PCB Design & Electrical Engineer (human)

NEURA Robotics; Germany (OH); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

NEURA Robotics seeks a hands‑on Electrical Engineer to own PCBA development from concept to production release. You will work with hardware, firmware, and mechanical teams to design multi‑layer boards, ensure manufacturability, and drive DFM considerations.

You will lead schematic capture, layout, verification, and NPI activities, coordinating with PCB fabricators and EMS partners to qualify designs for series production.

Qualifications

• Experience capturing complex multi‑sheet schematics in Altium Designer.
• Proven ownership of PCB/PCBA design from schematic to production release.
• Understanding of EMC, thermal management, and signal integrity.
• Familiarity with IPC‑2221/ IPC‑7711 standards and DFM/DFA practices.
• Ability to coordinate with fabricators and EMS partners on first articles.

Responsibilities

• Capture and document complex schematics, power stages, and interfaces.
• Design 4–16 layer PCBs with attention to SI/PI and thermal management.
• Run DRC/ERC checks, SI/PI simulations, and formal design reviews.
• Prepare manufacturing documentation and BoM for production release.
• Lead bring‑up and debugging with lab instruments; resolve hardware issues.
• Manage component lifecycle risks and maintain AVL in coordination with procurement.
• Support transition from prototype to series production and test fixtures.
• Maintain revision‑controlled design data and ensure IPC/CE/EMC compliance.

Skills

Schematic design

PCB layout

DFM awareness

Design verification

EMC design principles

Mixed-signal board design

Troubleshooting hardware

Vendor coordination

Education

Electrical Engineering degree

Tools

Altium Designer

Oscilloscopes, logic analyzers

PCB fabricators/EMS coordination tools

Job description

You own the board — from first schematic to production release.

NEURA Robotics builds all kinds of robots packed with power electronics, high-speed digital interfaces, precision analog sensing, and dense mixed-signal layouts — all in the smallest possible form factor. We need someone who can take a PCBA from concept to a production-released, DFM‑compliant design and own every step in between. You'll work directly with our hardware, firmware, and mechanical engineers to bring up new boards fast and make them manufacturable at scale.

Mission & challenges

• Schematic design: Capture complex multi‑sheet schematics in Altium Designer — power stages, microcontroller & SoC support circuits, sensor interfaces (IMU, encoder, ToF, tactile), motor drive gate stages, and communication buses (e.g. CAN‑FD, EtherCAT, SPI, I²C, USB).

• PCB layout: Design 4–16 layer boards with careful attention to signal integrity, power integrity, EMC‑compliant routing, thermal management, and mixed‑signal partitioning. Experience with impedance‑controlled routing and high‑current copper pours is essential.

• Design verification: Run design rule checks (DRC/ERC), perform pre‑layout and post‑layout SI/PI simulations, and carry out formal design reviews with firmware and systems engineering teams.

• NPI and DFM: Prepare and own full manufacturing documentation — Gerber/ODB++, assembly drawings, BoM, IPC‑compliant fab notes — and work directly with PCB fabricators and PCBA contract manufacturers to qualify and release designs for series production.

• Bring‑up and debugging: Lead board bring‑up in the lab with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and network analyzers. Diagnose and resolve hardware issues end‑to‑end — from power rails to high‑speed digital signals.

• Component qualification: Select, specify, and qualify components; manage lifecycle risks (EOL, long lead times, second source); maintain the approved vendor list (AVL) for electronic components in close coordination with procurement.

• Prototype to series transition: Drive design iterations through DVT/PVT stages; support PCBA test development (ICT, functional test fixtures) and work with quality engineering on failure analysis and corrective actions.

• Documentation and standards: Maintain clean, revision‑controlled design data in our PDM/PLM environment; ensure compliance with relevant standards (like IPC‑2221, IPC‑7711, CE/EMC directives, RoHS/REACH).

What we can look forward to

You know boards inside out — and you thrive in fast‑moving hardware cycles.

You are a hands‑on electrical engineer with a strong focus on PCB design and a track record of taking complex boards all the way to production. You're as comfortable with a schematic editor as you are with a soldering iron, and you understand what it means to design for manufacturing, not just for function.

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Mechatronics, or a comparable technical field.
• 3+ years of professional experience in PCB/PCBA design, with proven ownership of complete design cycles from schematic to production release.
• Expert‑level command of Altium Designer (schematic capture, layout, DRC/ERC, output generation) (or comparable CAD‑tools); familiarity with simulation tools is a strong plus.
• Strong experience with mixed‑signal board design: power electronics (SMPS, LDO, battery management, motor drives), high‑speed digital (DDR, SerDes, high‑frequency clocks), and sensitive analog/sensor front‑ends on the same board.
• Solid understanding of EMC design principles: grounding strategies, shielding, filtering, return path management, and pre‑compliance test methodology.
• Hands‑on DFM/DFA knowledge: panelization, via‑in‑pad, press‑fit, selective soldering, SMT/THT mixed assembly, and IPC class 2/3 requirements.
• Practical lab skills: confident with high‑bandwidth oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, spectrum analyzers, and board rework.
• Experience coordinating with PCB fabricators and EMS/CM partners — writing fab specs, managing first article inspections (FAI), and resolving DFM feedback.
• Familiarity with embedded systems context: MCU/SoC integration, boot circuits, JTAG/SWD debug interfaces, and working hand‑in‑hand with firmware engineers.
• Fluent English; good German is a strong advantage for daily collaboration.