How to Become a PCB Designer in Today’s World

The electronics industry is facing a talent gap. As senior designers retire, companies are scrambling to find skilled professionals who understand modern hardware development. This isn't just about drawing lines; it's about architecting the physical nervous system of AI, EV, and IoT devices.

Whether you are looking for a 3D PCB design software free download to start learning, or you are an experienced hardware engineer looking to specialize, the path to becoming a PCB layout designer is faster and more lucrative than ever before.

The PCB Designer's Experience and Career Path

Printed circuits became popular in the 1950s and was originally something of a trade skill. PCB designers originally taped out board designs on plywood sheets and bakelite on a drafting board at four or even ten times the actual size using tape, knives, stickers, and a steady hand. When completed, those drawings would be recreated on film using a reduction camera, and that film would be used to make the PCB tooling at the fabrication shop. The PCB designer was as much an artist as they were a budding engineer that needed to master the fundamentals of electrical theory.

Today, PCB layout and routing are done on advanced computer-aided design systems (CAD), and their output files are used to create manufacturing tooling for a printed circuit board. A PCB designer creates everything from individual parts models (schematic symbols and PCB footprints) to the copper connections that appear on the finished board. Once all of the required footprints have been placed on the board, they will connect all of the electrical connections using lines that represent metal in a process called trace routing. PCB designer's also have to specify all other structural aspects of the board, such as:

• Layer arrangements (or the PCB layer stack)
• Circuit board materials used to build the layer stack
• Where copper will appear through the outer layer solder mask
• All printed legends and markings on the silkscreen overlay
• Via designs used to route signals between layers
• How all of these aspects appear in the files delivered to a manufacturer

From the above list, we can see that the PCB designer needs to understand how to use CAD tools, as well as how electronic components work, but they also need to understand the standard PCB manufacturing process, which includes bare board fabrication and PCB assembly. These are just some of the basic aspects a designer will need to excel in. As a designer becomes more experienced and familiar with the PCB design process, they tend to take on more of an engineering role and they become a critical part of product development. This includes circuit design and component selection, as well as placement in the PCB layout to ensure the final product will work as intended.

Some PCB designers are also embedded developers. In fact, this is a great way to get into PCB design while also learning programming skills. Many modern products operate with an embedded application (as firmware) or with an embedded operating system. PCB designers often need to work with programmers and developers to ensure the physical design requirements are translated into programming requirements.

Hardware Engineer vs. PCB Designer: What’s the Difference?

In smaller companies, one person does it all. But in large enterprise teams, these are distinct roles with different focuses.

• The Hardware Engineer: Focuses on system architecture. They select components (processors, sensors), define the PCB design constraints, and manage the schematic capture. Their goal is to ensure the logic works.
   
• The PCB Layout Designer: Focuses on manufacturability and physical integrity. They take the schematic and perform the PCB layout design. Their expertise lies in layer stackup planning, differential pair routing, and ensuring the board passes EMI PCB layout design checks.

Career Tip: Many engineers start by offering PCB layout design services as freelancers to build a portfolio before moving into full-time hardware designer roles.

Salary Expectations & Demand

The demand for skilled designers has driven salaries upward. In the US, entry-level PCB layout designer roles often start in the $75,000 - $90,000 range, while senior hardware designers with specialized skills in high frequency PCB design or rigid-flex PCB design frequently command salaries over $130,000.

Because PCB design workflow tools like Altium have moved to the cloud, this career path now offers significant opportunities for remote work and freelancing.

What Kind of Education is Required to be a PCB Designer?

Any career path starts with education, especially in a technical area like PCB design. Today, PCB design is not something that is often taught formally in a university setting, and the level of quality in the instruction can vary across institutions. That being said, there are options for learning PCB design as part of an engineering degree, and there are industry-level courses designers can take to help them build their skill set. Most companies require a 4-year engineering degree, even for PCB design jobs.

In the past, PCB design was something you could pick up actively because it was something of a trade and there was a focus on drafting with scale drawings or models. Today, because the required breadth and depth of skills has increased significantly, it is recommended that PCB designers obtain an electrical engineering degree, or possibly a computer engineering degree. If you want to work in manufacturing or process development, a degree in materials science or chemistry is recommended. This will give designers access to a broad range of skills that are demanded in the modern PCB design job description.

Some of the courses you might need to take to learn PCB design in an engineering degree program include:

• Circuit design and simulation
• PCB layout classes, which are available through some community colleges
• Basic electromagnetics classes
• RF design and antennas classes
• Power systems classes

What About Industry PCB Design Courses?

For those who are doing PCB layout specifically, there isn’t a degree dedicated to PCB design or printed circuit board creation. However, as part of your educational program, there are industry-level courses that can help bridge the gap between a typical university engineering program and an industry requirements for professional designers. Two industry-level design courses are the IPC Certified Interconnect Designer (CID) course, and the PCE-EDU course from the Printed Circuit Engineering Association.

Finally, if you want to be a PCB designer, then you'll need to learn to use a CAD tool! If you're early in your educational path, an open-source PCB design software is a good option for learning the workflow involved in PCB design. However, if you want to work in any kind of professional setting, you'll quickly find that open-source CAD programs are not used and a more powerful CAD tool is needed. Courses on paid CAD tools are available with educational licenses, so if you're planning to pursue design as a career, make sure you look at an option like Altium Education, you can get a free license and training resources that will prepare you for more advanced industry-level courses, like the CID or PCE-EDU.

What is the Future for the PCB Designer?

The need to design current and evolving PCB technologies is growing. With more and more electronics such as IoT becoming prominent in everyday life, the future of electronic design is very bright. However, the pool of experienced PCB designers and manufacturing personnel is shrinking as many designers are approaching retirement age. New onshoring efforts and the wave of new design job openings makes PCB design an appealing career.

Do you have a passion for creating things and making them work? If so, then laying out printed circuit board designs may be what you are looking for. If you are ready to start a career as a PCB designer, take a look at Altium. Altium Designer, included in Altium Develop, is the industry's most popular PCB design software application, made for the PCB engineer and designer to create world-class PCB designs. Not only will the software help you with all aspects of your design, but Altium offers training on its software that will help you to hit the ground running.

Whether you need to build reliable power electronics or advanced digital systems, Altium Develop unites every discipline into one collaborative force. Free from silos. Free from limits. It’s where engineers, designers, and innovators work as one to create without constraints. Experience Altium Develop today!

FAQ: Starting Your PCB Design Career

Q: Do I need an Electrical Engineering degree?

While a degree helps, it is not always mandatory. Many top designers started as technicians. Certification programs (like IPC CID) and a strong portfolio demonstrating how to do PCB layout design can often substitute for a 4-year degree.

Q: What is the best software to learn first?

Start with a professional-grade tool. Many students look for 3D PCB design software free download options; Altium offers educational licenses that allow you to learn the same PCB CAD tools used by professionals at Tesla and NASA.

Q: Is PCB design a dying career?

Far from it. As electronics get smaller and faster, the need for human expertise in signal integrity analysis and EMI PCB layout design is growing. AI can assist, but it cannot replace the physics-based decision-making of a skilled human designer.