PCB Design Engineer

TN United Kingdom; Reading; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

A pioneering space start-up in Berkshire is seeking a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Design Engineer to contribute to innovative space technology projects. This full-time, permanent role offers a competitive salary and the opportunity to impact the industry significantly by owning the entire PCB lifecycle from concept to production.

Benefits

Private health insurance including dental and optical

Annual healthcare check-ups

Equity stakes

Qualifications

• Minimum 3 years of PCB design and layout experience.
• Proficiency with modern PCB CAD tools.
• Strong understanding of PCB stack-ups and DFM/DFA practices.

Responsibilities

• Design, lay out, prototype, and validate printed-circuit boards.
• Collaborate with teams to define requirements and integrate PCBs into products.
• Generate manufacturing files and conduct design checks.

Skills

PCB design

Signal integrity

Power integrity

Communication skills

Organizational skills

Tools

Altium Designer

Job description

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MERITUS Talent is working with a space start-up company to recruit a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Design Engineer for their Berkshire offices on a full-time, permanent basis.

PCB Design Engineer - Permanent - Berkshire - On-site - Salary up to £65,000 per annum DOE

Role:

You will design, lay out, prototype, and validate printed-circuit boards (PCBs) from concept through production, owning the entire board lifecycle and ensuring reliable and timely delivery of designs.

Responsibilities:

1. Capture schematics and create multilayer PCB layouts that optimize performance, manufacturability, cost, and reliability.
2. Apply best-practice design rules for signal integrity, power integrity, high-speed digital, analog, and mixed-signal circuits.
3. Select components considering electrical, mechanical, thermal, lifecycle, and cost factors, maintaining high-quality CAD libraries.
4. Perform stack-up, impedance, and basic signal-integrity analyses; conduct comprehensive DRC/DFM checks to ensure first-time-right designs.
5. Generate manufacturing files (Gerbers/ODB++, pick-and-place, BOMs) with clear build notes and document design decisions, test results, and revisions.
6. Collaborate with electronics, firmware, mechanical, and manufacturing teams to define requirements, review designs, and integrate PCBs into products.
7. Bonus: Oversee fabrication and assembly vendors, develop test plans, bring up prototypes, and debug issues using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and lab equipment.
8. Minimum 3 years of comprehensive PCB design and layout experience with volume manufacturing hardware.
9. Proficiency with at least one modern PCB CAD tool (e.g., Altium Designer) and basic simulation tools for PI/SI analysis.
10. Solid understanding of PCB stack-ups, controlled-impedance routing, differential pairs, power distribution, grounding, EMC/EMI mitigation, and DFM/DFA practices.
11. Strong communication skills, organizational habits, and the initiative to drive designs from concept to production with minimal supervision.
12. Bonus: Soldering, rework, and laboratory instrumentation skills for board bring-up and failure analysis.

Additional Highlights:

• Pioneering Space Technology: Contribute to launching groundbreaking space technology, such as our revolutionary air-breathing ion propulsion system, aiming to redefine satellite operations in ultra-low Earth orbits.
• Ownership and Impact: Experience a high level of ownership in the full lifecycle of satellite technology, impacting the industry significantly.
• Compensation and Benefits: Receive a competitive salary, equity stakes, private health insurance including dental and optical, annual healthcare check-ups, and more.