Senior PCB Hardware Engineer for Satellite Payloads

GCS Recruitment; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

GCS Recruitment in Seattle, WA, seeks a Senior PCB Hardware Design Engineer / Senior Hardware Development Engineer to lead hands-on board bring-up, debugging, and verification for advanced satellite payload hardware. This role emphasizes power delivery, signal integrity, and collaboration with hardware teams to drive design iterations from bring-up through manufacturing.

Applicants should have 8+ years of board-level hardware design experience, with strong lab skills and proficiency in

Qualifications

• 8+ years of electrical engineering experience in board-level hardware design.
• Strong experience with schematic capture and complex, dense multilayer PCB designs.
• Solid understanding of power delivery, power distribution, and sequencing.
• Extensive hands-on laboratory experience with board bring-up, hardware debug, and validation.

Responsibilities

• Lead bring-up of newly fabricated circuit boards, including power-on, section-by-section checkout, and first-time hardware debug through root cause.
• Plan and execute design verification and validation campaigns, including high-speed link testing, power measurements, functional testing, and detailed documentation of results.
• Partner closely with hardware design engineers to identify issues and drive corrective actions into subsequent board revisions.
• Contribute to schematic capture and PCB layout activities for next-generation hardware as project priorities and bandwidth allow.
• Support RF and antenna engineering teams with validated hardware and assist with their measurement and characterization requirements.
• Troubleshoot board-level hardware issues using systematic debug methodologies and laboratory instrumentation.
• Support the complete hardware development lifecycle from design and fabrication through bring-up, validation, and manufacturing support.

Skills

PCB design

Schematic capture

Power delivery

Hardware debug

Oscilloscopes & analyzers

High-speed interfaces

Education

BSEE, MSEE or equivalent

Tools

Oscilloscopes

Logic analyzers

Test equipment

Job description

Senior Hardware Development Engineer - PCB Design

Location: Seattle, Washington, USA
Contract: 12+ months
Work Arrangement: 5 days onsite

About the Role

We are seeking a Senior PCB Hardware Design Engineer / Senior Hardware Development Engineer to support the development of advanced satellite payload hardware. This is a hands-on role focused heavily on board bring-up, hardware debug, design verification, validation, and supporting the transition of validated designs into subsequent hardware revisions.

The ideal candidate will have strong board-level design experience combined with extensive laboratory expertise and the ability to troubleshoot complex hardware issues from initial power-on through root-cause identification and resolution.

Responsibilities

• Lead bring-up of newly fabricated circuit boards, including power-on, section-by-section checkout, and first-time hardware debug through root cause.
• Plan and execute design verification and validation campaigns, including high-speed link testing, power measurements, functional testing, and detailed documentation of results.
• Partner closely with hardware design engineers to identify issues and drive corrective actions into subsequent board revisions.
• Contribute to schematic capture and PCB layout activities for next-generation hardware as project priorities and bandwidth allow.
• Support RF and antenna engineering teams with validated hardware and assist with their measurement and characterization requirements.
• Troubleshoot board-level hardware issues using systematic debug methodologies and laboratory instrumentation.
• Support the complete hardware development lifecycle from design and fabrication through bring-up, validation, and manufacturing support.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of electrical engineering experience in board-level hardware design.
• Strong experience with schematic capture and complex, dense multilayer PCB designs.
• Solid understanding of power delivery, power distribution, and sequencing.
• Extensive hands-on laboratory experience with board bring-up, hardware debug, and validation.
• Proficiency with oscilloscopes, logic/protocol analyzers, and high-speed test and measurement equipment.
• Experience with high-speed digital interfaces and multi-gigabit SerDes technologies such as JESD204, PCIe, 25G+ Ethernet, DDR, or similar.
• Strong understanding of signal integrity and power integrity considerations.
• Demonstrated experience across the full hardware lifecycle: design → build → bring-up → validation → manufacturing support.
• BSEE, MSEE, or equivalent practical engineering experience.

GCS is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.