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Senior PCB Designer Verified today

Northwood Space · Torrance, CA · Electronics · first seen 2026-07-16
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About the Role

Northwood is hiring a Senior PCB Designer to establish the PCB layout discipline from the ground up. You will define the standards, tools, and workflows for our physical design practice while driving layout of next-generation digital compute and power electronics. These boards ensure our antennas meet high-rate processing needs globally. As our founding PCB Designer, you will partner closely with Electrical, RF, and Antenna engineers from concept to production, setting the technical bar for layout expertise and building the foundation for a team delivering hardware known for reliability, scalability, and cost.

Your Responsibilities

  • Own the physical layout of complex, high-density, high-layer-count PCBs featuring high-speed, high-frequency digital, RF, mixed-signal, and power distribution systems
  • Determine optimum layer stackups, perform component placement, routing feasibility studies, and manage strict high-speed and high-frequency constraint rules
  • Perform ECAD library creation, management, and maintenance for a wide array of active, passive, and high-pin-count components
  • Collaborate across hardware and production teams to ensure adherence to Design for Manufacturability (DFM), Design for Assembly (DFA), and Design for Test (DFT) guidelines
  • Generate and release comprehensive documentation packages for fabrication and assembly (Gerbers, ODB++, IPC-2581, drill charts, fabrication drawings)
  • Work with external PCB fabrication and assembly vendors to resolve technical queries and improve internal design rules
  • Evaluate, select, and champion advanced PCB design tools and automation scripts to scale the layout function as the team grows
  • Serve as internal authority on high-speed and high-frequency layout practices, mentoring engineers across disciplines

Required Qualifications

  • 7+ years of professional experience in complex, high-density PCB layout with demonstrated ownership of high-speed and high-frequency designs end-to-end (or Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field with 6+ years of relevant experience)
  • Deep hands-on expertise in high-speed and high-frequency layout techniques including impedance control, differential pairs, length matching, crosstalk mitigation, and RF-aware routing
  • Proven experience with advanced packaging technologies including fine-pitch BGAs, high-pin-density components, and micro-vias (HDI)
  • Strong command of PCB materials, dielectric properties, and developing multi-layer board stack-ups for high-frequency performance
  • Demonstrated experience applying EMI/EMC mitigation techniques and designing robust power delivery networks (PDN) at board level
  • Track record of operating with significant autonomy, able to set direction and make final layout calls with minimal oversight

Preferred Qualifications

  • 8+ years of experience designing high-speed, high-frequency, mixed-signal PCBs for FPGA, processor, RF/antenna, or high-performance networking systems
  • Deep expertise in routing high-speed interfaces such as multi-gigabit SerDes, DDR memory, JESD204B/C, and 10/100G Ethernet
  • Advanced proficiency in Altium Designer, Cadence Allegro, or Siemens Xpedition
  • Strong understanding of IPC standards (IPC-2221, IPC-7351) and commercial manufacturing tolerances
  • Experience with ECAD/MCAD co-design and integration workflows (SolidWorks, STEP files) for tight mechanical constraints
  • Experience with scripting or automation (Python, Skill, Altium scripts) to optimize layout workflows
  • Prior experience building or scaling a PCB layout function, standards library, or design process from scratch
  • Excellent communication skills and proven ability to make sound layout tradeoffs in a fast-paced, collaborative hardware environment

Compensation

PCB Designer/Level 3: $100,000-$125,000

PCB Designer/Level 4: $144,000-$180,000

PCB Designer/Level 5: $176,000-$220,000

Additional Information

You must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.