Printed Circuit Board Design Engineer

NewOrbit Space; Reading; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in space technology is seeking a Printed Circuit Board Design Engineer to contribute to innovative satellite projects. You will own the PCB lifecycle, ensuring reliable designs while collaborating with cross-functional teams. This role offers significant ownership and impact in a pioneering environment, along with competitive salary and equity opportunities.

Benefits

Equity and Competitive Salary

Comprehensive Benefits Package

Private health insurance with dental and optical coverage

Qualifications

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

Responsibilities

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

Skills

PCB Design

Signal Integrity

Power Integrity

High-speed Digital

Analog Circuits

Mixed-signal Circuits

Communication Skills

Organisational Skills

Tools

Altium Designer

Job description

Join to apply for the Printed Circuit Board Design Engineer role at NewOrbit Space

At NewOrbit Space, our mission is to engineer the lowest orbiting satellites on Earth to rapidly advance global connectivity and insight.

We are currently building satellites that can breathe air and operate at an altitude of just 200 km—one-third that of conventional satellites. Thanks to our proprietary propulsion system, we can compensate for atmospheric drag at ultra-low altitudes using air as propellant.

Please note that as we prepare for our maiden satellite mission, we are in a critical growth phase. Our roles will often require extended hours and are not typical 9-to-6 positions.

Your Role

You will design, lay out, prototype, and validate printed-circuit boards (PCBs) from concept through production, owning the entire board lifecycle and ensuring every design ships reliably and on time.

Key Responsibilities

1. Capture schematics and create multilayer PCB layouts that balance 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 based on electrical, mechanical, thermal, lifecycle, and cost considerations while maintaining high-quality CAD libraries.
4. Perform stack-up, impedance, and basic signal-integrity analyses; run comprehensive DRC/DFM checks to achieve 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 revision history.
6. Collaborate closely with electronics, firmware, mechanical, and manufacturing teams to define requirements, review designs, and integrate PCBs into complete products.
7. Bonus: Oversee fabrication and assembly vendors, develop test plans, bring up prototypes, and debug issues using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and related lab equipment.
8. Minimum 3 years of end-to-end PCB design and layout experience with production hardware in volume manufacturing.
9. Expertise with at least one modern PCB CAD suite (e.g., Altium Designer) and familiarity with 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 best practices.
11. Strong written and verbal communication skills, excellent organisational habits, and the initiative to drive designs from concept to production with minimal supervision.
12. Bonus: Comfortable with soldering, rework, and laboratory instrumentation for board bring-up and failure analysis.

Why NewOrbit Space?

• Pioneering Space Technology: You'll contribute to launching groundbreaking technology into space. Your work on our revolutionary air-breathing ion propulsion system will redefine satellite operations in ultra-low Earth orbits.
• Unmatched Ownership and Impact: You'll experience a level of ownership that's rare in the space industry. You will participate in the full lifecycle of satellite technology.
• Equity and Competitive Salary: You'll receive not just a competitive salary but also company ownership stakes. Your dedication and hard work are rewarded with a share in the technology you help build, ensuring you're a part of our collective success.
• Comprehensive Benefits Package: Including private health insurance with dental and optical coverage, annual healthcare check-ups, etc.

Seniority level

Mid-Senior level

Employment type

Full-time

Industries

Engineering Services, Space Research and Technology, and Aviation and Aerospace Component Manufacturing