Staff PCBA DFM and Manufacturing Engineer

Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company with the mission to be the world's most trusted driver. Since its start as the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009, Waymo has focused on building the Waymo Driver—The World's Most Experienced Driver™—to improve access to mobility while saving thousands of lives now lost to traffic crashes. The Waymo Driver powers Waymo’s fully autonomous ride-hail service and can also be applied to a range of vehicle platforms and product use cases. The Waymo Driver has provided over ten million rider-only trips, enabled by its experience autonomously driving over 100 million miles on public roads and tens of billions in simulation across 15+ U.S. states.

Hardware Engineering is an innovative and collaborative group of electrical, mechanical, reliability, software and vehicle engineers. We design, build, and perfect the products which are the eyes and ears of Waymo's autonomous driving technology, and integrate those products into vehicle platforms. We're seeking curious and talented teammates to keep us moving in the right direction.

This role follows a hybrid work schedule and reports to the Advanced Manufacturing Manager.

You will:

• Define, develop, qualify, and scale-up PCB, PCBA, COB, and Packaging processes in collaboration with Contract Manufacturers (CM) to deliver manufacturing solutions for module assemblies, driving the complete manufacturing cycle (NPI, Supplier Bring-up and Transfer, High Volume Scaling and Sustaining), and ensuring sustaining of quality processes and compliance to Waymo’s manufacturing standard.

• Own and drive complex, high-impact projects to achieve build targets on schedule, leading continuous improvement efforts to optimize yield, throughput, reliability and quality.

• Perform comprehensive DFM and DFA reviews for PCB layouts and stack-ups using Valor or other automation tools, proposing design optimizations in collaboration with design teams and tracking DFM issues from pilot to mass production, driving corrective actions.

• Leverage your extensive understanding of tools, processes, and techniques to standardize an overall DFM and PFMEA framework for PCB/PCBAs, consolidating design rules for PCB vendors and/or technologies.

• Be an expert in the manufacturing of various PCB technologies for highly-miniaturized sensor designs as well as high-performance compute systems, e.g. HDI, rigid-flex, ultra-low loss materials, high layer counts, heavy Cu / large PCBs.

• Serve as the primary point of contact for fabrication and assembly houses, working with the CMs’ technical and manufacturing teams to bridge the gap between the factory and the US-based HW team, responding to engineering/technical queries (EQs/TQs), guiding vendor process qualification, coordinating builds, and driving feedback loops with internal design teams to continuously improve DFM guidelines.

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You have:

• A Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Electrical, Mechanical, or Manufacturing engineering.

• 10+ years of experience as a seasoned professional in PCB, PCBA, COB, and FATP manufacturing and packaging.

• World class industry expertise in PCB fabrication, SMT processes, PCBA testing, and industrial standards, including metrology and failure analysis.

• Proficiency with DFM tools to optimize PCB designs, e.g., Valor, Allegro, or other.

• Skills in statistical data visualization and the creation of technical reports and standard operating procedures (SOPs).

• Self-motivation and communication skills necessary to thrive and stay organized within fast-paced, dynamic environments.

We prefer:

• Strong experience with sensor module assembly processes, test and packaging

• Knowledge in Mechanical modeling (e.g. Solidworks, Catia) and statistical analysis software (eg. Jmp, Minitab)

• Direct experience working with micro-assembly and packaging equipment

Travel requirements:

• Approximately 10% travel to Asia

The expected base salary range for this full-time position across US locations is listed below. Actual starting pay will be based on job-related factors, including exact work location, experience, relevant training and education, and skill level. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for the role location or, if the role can be performed remote, the specific salary range for your preferred location, during the hiring process.

Waymo employees are also eligible to participate in Waymo’s discretionary annual bonus program, equity incentive plan, and generous Company benefits program, subject to eligibility requirements.

Salary Range
$210,000—$267,000 USD