Senior Hardware Development Engineer

Hardware Engineer, PCB Design

District Partners has been exclusively retained by a high-growth engineering organization developing the critical infrastructure technologies behind today’s most demanding digital and industrial environments. As AI, cloud computing, advanced manufacturing, and digital transformation drive unprecedented infrastructure investment, the company is modernizing the physical systems that keep essential operations running. This is a hands-on opportunity to work across PCB design, prototyping, testing, board bring-up, debugging, and validation while developing toward ownership of complete hardware designs.

Why You’ll Actually Care

This role goes well beyond making incremental updates to existing designs.

You will work directly with physical products in a hands-on engineering and lab environment. The initial focus will include migrating legacy PCB designs into Altium, building and testing prototypes, debugging hardware, validating designs, and preparing products for production.

You will work closely with experienced hardware engineers while developing the product knowledge and technical judgment needed to take ownership of complete hardware designs over time.

The Basics

The company is hiring a practical Hardware Engineer who understands PCB design and is equally comfortable working at the bench.

The immediate priority is supporting the migration of legacy designs from Cadence into Altium Designer. The role will also contribute across prototyping, soldering, board bring-up, test execution, hardware debugging, validation, engineering changes, and production preparation.

The ideal candidate has enough design experience to evaluate the quality of their own work while remaining interested in learning from senior engineers and developing into broader design ownership.

What You’ll Be Owning

• Convert and update legacy PCB designs as the organization migrates from Cadence tools to Altium Designer
• Support schematic and PCB design activities for new and existing products
• Build, assemble, set up, and test hardware prototypes
• Perform soldering, board bring-up, troubleshooting, and hardware debugging
• Run test procedures and scripts, document results, and clearly communicate issues
• Diagnose hardware failures and isolate their root causes
• Perform design validation and help confirm products meet technical requirements
• Support design reviews, engineering changes, and product improvements
• Prepare hardware designs and documentation for production
• Work closely with senior hardware engineers throughout the product development lifecycle
• Develop the product knowledge and design judgment needed to own complete hardware designs over time

The Environment

This is a lean, startup-like engineering environment where engineers contribute across multiple stages of product development. The work will move between PCB design, design migration, prototype assembly, testing, debugging, validation, documentation, and production support based on current priorities.

The strongest candidates will be self-directed, curious, collaborative, and comfortable working with minimal day-to-day direction. They will also understand that migration, testing, and validation work provide the foundation for broader product knowledge and future design ownership.

Relevant backgrounds may include:

• Power electronics
• Industrial controls
• Electrical equipment
• Embedded hardware
• Electronics manufacturing
• Medical devices
• Aerospace and defense
• Automotive electronics
• Other physical or mission-critical product environments

What You Bring to the Table

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering required
• Master’s degree in engineering preferred
• Professional experience with PCB design and electronic hardware development
• Hands-on experience with prototype assembly and testing
• Experience with board bring-up, soldering, validation, and hardware debugging
• Ability to read schematics and understand PCB designs
• Ability to follow test procedures, document results, and identify the root cause of hardware issues
• Enough design experience to evaluate your own work and recognize when a design requires adjustment
• Self-directed and curious approach to solving technical problems
• Willingness to move between design, testing, debugging, validation, and production-support priorities
• Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate closely with senior engineers

Experience that would be particularly valuable includes:

• Altium Designer
• PCB design migration between platforms
• Cadence PCB design tools
• Hardware validation and production readiness
• Power electronics
• Industrial controls or electrical equipment
• Embedded hardware
• Electronics manufacturing
• Medical devices
• Aerospace and defense
• Automotive electronics

A Few Things Worth Knowing

• Location: Northeastern Ohio
• Work Model: Onsite 5 days per week for the first 90 days. After 90 days, optional WFH 1 day a week.
• Openings: 1
• Experience: Approximately 5 years is the target, although demonstrated technical ability is more important than an exact number of years.
• Compensation: Competitive compensation commensurate with experience
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering required. A master’s degree in engineering is preferred.
• Sponsorship: No current or future employment sponsorship is available.
• Benefits: Multiple medical plan options, including a no-cost employee medical option; no-cost dental and vision insurance; no-cost short-term and long-term disability coverage; no-cost life insurance with additional coverage options; employer Health Savings Account contributions; retirement plan with employer matching contributions; paid parental leave; and an Employee Assistance Program.