Principal PCB Layout Engineer

At F5, we strive to bring a better digital world to life. Our teams empower organizations across the globe to create, secure, and run applications that enhance how we experience our evolving digital world. We are passionate about cybersecurity, from protecting consumers from fraud to enabling companies to focus on innovation. 
 

Everything we do centers around people. That means we obsess over how to make the lives of our customers, and their customers, better. And it means we prioritize a diverse F5 community where each individual can thrive.

Job Description

F5 is seeking an accomplished Principal PCB Layout Engineer to join our Hardware Development Team. This position will be responsible for the design, layout, and documentation of complex printed circuit boards (PCBs) for high-performance electronic systems. You will collaborate closely with other PCB layout engineers as well as with electrical, mechanical, and manufacturing engineers to ensure optimal design for performance, manufacturability, test, and reliability.

Key Responsibilities:

• Uphold F5’s Business Code of Ethics and promptly report violations of the Code or other company policies.

• Lead the layout of multi-layer PCBs using Siemens Xpedition (Mentor Graphics).

• Interpret electrical schematics and translate them into optimized PCB layouts.

• Collaborate with electrical engineers to define board stack-up, impedance control, via structures, design constraints, and routing strategies.

• Ensure compliance with design rules, signal integrity, power integrity, and thermal management requirements.

• Perform DFM (Design for Manufacturability), DFA (Design for Assembly), and DFT (Design for Test) reviews.

• Generate and maintain all necessary documentation including Gerber files, fabrication drawings, and component location drawings.

• Interface with PCB fabrication and assembly vendors to resolve technical issues and ensure quality.

• Mentor junior layout engineers and provide technical guidance on best practices.

• Attend project meetings, provide task estimation and project scheduling updates to upper management.

• Participate in design reviews and contribute to continuous improvement of design processes and standards.

Qualifications:

Required:

• Understand and comply with F5 internal processes and requirements.

• BS in Electrical Engineering or equivalent required.

• 10+ years of experience in PCB layout design, including high-speed digital, analog, and mixed-signal boards.

• Proficiency with at least one major PCB design tool (e.g., Altium, Allegro, Xpedition).

• Strong understanding of signal integrity, EMI/EMC, and thermal considerations.

• Experience with HDI, BGA, DDR4/5, PCIe, Ethernet, and power delivery layouts.

• Familiarity with IPC standards (e.g., IPC-2221, IPC-7351).

• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Preferred:

• Familiarity with 3D CAD tools for mechanical integration.

The Job Description is intended to be a general representation of the responsibilities and requirements of the job. However, the description may not be all-inclusive, and responsibilities and requirements are subject to change.

Please note that F5 only contacts candidates through F5 email address (ending with @f5.com) or auto email notification from Workday (ending with f5.com or @myworkday.com).

Equal Employment Opportunity

It is the policy of F5 to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and employment applicants without regard to unlawful considerations of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, sensory, physical, or mental disability, marital status, veteran or military status, genetic information, or any other classification protected by applicable local, state, or federal laws. This policy applies to all aspects of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, discipline, and termination.  F5 offers a variety of reasonable accommodations for candidates. Requesting an accommodation is completely voluntary. F5 will assess the need for accommodations in the application process separately from those that may be needed to perform the job. Request by contacting accommodations@f5.com.