PCB Designer (Starlink)

SpaceX • Bastrop, TX

22h

About The Position

SpaceX is seeking a PCB Designer to create layouts for in-house board designs supporting Starlink. The designer partners closely with Hardware Development Engineers as they develop schematics, contributes expertise and recommendations during design reviews, and iterates on designs to develop effective solutions. The work spans a range of designs, including radio phased arrays and solar power converters.

The role includes PCB stackup and package selection, component placement, routing, design checks, and preparation of fabrication and assembly documentation. The designer works with electrical and mechanical engineers, manufacturing teams, and PCB vendors to meet performance and compliance requirements, improve manufacturability and yield, and refine design rules and workflows.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and at least 1 year of professional PCB layout experience, or at least 3 years of professional PCB layout experience in lieu of a degree; internships and club/project work are applicable.
• Ability to work extended hours or weekends as needed for mission-critical deadlines.
• Must meet SpaceX’s stated ITAR eligibility requirements: be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. lawful permanent resident, refugee or asylee, or eligible to obtain required U.S. Department of State authorizations.

Nice To Haves

• At least 2 years of PCB layout and routing experience with modern passive and active components, surface-mount, RF components, ball-grid array or similar fine-pitch components, or high-pin-density components.
• At least 1 year of experience with ECAD libraries and library configuration management.
• Experience with schematic capture and PCB layout software such as Xpedition, Allegro, Altium, or KiCad.
• Experience laying out mixed analog and digital designs, high-speed buses, FPGA, DRAM and CPU designs, power supplies, DC-DC converters, transmission lines, impedance-controlled traces, and power traces.
• Demonstrated understanding of design for manufacturability, assembly, and test.
• Proficiency in generating fabrication outputs such as Gerber, ODB++, IPC-2581, and drill files; DFM/DFA analysis; constraint-driven design; and collaboration on symbols, footprints, and 3D models with libraries.
• Experience with MIL-STD, commercial, and IPC standards and design.
• Proficiency in writing code and/or leveraging AI tools to automate CAD workflows, such as Python, Altium/Xpedition scripting, or Allegro SKILL.
• Demonstrated cross-functional project management skills and ability to collaborate with other engineering disciplines.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Determine layer stackup, perform component package selection and placement, and conduct PCB routing feasibility studies.
• Perform multilayer PCB layout, including component placement and high-speed digital, analog, RF, and power routing.
• Perform DRC/ERC checks, peer reviews, and design audits; collaborate with electrical and mechanical engineers to capture design requirements.
• Manage high-speed design constraints to ensure signal and power integrity, thermal performance, impedance control, and EMI/EMC compliance.
• Create documentation required for PCB and PCBA fabrication and assembly.
• Analyze designs for manufacturability and incorporate feedback from fabrication houses and assembly partners to reduce costs and improve yield.
• Collaborate with internal manufacturing teams and PCB vendors to improve design rules, constraints, and design-for-test and design-for-manufacturing guidelines.
• Use PCB design tools, maintain and evaluate new tools, and train team members to use them.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level