Planet Labs

PCB Design Engineer

Planet Labs$144K — $180K *
Aerospace & Defense
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5+ years of PCB layout design experience
  • Proficient in Altium Designer software
  • Experience with IPC standards for PCB design
  • Familiarity with DFM and DFT checks
  • Worked on high-density and flex/rigid-flex PCB design

Responsibilities

  • Design RF/Microwave, power, and mixed-signal PCBs for satellites
  • Collaborate with engineers to manage PCB design in Altium
  • Coordinate with vendors for timely delivery of assemblies
  • Generate packages for fabrication and assembly
  • Create and manage parts entries in the Altium database
  • Oversee subcontractors on PCB layouts and review outputs
  • Select materials and fabrication processes for PCB

Benefits

  • Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision plans
  • Health Savings Account (HSA) with company contribution
  • Generous Paid Time Off and holidays
  • 16 Weeks of Paid Parental Leave
  • Wellness Program and EAP
  • Home Office Reimbursement
  • Monthly reimbursements for Phone and Internet
  • Tuition Reimbursement and LinkedIn Learning access
  • Equity participation
  • Commuter Benefits for local employees
  • Volunteering Paid Time Off
Full Job Description
About the Role:

You will work within a small team of dedicated engineers responsible for the design of Planet's satellites. This is not your typical aerospace or consumer electronics role. You will work designing printed circuit board assemblies optimized for medium-scale mass production. You will design and optimize electrical power, data handling, and sensor interfacing systems, both within the spacecraft and on ground support equipment. You will be responsible for complex high-speed digital, analog, RF and Microwave PCB/PCBA designs and interfacing with electrical design engineers to make sure that board meets their design requirements. You will work with board manufacturers to ensure they are fabricating and assembling a quality product. Your work will then be put in a rocket and shot into space.

This is a full-time, hybrid role which will require you to work from our San Francisco office 3 days per week.

Impact You'll Own:
  • Design layout of RF/Microwave, power, microprocessor, high-speed interface, and mixed-signal Printed Circuit Boards for satellite applications in concert with the electrical design engineers
  • Collaborate with electrical design engineers and supply chain to manage PCB design in Altium environment and the integration with the configuration control, inventory, and manufacturing system
  • Coordinate with vendors to ensure on-time delivery of high-quality, high-reliability PCB Assemblies that meet IPC standards
  • Generate fabrication and assembly packages, including drawings, and management of design and drawing templates
  • Create parts entries, including footprints and schematic symbols, for the Altium database parts library
  • Manage the Altium parts library
  • Partner with electrical design engineers to manage subcontractors performing PCB layouts of their designs and reviewing their outputs
  • Select PCB material and fabrication processes

What You Bring:
  • 5+ years experience in PCB layout design
  • Experience with Altium Designer
  • Experience implementing and enforcing IPC standards for PCB design, fabrication, and assembly

What Makes You Stand Out:
  • Experience withDesign for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Test (DFT) checks, running design rule checks (DRCs).
  • Experience with quality management, i.e. addressing quality issues with vendors resulting in corrective actions
  • Experience with high density, flex and rigid-flex PCB design and boards using RF material.

Application Deadline:

November 20, 2026 at 11:59p PT

EAR/ITAR Requirements:

This position requires access to export-controlled information, and as such, employment (or hiring of a contractor) is contingent upon the candidate's ability to access all applicable export-controlled information without additional export licensing being required by the Bureau of Industry and Security and/or the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.

Benefits While Working at Planet:

These offerings are dependent on employment type and geographical location, based upon applicable law or company policy.
  • Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision plans
  • Health Savings Account (HSA) with a company contribution
  • Generous Paid Time Off in addition to holidays and company-wide days off
  • 16 Weeks of Paid Parental Leave
  • Wellness Program and Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
  • Home Office Reimbursement
  • Monthly Phone and Internet Reimbursement
  • Tuition Reimbursement and access to LinkedIn Learning
  • Equity
  • Commuter Benefits (if local to an office)
  • Volunteering Paid Time Off

Compensation:

The US base salary range for this full-time position at the commencement of employment is listed below. Additionally, this role might be eligible for discretionary short-term and long-term incentives (bonus and equity). The final salary range is determined by job related experience, skills and location. The range displays our typical hiring range for new hire salaries in US locations only. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

San Francisco Salary Range

$144,500-$180,600 USD

San Francisco Fair Chance OrdinancePursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

About Planet Labs

Planet Labs is an aerospace and defense company that designs and manufactures small satellites for Earth observation. The company offers services such as satellite imagery, data analysis, and geospatial insights. Planet Labs was founded in 2010 and is based in San Francisco, CA.
Learn more about Planet Labs
Size
500 employees
Industry
Founded
2010

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