Principal Engineering – Product Design Engineering

Job Description

Powerus is building a next-generation American autonomous systems platform designed to move, protect, and sustain critical assets in high-consequence environments. The company combines advanced autonomy, manufacturing capability, operational expertise, and strategic acquisitions to support defense, national security, critical infrastructure, and commercial operations globally.

Our mission is to deliver resilient autonomous technologies that strengthen national security, improve operational safety, and expand the capabilities of organizations operating in complex environments.

Powerus is scaling production of autonomous aerial systems across defense, national security, and commercial programs. The number of unique board designs in active production and development is growing with each platform variant and payload integration.

This role owns printed circuit board design from schematic capture through production release. The position sits within the engineering organization and works directly with hardware, firmware, and manufacturing engineering.

Powerus is seeking a Principal PCB Design Engineer to define and execute the company’s board design methodology across all active programs. The role involves establishing design standards, mentoring junior engineers, leading complex multi-board system designs, and driving continuous improvement in design-to-production cycle time. Reports to the Head of Engineering.

Define PCB design methodology, standards, and best practices across all programs

• Lead design of complex, high-density, multi-board assemblies including rigid-flex and HDI constructions

• Establish stackup standards, impedance control requirements, and material selection guidelines

• Direct signal integrity and power integrity analysis across the engineering team

• Own the design-to-production handoff process and drive cycle time reduction

• Mentor and technically direct PCB design engineers at all levels

• Evaluate and qualify new EDA tools, fabrication processes, and assembly technologies

• Coordinate cross-functional design reviews involving hardware, firmware, mechanical, manufacturing, and test engineering

• Resolve escalated producibility, reliability, and field failure issues related to board design

• Represent PCB design engineering in program technical reviews and design authority decisions

Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, electronics engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience

• Deep experience with signal integrity, power integrity, and EMC design techniques

• Experience with HDI, rigid-flex, and high-layer-count board constructions

• Track record of establishing design standards and mentoring engineering staff

• Experience with board-level reliability analysis, failure modes, and qualification testing

• Familiarity with IPC standards and industry specifications for board design and fabrication

• Experience in defense, aerospace, or other regulated industries with configuration-controlled design processes

• S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual under 8 U.this role involves access to ITAR- and EAR-controlled technical data

Experience with DO-254 or equivalent hardware design assurance processes

• Experience evaluating and deploying EDA tool automation and scripted design checks

• Experience with contract manufacturer qualification and process auditing

• S. security clearance

The right candidate has built the design infrastructure for an engineering team — standards, libraries, review processes — and has enough production history to know which rules matter and which are ceremony. The ability to mentor junior engineers and maintain design quality across multiple concurrent programs is the differentiator at this level.

Powerus is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and mission-driven workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.