Lead Design Engineer FPGA-Embedded
Technical Manager PCBA Design & Electronics Engineering
Naperville, IL (onsite)
Perm Role
Client is seeking an experienced Technical Manager with strong PCBA design and electronics development expertise to lead hardware engineering activities from concept through production. This role will manage a team responsible for electronic system design, PCB development, and product integration, ensuring designs meet performance, quality, cost, and manufacturability requirements.
This position directly supports the growth and technical development of less experienced engineers while also serving as a key customer-facing technical leader.
The role involves supporting customers across Aerospace, Defense, Industrial, and Medical sectors, requiring a strong understanding of high-reliability electronics, regulatory requirements, and mission-critical applications.
PCBA Design & Electronics Development
- Lead PCBA design and hardware development from concept to production
- Oversee system architecture, schematic design, and PCB layout
- Guide engineers in analog, digital, mixed-signal, and embedded hardware design
- Ensure designs meet signal integrity, power integrity, thermal, and EMI/Client requirements
- Drive Design for Manufacturability (DFM), Design for Test (DFT), and Design for Assembly (DFA)
- Manage prototype builds, board bring-up, debugging, and validation testing
- Serve as the primary technical interface for customers across Aerospace, Defense, Industrial, and Medical industries
- Lead technical reviews, requirement discussions, and design presentations with customers
- Translate customer specifications (including high-reliability and regulated requirements) into engineering solutions
- Support proposal development, technical bids, and feasibility assessments
- Ensure compliance with applicable industry standards, quality, and regulatory requirements
- Collaborate with manufacturing teams to support PCBA production and New Product Introduction (NPI)
- Work with Manufacturing and suppliers to optimize design for cost, quality, and yield
- Support engineering change orders (ECO/ECR) and lifecycle management
- Lead and mentor a team of hardware, PCB layout, and manufacturing engineers
- Coach and develop junior engineers, supporting their technical growth and career progression
- Manage engineering schedules, resources, and deliverables
- Conduct design reviews and technical decision-making
- Collaborate with firmware, mechanical, quality, and manufacturing teams
Qualifications
Required
- Bachelors or Masters degree in Electrical Engineering or Electronics Engineering
- 10+ years of experience in electronic hardware and PCBA design
- 35 years of engineering leadership or management experience
- Experience working with customers in Aerospace, Defense, Industrial, or Medical industries
- Strong customer-facing experience with the ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly
- Hands-on experience with:
- Analog, digital, and mixed-signal circuit design
- Embedded hardware systems
- Experience with prototype bring-up, debugging, and validation testing
- Strong understanding of:
- High-reliability electronics design practices
- SMT and PCB assembly processes
- Signal integrity, power integrity, and EMI/Client
- DFM, DFT, and DFA methodologies
- Knowledge of industry standards and compliance requirements, such as:
- IPC standards (IPC-2221, IPC-7351, IPC-A-610)
- MIL-STD requirements
- Medical or safety standards (e.g., IEC, ISO)
- Experience with high-speed digital design and interfaces
- Experience supporting regulated or mission-critical products
Key Skills
- PCBA design and PCB layout review
- Customer-facing technical leadership
- High-reliability electronics design
- Hardware debugging and validation
- Engineering leadership and mentoring
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Troubleshooting leadership
- Business awareness
- Ability to guide ambiguous projects
- Broad prototype-to-production experience
Metasys Technologies is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identify, national origin, veteran or disability status.
