Staff/Principal Electrical Engineer — Circuit Design & Low-Noise/High-Speed PCB

Job Title

Staff/Principal Electrical Engineer — Circuit Design & Low-Noise/High-Speed PCB

Role Summary

Own the electrical architecture for optical transceiver modules, spanning low-noise analog/control-loop design and high-speed digital/PCB design. Lead technical decisions, direct a PCB layout engineer, and work cross-functionally with photonics, firmware, test, NPI, and supply chain to move hardware from architecture to production.

Experience Level

Senior (Staff/Principal range). Placement depends on demonstrated scope and technical ownership. Experience guidance: BS 10–15 years; MS 8–12 years; PhD 5–9 years.

Responsibilities

Key responsibilities include electrical architecture, schematic and layout direction, and cross-functional delivery from prototype to production.

• Own end-to-end electrical architecture for control/validation boards and transceiver modules.
• Develop detailed circuit schematics and review EE team work using OrCAD, PADS, Altium Designer, or equivalent.
• Architect low-noise analog circuits, perform noise budgeting, and define grounding/shielding strategies.
• Design power delivery and PDN for high-current/high-thermal conditions; apply buck/boost/LDO topologies and EMI filtering; validate circuits with SPICE.
• Design and validate high-speed digital interfaces using impedance-controlled routing and signal-integrity practices.
• Direct PCB layout engineer from component placement through manufacturing data release, enforcing DFM/DFT/DFA/DFR and thermal/electrical requirements.
• Select and qualify components, manage second-source and EOL risk, and engage vendors for evaluations.
• Own electrical design through prototype, Design Validation (DV), Production Validation (PV), and production readiness; collaborate on test development and NPI.
• Maintain design documentation, govern design release and BOM/part-number management in PLM (Arena).
• Communicate technical tradeoffs and status to cross-functional and non-technical stakeholders.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and proven experience owning mixed-signal electrical design and bringing complex boards to production. Nice-to-have items listed separately.

• Proven track record owning electrical architecture for complex mixed-signal boards, ideally for photonic control/validation or transceiver applications.
• Extensive mixed-signal design experience: low-noise analog design, noise budgeting, grounding and shielding.
• Power design expertise: PDN design, high-current and high-thermal management, power-efficiency optimization.
• Experience with power topologies (buck, boost, LDO), EMI filtering, and SPICE simulation.
• High-speed digital design skills, including impedance-controlled routing and high-speed serial interfaces.
• Experience integrating MCU, SoC, ASIC, and FPGA components into board-level designs.
• Proficiency with schematic and PCB tools (Altium Designer, Cadence Allegro, OrCAD, PADS) and PLM tools (Arena).
• Knowledge of PCB fabrication processes and DFM/DFT/DFA/DFR practices; ability to review and gate layout deliverables.
• Strong written/verbal communication and problem-solving skills; cross-functional collaboration experience.
• Nice-to-have: firmware experience and hands-on PCB layout experience.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Electrical Engineering or a related technical field. Experience guidance by degree: BS 10–15 years, MS 8–12 years, PhD 5–9 years.

About the Company

Company: Xscape Photonics

Headquarters: Santa Clara, California, United States

Developer of integrated photonics solutions and instrumentation, specializing in photonic circuits, control systems, and test methodologies for optical communication and sensing applications. Works on device integration, control algorithms, and validation of photonic hardware and firmware.