Layout Engineer Jobs in Portland, OR (NOW HIRING)

This Sr. PCB Design Engineer role focuses on end-to-end development of highly complex, high-speed printed circuit board designs, from initial concept and schematic creation through manufacturing release. You will work in a dynamic, collaborative, multi-site engineering environment, partnering closely with cross-functional teams to deliver cutting-edge PCB solutions that meet demanding performance, quality, and manufacturability requirements.

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Responsibilities

• Create schematics based on customer-defined and system-level specifications, ensuring electrical performance and manufacturability requirements are met.
• Develop accurate component logical symbols and PCB footprints for new and existing parts, suitable for assembly and test houses.
• Set up and maintain electrical, physical, and DFM design rules within Constraint Manager to support complex, multi-layer board designs.
• Perform routing assessments and project feasibility studies to evaluate design complexity, risk, and schedule impact.
• Define assembly specifications and create detailed documentation to support manufacturing and test activities.
• Create complete assembly and test packages for manufacturing, including fabrication files, drawings, and supporting documentation.
• Execute full PCB design activities from data entry and schematic capture through layout, verification, and fabrication file generation.
• Generate cost estimates to support marketing quotations and guide product and customer decision-making.
• Attend product development meetings and critical kickoff meetings for initial product launches to align design activities with program objectives.
• Define and set up CAD packages and design environments for off-shore design centers to ensure consistency and quality across sites.
• Use Teamcenter to generate and manage part numbers, bills of materials (BOMs), and engineering change notices (ECNs) throughout the design lifecycle.
• Perform thorough QA inspections on final design data to ensure completeness, accuracy, and adherence to quality standards.
• Work closely with simulation engineers to meet signal integrity (SI) and power integrity (PI) requirements for high-speed designs.
• Collaborate with design-for-test (DFT) engineers to resolve test access issues and ensure robust test coverage.
• Partner with design-for-assembly (DFA) engineers to identify and resolve assembly issues prior to or during build.
• Coordinate with design-for-manufacturing (DFM) engineers to identify and resolve PCB fabrication process concerns and optimize yield.
• Create interface board CAD templates for customer use to streamline future design activities and integration.
• Own layout quality, schedules, and deliverables, taking technical responsibility for complex PCB designs with minimal supervision.
• Establish layout standards and promote best practices within the PCB design team to improve consistency and efficiency.
• Address technical questions from PCB fabrication shops related to plating processes, stack-ups, and fabrication details.
• Handle the full design lifecycle from receiving schematics to manufacturing release, ensuring all design, documentation, and data outputs are complete.
• Perform other related PCB design and documentation duties as assigned.
• Occasionally travel for training, off-site meetings, or product validation activities as needed.

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Essential Skills

• Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering or equivalent technical degree.
• Minimum of 7 years of experience in PCB layout and automated test systems.
• Extensive hands-on experience with Cadence Allegro PCB Editor (including version 17.2) for complex board layout.
• Strong proficiency in constraint management within Allegro for highly complex, multi-layer boards (e.g., up to 40-layer designs).
• Demonstrated experience with high-speed PCB design at 1 Gbps and above, with exposure to designs approaching 40 Gbps.
• Expertise in controlled impedance routing, including creation of controlled impedance stack-ups.
• Strong experience with differential pair routing, equal length routing, and length matching to meet timing and signal integrity constraints.
• Ability to understand and apply electrical properties of circuits, including critical nets, high current paths, impedance control requirements, and pin delays.
• Ability to read and comprehend complex schematics, understand circuit function, update properties, and create simple schematics from pin lists.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat for documentation, communication, and reporting.
• Experience with AutoCAD for mechanical and PCB-related drawings.
• Proficiency with Cadence PCB design tools and familiarity with OrCAD or other schematic capture tools.
• Experience using ODB++ and related verification and review tools (e.g., ViewMate, Valor) for pre-fabrication checks.
• Comfort working as a career CAD/layout specialist, taking PCB schematics through layout to manufacturing documentation.
• Ability to create PCB footprints for new parts that meet assembly house requirements and industry standards.
• Understanding of PCB manufacturing processes, including plating, stack-up considerations, and fabrication file preparation.
• Experience generating BOMs and preparing fabrication and assembly files, including Gerber and ODB++ outputs.
• Ability to take technical ownership of layout quality, schedules, and deliverables, working independently on complex designs with minimal supervision.

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Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience with Teamcenter or similar PLM systems for managing part numbers, BOMs, and ECNs.
• Experience working closely with SI/PI, DFT, DFA, and DFM engineering teams in a collaborative environment.
• Experience performing routing assessments and feasibility studies for complex, multi-layer, high-speed boards.
• Strong attention to detail and quality mindset, particularly in QA inspections of final design data.
• Ability to define layout standards, promote best practices, and contribute to continuous improvement within a PCB design team.
• Experience supporting off-shore design centers, including CAD environment setup and template creation.
• Strong communication skills for interacting with cross-functional teams, manufacturing partners, and PCB fabrication shops.
• Interest in designing at the cutting edge of PCB technology, including very high-speed and highly complex boards.
• Ability to travel occasionally for training, off-site meetings, or product validation when required.

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Work Environment

This role is based on-site five days per week in a collaborative engineering facility located in Tualatin. You will work in a dynamic, multi-site development environment that emphasizes close interaction with cross-functional teams, including simulation, test, assembly, and manufacturing engineering. The work involves extensive use of Cadence Allegro, OrCAD, AutoCAD, Teamcenter, and pre-fabrication verification tools such as ViewMate and Valor, as well as standard office productivity software. The environment focuses on designing some of the most advanced and complex high-speed boards in the industry, offering exposure to cutting-edge technology and challenging design problems. Typical work is performed in an office and lab setting, with standard business hours and occasional travel for training, off-site meetings, or product validation.

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This is a Contract position based out of Tualatin, OR.

The pay range for this position is $62.50 - $72.92/hr.

Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following: • Medical, dental & vision • Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital • 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available • Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents) • Short and long-term disability • Health Spending Account (HSA) • Transportation benefits • Employee Assistance Program • Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

This is a fully onsite position in Tualatin,OR.

This position is anticipated to close on Sep 3, 2026.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email actalentaccommodation@actalentservices.com for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.