Principal Electrical Design Engineer

FormFactor•Livermore, CA

About The Position

The Principal Electrical Design Engineer develops production-ready electrical designs for advanced wafer probe card solutions, translating complex customer test requirements into accurate, manufacturable designs. The role applies electrical engineering knowledge, product expertise, and established design methodologies to independently manage projects from requirements review through production release. The engineer works directly with customers, vendors, and cross-functional teams to evaluate requirements, resolve design challenges, and deliver high-quality solutions. The position also contributes to improving design tools and processes and provides technical guidance, training, and mentorship to developing engineers and designers. The role involves creating and validating electrical and logical designs, netlists, and probe card design entries; assessing signal integrity, impedance control, power distribution, circuit design, and routing considerations; and reviewing designs for accuracy, manufacturability, and compliance before release. The engineer coordinates multiple design projects and collaborates across sales, marketing, design, mechanical engineering, manufacturing, and other teams. The position also supports design documentation, continuous improvement, training, and technical knowledge sharing.

Requirements

At least 5 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 3 years with a Master's degree; or a PhD without experience; or equivalent work experience.
Strong knowledge of electrical design fundamentals, including impedance control, power distribution networks, signal integrity, and digital and analog circuit design.
Solid understanding of physical routing concepts, including differential-pair routing, high-speed design considerations, and PCB layout practices.
Ability to interpret complex technical requirements and translate them into practical electrical design solutions.
Experience developing and validating logical designs, netlists, schematics, or related electrical design documentation.
Strong analytical and structured problem-solving skills, with attention to technical accuracy and quality.
Ability to independently manage multiple technical projects and priorities within established schedules.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to clearly explain complex technical information to customers and cross-functional teams.
Ability to train, mentor, and provide technical guidance to less-experienced team members.
Ability to work independently and collaborate across engineering, manufacturing, commercial, and customer-facing organizations.

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of multilayer PCB and ceramic or organic substrate design and manufacturing processes.
Experience with Cadence Allegro, Siemens PADS, AutoCAD, or similar engineering design tools.
Knowledge of or experience with semiconductor test, wafer probing, semiconductor manufacturing, or related technologies.

Responsibilities

Develop production-ready probe card electrical designs that meet customer requirements, internal standards, performance requirements, and manufacturing capabilities.
Interpret product specifications and apply electrical circuit fundamentals, design rules, manufacturing requirements, and established engineering processes.
Use proprietary and commercially available design tools to translate customer requirements into accurate electrical designs.
Create, analyze, and validate logical designs and netlists for production probe card applications.
Perform probe card design entry using customer specifications provided through schematics, spreadsheets, and other approved technical formats.
Apply knowledge of impedance control, power distribution networks, signal integrity, digital and analog circuits, and physical routing.
Review designs for technical accuracy, manufacturability, and compliance with applicable requirements before release.
Translate customer requirements into electrical and logical design requirements for physical designers supporting space transformers and PCBs.
Evaluate technical requirements and recommend approaches that balance performance, manufacturability, schedule, and customer needs.
Interface with customers and vendors to understand requirements, resolve design questions, and provide engineering analysis and recommendations.
Provide technical input to Sales and Design teams during customer evaluations, feasibility assessments, and design execution.
Troubleshoot moderately complex electrical design issues using engineering analysis, data, and established practices.
Independently coordinate projects from initial requirements review through production release.
Establish and manage project scope, schedules, milestones, deliverables, and quality requirements.
Manage multiple concurrent projects while balancing customer priorities, technical complexity, and business requirements.
Monitor design progress, identify technical or schedule risks, and coordinate with stakeholders to resolve issues.
Ensure designs are completed accurately and according to project, quality, and production requirements.
Collaborate with Sales, Marketing, PCB Design, Substrate Design, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing, and other technical teams throughout the design lifecycle.
Partner with Manufacturing and related engineering teams to align designs with production capabilities and requirements.
Coordinate with internal and external design resources to communicate requirements and resolve design issues.
Work with geographically dispersed teams on design execution, customer evaluations, technical knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement.
Partner with design and automation teams to define, develop, evaluate, and validate improvements to design tools and processes.
Identify opportunities to improve design quality, efficiency, repeatability, and manufacturability.
Provide production-design feedback on new and existing tools, and support implementation of improved tools, processes, and methodologies.
Develop and maintain design documentation, work instructions, technical guidelines, and engineering best practices.
Train and mentor new employees and developing team members on probe card design processes, tools, and engineering practices.
Develop technical documentation and structured training materials.
Provide day-to-day technical guidance and share knowledge, lessons learned, and design best practices across the organization.