Principal PCB Designer

Job Title

Principal PCB Designer

Role Summary

Senior individual contributor responsible for the design, layout, and development of complex high-speed, RF, analog, mixed-signal, and multilayer PCBs and package substrates for semiconductor test and measurement products. Works across electrical, mechanical, manufacturing, applications, and global engineering teams to establish design standards and improve manufacturability.

Experience Level

Senior. The posting specifies a minimum of 6+ years of related experience.

Responsibilities

Deliver advanced PCB and package substrate designs, lead technical efforts, and improve processes and tooling.

• Perform complex PCB and package substrate layout and routing to optimize performance, cost, and manufacturability.
• Design and route high-speed, multilayer PCBs with controlled impedance, trace length matching, grounding, and shielding strategies.
• Apply transmission line theory, signal integrity, power distribution optimization, and RF routing techniques.
• Interpret mechanical constraints (keep-in/keep-out, mounting/tooling holes, component heights) and incorporate them into layouts.
• Define and maintain PCB design standards, libraries, and layout guidelines.
• Collaborate with applications engineers and suppliers to optimize BGA mapping and resolve manufacturability issues.
• Lead design reviews, mentor less-experienced designers, and manage multiple priorities to meet schedule and performance targets.
• Specify requirements for design automation tools and provide feedback to tool development and validation efforts.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills, experience, and behaviors required for the role; followed by concise nice-to-have items.

• Must-have: 6+ years of PCB/package substrate design experience in a product development environment.
• Must-have: Expert proficiency with Cadence Allegro (Allegro PCB Designer, Allegro Package Design) and Constraint Manager.
• Must-have: Strong experience in high-speed PCB design, controlled impedance routing, skew control, crosstalk mitigation, and power integrity.
• Must-have: Knowledge of multilayer PCB layout, netlisting, schematic interpretation, routing-rule development, and verification methodologies.
• Must-have: Familiarity with PCB manufacturing processes and design-for-manufacturability (DFM) principles; experience working with fabrication houses.
• Must-have: Proficiency with AutoCAD or comparable documentation tools; strong analytical, communication, and leadership skills.
• Nice-to-have: Extensive RF routing experience and prior work on package substrates; experience developing process documentation and training materials.

Education Requirements

Not specified.

About the Company

Company: FormFactor

Headquarters: Livermore, California, United States

FormFactor provides test and measurement technologies and services for the semiconductor industry across the product lifecycle — including characterization, modeling, reliability, design debug, qualification and production test. The company serves customers globally through facilities in Asia, Europe, and North America.