Senior PCB Designer

About the role

This role is based onsite at our office in Pleasanton, CA. Travel: Up to 5%

Responsibilities

• Design & Development: Review design requirements to develop schematics, custom footprints, component placement, and signal routing for complex multilayer PCBAs containing digital, analog, and power circuits.
• Standards & Strategy: Apply established design rules, define PCB layer stack-ups, and determine via strategies (including HDI) to optimize performance.
• Review & Refinement: Lead and participate in engineering design reviews, updating layouts based on technical feedback and resolving Design Rule Check (DRC) issues.
• Production Readiness: Perform BOM scrubbing and review designs for manufacturability (DFM) to ensure seamless production.
• Documentation: Prepare comprehensive fabrication and assembly packages, including BOMs, Gerber/ODB++ files, drill files, and manufacturing drawings.
• Vendor Liaison: Work directly with PCB fabricators and assembly vendors to resolve build questions and address parts procurement challenges.
• Lifecycle Management: Maintain organized design files, libraries, and documentation within the PLM system, supporting revisions and Engineering Change Orders (ECOs).
• Testing Support: Partner with test engineers during board bring-up, troubleshooting, and validation phases in a laboratory setting.

Requirements

• Education/Experience: Technical degree, relevant certification, or equivalent hands-on industry/military experience. 6+ years of professional PCB layout experience, including fabrication and manufacturing support.
• To comply with the US export control laws, Vector Atomic employees must be U.S. citizens (born or naturalized), lawful U.S. permanent residents (i.e. green card holders), and certain categories of refugees, and asylees.
• Technical Mastery: Proficiency with modern PCB design tools (Altium Designer preferred) and experience with high-density (HDI) layouts and multilayer boards.
• Domain Knowledge: Strong understanding of grounding strategies, power routing, and general electronic systems.
• Manufacturing Expertise: Deep knowledge of PCB fabrication processes and industry-standard manufacturing documentation.
• Lab Skills: Proficiency with laboratory instrumentation and electronic test equipment; comfortable working in a laboratory environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Signal Integrity: Experience designing boards with controlled impedance, including differential pair routing and tight length-matching requirements.
• Analog Expertise: Background in mixed-signal or low-noise analog circuit design environments.
• Industry Standards: IPC certifications related to electronics or PCB design.
• Regulatory Knowledge: Experience designing to or updating documentation for RoHS, CE, EMI/EMC, or UL compliance.
• Mindset: A demonstrated curiosity and motivation to expand knowledge of electronics fundamentals and quantum technology applications.

Benefits

• Platinum-level family health coverage (medical, dental, vision)
• Health and dependent care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• Employer 401(k) contributions
• 20 days of paid time off & 11 paid holidays
• Paid parental leave
• Fully stocked kitchen

Pay

The approximate base salary range for this position is $142,113 to $186,063 per year. The total compensation package includes base, bonus, equity and benefits. It's atypical to be hired at the top end of this range for the role, as actual pay is based on several factors, including job-related knowledge, skills, and experience level. Compensation will vary based on individual factors such as education, qualifications, and experience of the final candidate(s), specific office location, and calibration against relevant market data and internal team equity.

Schedule

Full-time