PCB Designer - Exterior Lighting

PCB Design Engineer - Exterior Lighting

We are seeking a PCB Design Engineer to support the development of advanced automotive exterior lighting systems, including headlamps, taillamps, daytime running lights (DRLs), illuminated grilles, and specialty lighting features. This individual will be responsible for printed circuit board design, layout, and development activities while collaborating closely with electrical, mechanical, optical, and manufacturing engineering teams. The ideal candidate will have experience designing automotive electronic hardware, LED-based lighting systems, and multilayer PCB layouts using industry-standard CAD tools.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop printed circuit board (PCB) layouts for automotive exterior lighting products.
• Create and maintain schematics, board layouts, and associated design documentation.
• Support development of LED driver circuits, power distribution, and control electronics.
• Perform component placement, routing, stack-up definition, and design rule verification.
• Collaborate with mechanical engineers to optimize packaging and thermal performance.
• Support signal integrity, EMC/EMI, and DFMEA activities.
• Work closely with manufacturing teams to ensure designs are optimized for production and assembly.
• Participate in prototype builds, testing, debugging, and validation activities.
• Coordinate with suppliers and cross-functional engineering teams throughout product development.
• Support compliance with automotive quality standards and customer requirements.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, or related technical field.
• 3+ years of PCB design or hardware engineering experience.
• Experience with PCB layout tools such as Altium Designer, Cadence Allegro, OrCAD, or similar.
• Knowledge of schematic capture and PCB development processes.
• Experience with multilayer board design.
• Familiarity with LED-based electronic systems.
• Strong understanding of component selection, power distribution, grounding, and signal routing.
• Ability to troubleshoot and debug electronic hardware.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with automotive lighting systems.
• Knowledge of CAN, LIN, or automotive communication protocols.
• Familiarity with automotive standards including EMC/EMI requirements.
• Experience working in an automotive OEM or Tier 1 supplier environment.
• Knowledge of thermal management and high-power LED applications.
• Understanding of DFMEA, APQP, and automotive product development processes.

Key Skills

• PCB Layout Design
• Altium Designer
• Cadence Allegro
• OrCAD
• Electronic Hardware Design
• LED Driver Circuits
• Automotive Electronics
• EMC/EMI
• Schematic Capture
• Design Validation
• Root Cause Analysis
• Cross-Functional Collaboration

Preferred Industry Experience

• Automotive Lighting
• Vehicle Electronics
• Consumer Electronics
• Industrial Controls
• Aerospace Electronics
• LED Product Development

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract position based out of DEARBORN, MI.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $36.00 - $50.00/hr individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following:

• Medical, dental & vision
• Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital
• 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available
• Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents)
• Short and long-term disability
• Health Spending Account (HSA)
• Transportation benefits
• Employee Assistance Program
• Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

Workplace Type

This is a hybrid position in DEARBORN,MI.

Final date to receive applications

This position is anticipated to close on Sep 3, 2026.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a Clearly Rated Best of Staffing® winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the…