Freelance Pcb Layout Designer Jobs in Tennessee (NOW HIRING)

**Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without employer sponsorship, now or in the future. This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.**

We're hiring a Software Engineer II to design, develop, and maintain the embedded software that powers our automotive service equipment, while also taking ownership of the overall printed circuit board (PCB) design for the electronic control boards those machines run on. This is a hands‑on, hybrid role that works directly with physical machines — tire changers, wheel balancers, and related equipment — spanning firmware development, sensor/motor/drive integration, and schematic capture and PCB layout in Altium. The role partners closely with electrical, mechanical, and manufacturing teams to take machine control systems from requirements through production and field support.

1. Design, develop, debug, and test embedded firmware and software that directly controls automotive service machines, including tire changers, wheel balancers, and related equipment.
2. Interface software with sensors, motors, and control hardware to manage real‑time machine behavior.
3. Own overall PCB design for embedded control boards — schematic capture, layout, and design documentation using Altium Designer.
4. Generate fabrication, assembly, and production drawings and documentation to support PCB manufacture.
5. Select components and support BOM generation, working with sourcing and manufacturing on cost, availability, and obsolescence.
6. Conduct hands‑on testing and troubleshooting directly on physical machines and control boards, both on the shop floor and in the lab.
7. Lead board‑level and component‑level testing through development and into post‑production to identify issues and root causes.
8. Collaborate with mechanical and manufacturing engineering on board form factor, connector placement, enclosure fit, and assembly.
9. Participate in code and design reviews, and support DFMEA / PFMEA practices for both software and electrical design.
10. Ensure embedded software and PCB designs meet performance, reliability, and quality standards under real‑world, physical operating conditions.
11. Work cross‑functionally with electrical, mechanical, and manufacturing teams from concept through production launch and field support.

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering, or equivalent.
• 4–8 years of professional experience combining embedded software development with electrical or PCB design work with hands‑on machine‑control and hardware background.
• Hands‑on professional experience developing embedded software that controls physical hardware/devices required. This is not a web development role, and candidates without direct hardware‑facing experience will not be considered.
• C# / .NET or C/C++ experience applied to embedded or Windows‑based machine control applications, not general web/enterprise development.
• Working experience with Altium Designer for schematic capture and PCB layout.
• Basic electrical design skills: component selection, circuit fundamentals, and generating schematic, layout, and fabrication documentation.
• Experience with board‑level and component‑level testing.
• Strong object‑oriented and embedded programming and software design knowledge.
• Git and bug‑tracking experience; Atlassian a plus.
• Able to work independently and manage the full lifecycle of hardware‑integrated systems, from firmware through board design.

• Advanced Altium features including circuit simulation, BOM management, and parts libraries.
• Experience with soldering and through‑hole/SMT placement.
• Experience generating DFMEA & PFMEA documentation.
• Android or Linux experience.
• .NET MAUI / Xamarin Forms and MVVM design.
• Experience with electrical test and measurement equipment, and building board‑level test fixtures.
• Experience in a manufacturing environment.

The Coats Company is an equal opportunity employer that evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions), age, marital status, disability, veteran status, citizenship status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and other characteristics protected by law.