We are an engineering staffing agency specialized in the recruitment of PCB Designers for companies that fall into the Aerospace, Defense & Mission‐Critical Systems arena.
Our client is a leading engineering and manufacturing organization serving the Aerospace, Defense, ISR, Space, and High-Reliability Electronics sectors. They develop advanced electronic assemblies and high-performance hardware used in mission-critical communication systems, radar platforms, avionics modules, electronic warfare equipment, and secure defense technologies.
The company’s engineering teams support the full lifecycle of complex electronic products, including RF and microwave assemblies, power electronics, mixed-signal control boards, high-density interconnect (HDI) layouts, multilayer stack-ups, and ruggedized PCB solutions for harsh environments. Their products adhere to strict performance, quality, and reliability requirements and are built to meet MIL-PRF, MIL-STD, IPC-6012, IPC-2221/2222, and AS9100 quality standards.
This is an opportunity to join a company at the forefront of mission-critical hardware development, where PCB design directly impacts system performance, signal integrity, RF behavior, electromagnetic compatibility, and long-term field reliability.
Typical Duties and Responsibilities
- Design, develop, and layout high-reliability PCBs for aerospace and defense electronics including RF/microwave boards, mixed-signal control boards, high-speed digital circuits, and power management modules.
- Create multilayer board stack-ups incorporating controlled impedance, blind/buried vias, microvias, HDI structures, and rigid-flex technologies.
- Perform RF layout optimization, component placement, transmission-line routing, grounding strategies, and thermal-management considerations for high-frequency designs.
- Collaborate with electrical engineers, RF/microwave designers, mechanical engineers, and manufacturing teams to ensure layout manufacturability (DFM), testability (DFT), and assembly compliance (DFA).
- Generate and maintain PCB fabrication documentation, including Gerber/ODB++ files, fabrication drawings, assembly drawings, IPC-compliant notes, BOMs, and revision-controlled design records.
- Utilize advanced CAD and EDA tools such as Altium Designer, Cadence Allegro/OrCAD, Mentor Graphics Xpedition/PADS, or equivalent enterprise-level software.
- Conduct signal integrity (SI), power integrity (PI), EMI/EMC mitigation, and grounding analyses to support high-frequency and mixed-signal systems.
- Support prototype builds, troubleshoot early-stage boards, participate in design reviews, failure analysis, test validation, and product qualification activities.
- Ensure that designs conform to industry and customer standards including MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-461, DO-160, IPC-2221, IPC-7351, and AS9100 requirements.
- Work closely with fabrication and assembly vendors to validate manufacturability and optimize yields for SMT, fine-pitch components, BGAs, FPGAs, RF connectors, and complex multilayer designs.
Education
- Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering Technology, or related discipline preferred.
- Equivalent military or industry experience in high-reliability electronics engineering may be considered.
- Additional coursework or certification in IPC-CID / CID+, RF design, or advanced PCB layout is highly desirable.
Required Skills and Experience
- 10+ years of professional PCB design experience within aerospace, defense, communications, or high-reliability electronics environments.
- Expertise using professional PCB layout tools such as Cadence Allegro, Altium Designer, Mentor Graphics Xpedition, or OrCAD PCB Designer.
- Strong knowledge of RF/microwave layout techniques, controlled-impedance routing, differential-pair routing, filter structures, grounding schemes, and shielding strategies.
- Experience designing boards incorporating attenuators, phase shifters, detectors, limiters, switches, amplifiers, control circuits, and mixed-signal components.
- Proficiency creating multilayer stack-ups, high-density interconnect (HDI) designs, and rigid-flex architectures.
- Deep understanding of IPC standards (IPC-2221, IPC-2222, IPC-7351, IPC-6012) and familiarity with MIL-STD and AS9100 quality requirements.
- Ability to read and interpret schematics, RF block diagrams, mechanical drawings, fabrication notes, and tolerance specifications.
- Understanding of manufacturing processes including SMT assembly, pick-and-place, reflow profiling, wave soldering, X-ray inspection, AOI, and environmental testing.
- Strong collaboration, documentation, communication, and version-control skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience supporting electronic warfare, SATCOM, radar, or secure communications systems.
- Background in DFM/DFT/DFA, root cause analysis, and optimization of high-reliability production builds.
- Familiarity with thermal modeling, RF simulation tools, SI/PI analysis software (e.g., HyperLynx, Ansys SIwave, ADS).
- Knowledge of power amplifier modules, RF control systems, transmitter circuits, and multi-function electronic assemblies.
- Experience with Build-to-Print manufacturing, high-mix/low-volume production, or ruggedized electronics for harsh environments.
- IPC-CID or CID+ certification strongly preferred.
