Job Description & Details
This three-month contract role is built for a seasoned PCB designer who genuinely understands the dark arts of high-frequency RF layout and high-layer-count boards. You will be dropping into a fast-paced environment supporting defense and aerospace applications where signal integrity isn't just a goal—it's a strict requirement for mission success.
What You'll Actually Be Doing
You'll spend your days routing complex, multi-layer rigid and flex boards, wrestling with controlled impedance, differential pairs, and keeping EMI/EMC issues at bay. Expect to collaborate heavily with the hardware and RF teams to make sure your stack-ups and return paths actually survive the harsh environmental testing typical of military electronics. You'll also be generating the fabrication packages and walking contract manufacturers through DFM hurdles.
The Core Tech Stack
You need absolute mastery over at least one—ideally more—of the industry heavyweights: Altium Designer, Siemens Xpedition, or Cadence Allegro. Beyond the CAD tools, your brain needs to be hardwired for GHz-range RF layouts, understanding how to route antennas, filters, LNAs, and PAs without introducing catastrophic crosstalk or thermal failure.
Interview Expectations
Be ready for the hiring manager to ask you to explain how you handle return path discontinuities across split ground planes in a high-speed mixed-signal design. They aren't looking for a textbook definition; they want to hear a war story about how you actually debugged and solved a real-world EMI failure on a 12-layer board. You should also expect a deep dive into your stack-up strategies for microwave frequencies and how you calculate dielectric thicknesses for target impedances.
Application Advice
Your resume needs to scream RF layout and IPC standards compliance if you want to clear the initial ATS filter. Make sure to explicitly list your experience with high-layer-count boards (10+ layers), mention specific tools like Altium or Allegro right at the top, and drop keywords like controlled impedance, differential pair routing, and DFM to catch the recruiter's eye.