PCB Design Engineer (Wearable / nRF5340) — Design-for-Manufacturing Redesign

About the project We're a building a compact wearable (BLE audio + PPG biometrics) on a custom Nordic nRF5340 board. We have a working prototype board and need an experienced PCB designer to iterate it into a clean, manufacturable design ready for a beta production run at JLCPCB. We want a board a contract manufacturer can build at volume without surprises. What you'll do - Redesign the board so that all components sit on the top layer, only two components on the bottom-side placement: the PPG sensor and charging pogo pins (flat skin-facing back for better fit of the PPG sensor with the wrist) - Apply Design-for-Manufacturing / Design-for-Assembly constraints for volume production - Optimize layout, stack up, and footprints; deliver a clean CM package (Gerbers, BOM, pick-and-place, fab/assembly notes, panelization) - Maintain 2.4 GHz RF integrity for the nRF5340 (antenna matching, keepouts, BLE layout best practices) - Respect wearable sensor placement constraints — optical PPG window, microphone on flex port, antenna — within the mechanical/enclosure envelope - Review component selection for availability, second-sourcing, and cost at volume - Support DfM review with JLCPCB and one CAD prototype spin with the design engineer Stack & context - Nordic nRF5340 MCU + BLE; MAXM86161 optical PPG AFE; PDM mic on flex; accelerometer; haptics; external NOR flash; Li-ion battery - Compact wearable form factor, designed for mass production - CAD tool: our design was made on KiCad; you'll work from our existing design files Required - Proven multilayer PCB design for compact wearables/IoT taken to volume production - Experience with single-sided / top-only component placement - 2.4 GHz RF layout (nRF/BLE antenna matching and keepouts) - Strong DfM/DfA: fiducials, test points, panelization, CM-ready output packages - Ability to iterate an existing board rather than start from scratch Nice to have - Wearable or medical-adjacent biosensor layouts (optical PPG, skin contact) - Flex / rigid-flex experience - Mechanical co-design (STEP exchange with industrial/mechanical design) Engagement Begin with a paid design review + DfM assessment milestone, then the redesign and a CAD prototype spin, with potential ongoing work through beta production. Remote. To apply: Share wearable/BLE boards you've taken to manufacturing, confirm your CAD tool, and note your experience with single-sided-assembly layouts.