Senior PCB Design Engineer: Power & High-Speed Boards

Apptronik; Sunnyvale (CA); Presencial; USD 205.000 - 220.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

Apptronik is seeking a Senior ECAD Designer to own PCB schematic capture and layout in Altium Designer, focusing on power electronics and high-speed digital design. You will collaborate with electrical, mechanical, and manufacturing teams to deliver production-ready boards on schedule.

The role requires strong Altium expertise, 5+ years in PCB design, and experience with EMI/EMC, SI/PI, and DFMA. Competitive salary and benefits are provided in a fast-paced robotics environment.

Formación

• Expert-level proficiency in Altium Designer for schematic capture and PCB layout.
• Demonstrated experience designing and laying out power electronics: DC/DC converters, power planes, bus bars/high-current traces, thermal management, and power protection schemes.
• Demonstrated experience with high-speed digital layout: impedance-controlled routing, differential pairs, length matching, via optimization, and stack-up design for GHz-class interfaces.
• Working knowledge of signal integrity (SI) and power integrity (PI) concepts and how layout decisions affect them; experience collaborating with SI/PI engineers or running basic simulation/analysis a plus.
• Solid understanding of DFM/DFA principles and hands-on experience working directly with fabrication houses and contract manufacturers.
• Practical knowledge of EMC/EMI mitigation techniques in layout (grounding, shielding, plane splits, filtering placement).
• Familiarity with IPC standards; CID or CID+ certification preferred but not required.
• Experience with flex, rigid-flex, or HDI/microvia design a plus.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to produce clear design documentation and communicate tradeoffs to cross-functional stakeholders.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent design projects and mentor/provide work direction to other designers.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high-growth environment where "perfect" is the enemy of "shipped".

Responsabilidades

• PCB Design & Layout: Perform schematic capture and PCB layout for mixed-signal, power, and high-speed digital boards. Define stack-up, layer count, and material selection to meet electrical, thermal, and cost targets.
• Power Design: Design and route power delivery networks, accounting for current-carrying capacity, copper weight, and thermal reliefs for layouts of DC/DC converters, power switching circuits, and bus/rail distribution for optimal power integrity.
• High-Speed Design: Implement controlled-impedance routing, differential pair routing, length matching/tuning, and via strategy for high-speed interfaces (e.g., PCIe, DDR, USB, Ethernet, LVDS, SerDes).
• DFM/DFA: Apply design-for-manufacturability and design-for-assembly best practices; partner with PCB fabricators and contract manufacturers (CMs) on design rule checks, panelization, tolerancing, and yield/cost tradeoffs.
• EMC/EMI: Apply grounding, shielding, filtering, and layer-stack techniques to mitigate EMI/EMC risk, and support pre-compliance and regulatory testing (e.g., CE, FCC, UL) as needed.
• Standards & Compliance: Design and document to IPC standards (IPC-2221, IPC-6012, IPC-2152) and internal design rules; maintain and evolve design rule sets, layer stack templates, and library standards.
• Documentation: Generate complete manufacturing outputs — Gerbers, drill files, BOMs, fabrication drawings, and assembly drawings — along with clear design documentation and constraint files.
• Library Management: Create and maintain Altium schematic symbols, PCB footprints, and component library data in alignment with company library standards and part-lifecycle requirements.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with electrical, mechanical, thermal, and manufacturing engineers to align layout with system requirements; participate in design reviews and provide layout feasibility input early in the design cycle. Drive discussions with ECAD software vendors on renewals, product selections, and software bugs with the oversight of the electrical engineering manager.
• Mentorship: Act as a technical mentor to junior/mid-level designers on layout best practices, documentation standards, and use of Altium tools.

Conocimientos

Altium Designer

Power electronics

High-speed design

SI/PI concepts

DFM/DFA

EMC/EMI mitigation

IPC standards

CID certification

Educación

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Herramientas

Altium Designer

Descripción del empleo

Apptronik is seeking a Senior ECAD Designer to own PCB schematic capture and layout in Altium Designer, focusing on power electronics and high-speed digital design. You will collaborate with electrical, mechanical, and manufacturing teams to deliver production-ready boards on schedule.

The role requires strong Altium expertise, 5+ years in PCB design, and experience with EMI/EMC, SI/PI, and DFMA. Competitive salary and benefits are provided in a fast-paced robotics environment.