PCB Design Engineer

The posting, as Planet wrote it

Welcome to Planet. We believe in using space to help life on Earth.

Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest constellation of imaging satellites in history. This constellation delivers an unprecedented dataset of empirical information via a revolutionary cloud-based platform to authoritative figures in commercial, environmental, and humanitarian sectors. We are both a space company and data company all rolled into one.

Customers and users across the globe use Planet's data to develop new technologies, drive revenue, power research, and solve our world’s toughest obstacles.

As we control every component of hardware design, manufacturing, data processing, and software engineering, our office is a truly inspiring mix of experts from a variety of domains.

We have a people-centric approach toward culture and community and we strive to iterate in a way that puts our team members first and prepares our company for growth. Join Planet and be a part of our mission to change the way people see the world.

Planet is a global company with employees working remotely world wide and joining us from offices in San Francisco, Washington DC, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and The Netherlands.

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 perf

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ing, I acknowledge that I have read the Planet Data Privacy Notice for California Staff Members and Applicants , and hereby consent to the collection, processing, use, and storage of my personal information as described therein.

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AI in Our Interviewing Process : Planet is committed to providing an exceptional interview experience for all candidates. We currently use Metaview to better focus on candidates and less on trying to capture notes. As such, with the candidate's consent, select interviews may be recorded and include a "Planet AI Notetaker" for transcription and summarization purposes. Should an interview involve use of AI interview technologies, the candidate will receive notification and have the ability to opt out both in advance and/or real-time. Opting out will not affect one's candidacy.

Candidate AI Policy : Planet embraces Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, and we encourage its responsible use. We understand that candidates may use various resources, including AI tools, to prepare for interviews and assessments. However, during any live interview stage or when actively completing assessments for this position, the use of AI tools—e.g. Large Language Models (LLMs), deep fake technology, etc.—is strictly prohibited unless explicitly prompted by an interviewer or assessment instructions . If you are unsure about acceptable use, please contact your recruiter for clarification. If an AI tool or similar technology is desired as an accommodation, please contact accommodations@planet.com with your request for assistance. Your message will be confidential, and we will be happy to assist you. Violation of this policy may result in disqualification of your application.