PCB Designer

PCB Designer

El Segundo, California, United States; Redmond, Washington, United States

Second Order Effects started in 2016 as a services firm, taking on other companies' hardest engineering problems from first principles. We grew into a solutions firm that designs and ships complete custom electronics and systems, including power electronics, RF, and control systems. We've completed over 250 projects for more than 100 clients. Our designs control rocket engines, manage satellite communications, instrument fusion reactors, and are enjoyed by consumers around the world.

We approach problems from first principles. We break challenges down to their most fundamental components, which is how we find solutions that hold up across industries, use cases, and engineering functions. We focus on solving the right problems and building the teams to take them on. Because we believe that training and empowering others yields a greater impact than focusing on developing any specific technology, we expect every single member of our team to participate in building up those around them.

In the past year, we've started taking our own concepts and spinning them out into separate companies that we believe will meet the emerging needs of our clients and the industry at large. The work is concentrating in frontier technology, including space, fusion and fission energy, and advanced vehicles. We currently have two spinout companies in stealth that we're working on.

The Role

As a PCB Designer, you will take ownership over the creation of high-performance circuit board layouts and work closely with interdisciplinary project teams to achieve the project goals and meet desired specifications. You will be responsible for not only producing high-quality layouts but also for anticipating risks, evaluating trade-offs, and driving design decisions that balance technical rigor, schedule, and business needs. If you're passionate about tackling mission-critical challenges and working across multiple industries, this is your chance to make a lasting impact and grow in a dynamic environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the design of PCB layouts from concept through manufacturing handoff for a variety of applications
• Ensure manufacturing readiness of boards by applying Design for Manufacturing (DFM) best practices, performing design rule checks (DRCs), and interfacing directly with PCB fabrication and assembly vendors to resolve issues
• Produce consistently high-quality layouts and footprints aligned with IPC standards and SOE best practices
• Identify opportunities to improve PCB design processes, libraries, and documentation, and share lessons learned to elevate team effectiveness and design quality
• Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, and SI/PI engineers to optimize layouts for thermal, EMI, and mechanical integration
• Inspect incoming PCBAs, working with other engineers to understand and address any footprint- or layout-related issues, and synthesizing takeaways to feed back into our process and improve future designs

Minimum Requirements

• Able to work 40 hours a week on-site in El Segundo, California, or Redmond, Washington
• Eligible to work on ITAR projects
• Bachelor's Degree (Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Math, or related field) or equivalent experience
• 3+ years of applied experience with a demonstrated passion for engineering and technology development
• Excellent written and verbal technical communication skills; ability to explain technical concepts and their implications to non-technical audiences
• Experience in any common ECAD tool, such as Altium Designer, KiCad, Cadence, PADS, EAGLE, etc.
• Demonstrated ability to translate requirements into manufacturable PCB layouts
• Understanding of PCB specifications and properties: stackup & materials, trace/space, via sizing, impedance, transmission lines, trace capacity & sizing, propagation delay, etc.
• Comfort working across multiple projects, adapting to changing requirements, and making informed decisions with incomplete information

Preferred Requirements

• Experience in team-based design and build projects (e.g., Formula SAE, Solar Car, CubeSat, Rover Challenge, etc.)
• End-to-end electronics design experience: taking designs from requirements generation through schematic, layout, fabrication, and hardware bringup
• Knowledge of PCB fabrication and assembly process, design for manufacture and design for assembly (DFM / DFA), familiarity with IPC and/or JEDEC standards
• Experience interfacing with PCB and assembly vendors to have designs fabricated
• Large-format or high-density or high-layer-count PCB design experience, preferably for aerospace, automotive, medical, or other high-reliability applications
• Expertise with Altium Designer or KiCad
• Experience with library configuration management (e.g., Altium Vault, database libraries, or PLM systems)
• Experience with either high-density, high-layer-count or large-format PCB designs, preferably for aerospace, automotive, and/or medical applications
• Experience with HDI stackups: blind & buried vias, via-in-pad, escape routing of dense BGAs
• Familiarity with IPC and JEDEC standards
• Experience with Git and/or SVN for revision control

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary range dependent on leveling
• Engineer I: $90,000 - $120,000
• Engineer II: $110,000 - $150,000
• Senior Engineer: $140,000 - $190,000
• Equity (via ISOs) in Second Order Effects, Inc.
• Equity (via PIUs) in our incubated companies (through our holding company, Second Order Holdings, LLC)
• 100% employer-paid health insurance (Medical, Dental, Vision) for employees + 50% dependent coverage
• Flexible paid time off policy + 11 paid holidays + 12 paid sick days
• 401(k) retirement account and employer matching (Safe Harbor 4%)
• Up to 22 weeks of paid parental leave dedicated to new child bonding
• Relocation assistance available if 50+ miles away from the office
• Electric Vehicle (EV) charging ports at our LAX office
• Daily catered lunches, snacks, and accessible kitchen

ITAR Requirements: To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide sponsorship at this time.

Equal Opportunity: Second Order Effects is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with SOE is governed on the basis of excellence and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status.