How To Become A Senior PCB Designer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior pcb designer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Abby Guido

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a senior pcb designer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $49.4 an hour? That's $102,749 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 9,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a senior pcb designer?

Abby Guido

Assistant Professor, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University

We've all heard the buzz about networking, and there is so much buzz because it works. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is both up to date and active. Connect with all of your past professors, classmates, and anyone and everyone you meet in a professional setting. I often tell students to get into the habit of searching for any classroom guests, or guest lecturers, to connect, thank them for their time, and build their network. Share content. Write articles, or reshare those you find interesting.

Every job I have ever received in my career has been through someone else I know. I share this with students to help them see the value in relationships. I always remember the students that took the time to write a handwritten thank-you note. And I think of them when I get an email asking if I know any students are looking for work.

ScoreSenior PCB DesignerUS Average

Salary

7.7

Avg. Salary $102,749

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.18%

Asian 14.33%

Black or African American 4.91%

Hispanic or Latino 11.47%

Unknown 4.72%

White 64.38%

Gender

female 13.03%

male 86.97%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.2

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior pcb designer

Explore senior pcb designer education requirements

Most common senior pcb designer degrees

Associate

60.0 %

Bachelor's

22.7 %

Diploma

8.0 %

Start to develop specific senior pcb designer skills

Skills	Percentages
RF	11.16%
Schematic Capture	6.21%
PCB Layout	6.12%
Analog	5.97%
Mentor Graphics	4.94%

Complete relevant senior pcb designer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior pcb designers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior pcb designer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior pcb designer resumes.

Research senior pcb designer duties and responsibilities

Control and manage the testing documentation of magnetics and mechanical documents using custom small scale PDM system base on windows files.
Create and control relate documentation such as BOM's and ECO's.
Design for DFM, DFT, DFA and thermal management while minimizing via and layer count.
Experience designing Ethernet and QMOE service.

Get senior pcb designer experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a senior pcb designer. The most common roles before becoming a senior pcb designer include pcb designer, senior designer team lead and printed circuit designer.

Prepare your senior pcb designer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior pcb designer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a senior pcb designer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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