standard Background Check required for all positions.