A printed circuit board design engineer oversees the creation of printed circuit boards (PCB) used in phones, computers, and most other electronic devices. As a PCB design engineer, your responsibilities include designing the layout of the unit to incorporate the appropriate components, making recommendations to improve existing designs, and overseeing the actual manufacturing of these products to ensure they meet industry and company standards. These boards are the backbone of modern-day electronics, acting as the central unit of anything that runs on a microchip or CPU. You must design the board in such a way that it meets the specific needs of each product. While there is no universal education requirement, most employers prefer at least an associate degree in an electronics or computer science related field. Most PCB design engineers work for computer hardware manufacturers, but some general tech companies have in-house design departments.