Description

Northrop Grumman Defense Systems in Northridge, CA is currently seeking an experienced Principal Digital Design Engineer to join the Hardware Development and Integration Team.  

In this role, the Principal Digital Design Engineer will plan, generate printing circuit board (PCB) stack-ups and layouts, draw and revise components, create circuit card assembly (CCA) and fabrication drawings, and establish references and standard data for PCB design artifacts. Utilizing computer-aided design (CAD) graphic tools such as Mentor Graphics Xpedition to complete details of critical layout drawings in accordance with standard engineering drafting practices, military specifications, as well as industry standards.

You will utilize your working knowledge of digital signal processing and digital interfaces to work on FPGA and ASIC Design across the full product life cycle process.

There is no remote work for this role and the selected candidate will be required to work full-time, on-site at our facility in Northridge, CA.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Layout of complex PCB’s and flex circuits, interconnect routing
• Interface with electrical and mechanical engineers to work through component placement, routing, mechanical fitment for rigid, flex, and rigid-flex assemblies 
• Design to electrical requirements, mechanical outlines, for producibility and manufacturability
• Calculate layer stack-up based on industry standards, supplier capabilities, and engineering requirements 
• Generate PCB, Assembly, Part Lists, and Component drawings
• Creates and documents the required electronic data file outputs for fabrication and manufacturing 
• Understands technical theories of electrical and mechanical behavior of PCBs to influence layout decisions (i.e. impedance matching, differential pairs, strains and stresses, orientation of components, etc.) 
• Maintain and update CAD central libraries

• Design, develop, modify and evaluate digital electronic parts, components or integrated circuitry for digital electronic equipment and other hardware systems.

• Determine design approaches and parameters.

• Analyze equipment to establish operating data, conduct experimental tests, and evaluate results.

• Select components and equipment based on analysis of specifications and reliability.

• Review vendor capability to support product development.

Basic Qualifications for Principal Digital Design Engineer:

• Bachelor's degree in STEM field with 5 years of directly related professional working experience or Master's degree in STEM field with 3 years of directly related professional working experience
• Drafting and design experience of PCB layout and layer stack-up (analog, digital, RF, mixed signal topologies)
• Knowledge of industry specifications and design for manufacturing (DFM) rules for CCA and PCB design, fabrication and manufacturing 
• Familiar with PCB design rules and techniques for CCA’s with >20 layers count from initial prototype to production.
• Ability to obtain a US Government DoW Secret security clearance

Preferred Qualifications for Principal Digital Design Engineer:

• Advanced degree in STEM field 
• Active US Government DoW Secret security clearance
• Knowledge of EDA tools package such as Mentor Graphics Xpedition.
• Experience with MIL-STD compliant designs that meet reliability and maintainability requirements.
• Experience in mixed signal CCA’s product design, development and system level integration.
• Experience with electronic packaging / mechanical design for airborne and space applications