Sr. PCB Designer (Starlink)

SpaceX • Bastrop, TX

22h

About The Position

SpaceX is seeking a Senior PCB Designer to support Starlink, its broadband internet system. The position creates layouts for in-house board designs and partners closely with Hardware Development Engineers during schematic development, design reviews, and design iteration. The work spans designs such as radio phased arrays and solar power converters.

The designer determines board stackups, selects component packages, plans component placement and routing, and lays out multilayer PCBs. The role also manages design constraints and signal and power integrity, thermal performance, impedance control, and EMI/EMC compliance. The designer prepares fabrication and assembly documentation, evaluates manufacturability, works with manufacturing teams and vendors to improve design practices, and uses and supports PCB design tools.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and at least 5 years of professional PCB layout experience, or at least 8 years of professional PCB layout experience in lieu of a degree.
• Ability to work extended hours or weekends as needed for mission-critical deadlines.
• Must meet the stated U.S. export-control eligibility requirements: be a U.S. citizen or national, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee, or be eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Nice To Haves

• At least 8 years of PCB layout and routing experience involving modern passive and active electronic components, surface-mount, RF components, ball-grid arrays or similar fine-pitch components, or high-pin-density components.
• At least 3 years 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 generating fabrication outputs such as Gerber, ODB++, IPC-2581, and drill files; performing DFM/DFA analysis; constraint-driven design; and collaborating on libraries including symbols, footprints, and 3D models.
• Experience with MIL-STD, commercial, and IPC standards and design.
• Proficiency writing code and/or leveraging AI tools to automate CAD workflows, using tools 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 routing feasibility studies for printed circuit boards.
• 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, and 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 production 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 manufacturing guidelines.
• Utilize 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: Senior