PCB Designer

The role

You will own the physical layout of complex, high-density, high-layer-count PCBs for Northwood's digital compute and power electronics. You will set the standards, tools and workflows for the PCB layout practice as the first dedicated PCB layout hire. You will work with Electrical, RF and Antenna engineers from concept to production.

What you will do

• Own the physical layout of complex, high-density, high-layer-count PCBs with high-speed, high-frequency, RF, mixed-signal and power distribution systems.
• Determine layer stackups, component placement, routing feasibility and high-speed/high-frequency constraint rules.
• Create, manage and maintain ECAD libraries for active, passive and high-pin-count components.
• Ensure adherence to DFM, DFA and DFT guidelines with hardware and production teams.
• Generate and release fabrication and assembly documentation (Gerbers, ODB++, IPC-2581, drill charts, fabrication drawings).
• Work with external PCB fabrication and assembly vendors to resolve technical queries and improve internal design rules.
• Evaluate, select and champion PCB design tools and automation scripts to scale the layout function.
• Serve as the internal authority on high-speed and high-frequency layout, mentoring engineers across disciplines.

Required qualifications

• 2+ years of professional experience in complex, high-density PCB layout with end-to-end ownership of high-speed and high-frequency designs, or a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related
• Hands-on expertise in high-speed and high-frequency layout techniques: impedance control, differential pairs, length matching, crosstalk mitigation and RF-aware routing.
• Experience with advanced packaging, including fine-pitch BGAs, high-pin-density components and micro-vias (HDI).
• Strong command of PCB materials, dielectric properties and multi-layer stack-up development for high-frequency performance.
• Experience applying EMI/EMC mitigation and designing robust board-level power delivery networks (PDN).
• Track record of working with significant autonomy, setting direction and making final layout calls with minimal oversight.
• U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, protected individual under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State (ITAR).

Nice to have

• 2+ years designing high-speed, high-frequency, mixed-signal PCBs for FPGA, processor, RF/antenna or high-performance networking systems.
• Experience routing high-speed interfaces such as multi-gigabit SerDes, DDR memory, JESD204B/C and 10/100G Ethernet.
• Proficiency in industry-standard ECAD tools (Altium Designer, Cadence Allegro or Siemens Xpedition).
• Strong understanding of IPC standards (e.g., IPC-2221, IPC-7351) and commercial manufacturing tolerances.
• Experience with ECAD/MCAD co-design workflows (e.g., SolidWorks, STEP files).
• Experience with scripting or automation (e.g., Python, Skill or Altium scripts).
• Prior experience building or scaling a PCB layout function, standards library or design process from scratch.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to make sound layout tradeoffs in a fast-paced, collaborative hardware environment.

Before you apply

• Must conform to U.S. government space technology export regulations, including ITAR: U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, protected individual, or eligible to obtain the required authorizations fr

About the company

Northwood is a modern space infrastructure company building a global network of phased array and parabolic ground stations for real-time communication. It designs, builds and rapidly deploys scalable systems for national security, global connectivity and disaster response.