Design Engineer, PCB & DFM

Creation Technologies•Toronto, ON

18h•$110,000 - $135,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The PCB Layout & Design for Manufacturing (DFM) Engineer is a highly visible technical role within Creation Technologies, responsible for driving excellence in printed circuit board design, manufacturability, and production readiness across the organization. This position serves as a key subject matter expert for complex PCB layout, Valor DFM, Design for Assembly, and PCB fabrication and assembly processes. Working from electrical schematics and engineering requirements, the engineer will develop and support complex, high density, multilayer PCB designs while ensuring electrical, mechanical, reliability, and manufacturing requirements are incorporated from the earliest stages of development. Beyond individual designs, this role will help shape how Creation approaches PCB design and manufacturing by developing DFM methodologies, integrating manufacturing design rules, establishing PCB design standards, and driving continuous improvement across engineering and manufacturing teams. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced PCB design professional who enjoys both hands on technical work and the opportunity to influence standards, processes, and best practices across a global electronics manufacturing organization. The position offers flexibility to be remote, with a strong preference for candidates located in the Toronto, Ontario or Denver, Colorado areas to support collaboration with key Creation Technologies teams and facilities.

Requirements

10+ years of PCB layout experience in a manufacturing or electronics development environment.
5+ years of experience supporting PCB fabrication, PCBA assembly, or DFM activities.
Extensive experience designing multilayer, high-density PCB layouts from completed electrical schematics.
Experience with PCB EDA tools; mainly Altium but familiarity with Cadence Allegro, OrCAD, or PADS will be a plus.
Expertise in PCB layout and design principles, including signal integrity, thermal management, and component placement.
Proficiency in Design for Manufacturing (DFM) tools such as Siemens Valor NPI
Familiar PCB fab suppliers and their capabilities
Strong analytical, communication, and leadership skills
Advanced Knowledge of PCBA manufacturing processes and production flow
Advanced knowledge in Electronics Components designs
Ability to interpret Gerber data, BOMs, and DFM reports
Strong analytical and data interpretation skills
Effective communication in technical and team settings

Nice To Haves

Understanding of industry standards including IPC-2221, IPC-7351, IPC-A-610, IPC-6012, and IPC-J-STD-001 preferred
Design for Test (DFT) experience would be an asset but not required

Responsibilities

Lead Design for Manufacturability (DFM), Design for Assembly (DFA) assessments for printed circuit board assemblies.
Utilize Siemens Valor NPI and / or related tools to perform automated manufacturability analysis on customer and internally developed PCB designs.
Develop, maintain, and continuously improve DFM rule sets aligned with IPC standards, fabrication capabilities, assembly processes, and customer requirements.
Review Gerber, ODB++, BOM, centroid, assembly drawing, and fabrication data packages for completeness and manufacturability.
Lead DFM review meetings with manufacturing, process engineering, quality, and customers to resolve design and process concerns.
Prepare DFM reports, technical presentations, and executive summaries to communicate findings and recommendations.
Stay informed on emerging technologies, tools, and standards to strengthen product performance and maintain industry leadership.
Develop complex multilayer PCB layouts from engineer-approved schematics using industry-standard PCB design tools such as Altium Designer, Cadence Allegro, or equivalent.
Create PCB stack-ups, placement strategies, routing topologies, and design constraints that satisfy signal integrity, power integrity, thermal, mechanical, and manufacturing requirements.
Collaborate with electrical and mechanical engineers to ensure successful implementation of design intent while optimizing manufacturability and cost.
Generate fabrication and assembly deliverables including Gerber, ODB++, IPC-2581, pick-and-place files, fabrication drawings, assembly drawings, and manufacturing documentation.
Perform layout reviews and design verification to ensure compliance with company standards, IPC requirements, and customer specifications.
Maintain PCB footprint libraries, design rules, and layout standards.
Create and maintain CAD structure for symbol and footprint libraries to ensure design consistency and efficiency.
Manage CAD tool licenses and support interfaces to maintain tool availability and performance.
Generate bills of materials (BOMs) from schematic and layout databases to support material planning and documentation accuracy.
Import schematics or netlists into layout CAD tools to prepare designs for routing and verification.
Collaborate with responsible engineers and mechanical teams to ensure design intent, compliance, and successful prototype builds.