---
title: 'Board Design Engineer at Taara'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/board-design-engineer-taara-sunnyvale-f1yvv8rj0gwa'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Board Design Engineer at Taara

- **Company:** Taara
- **Location:** Sunnyvale, CA
- **Compensation:** $160k–$210k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-01-12
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/taaraconnect/a5c08ecf-8142-4e27-a7f7-29cde627c8d5/application

**Skills:** Printed Circuit Board Design, Schematic Capture, PCB Layout, Signal Integrity, Power Integrity, Wirebonding, High-speed Digital Design, Product Lifecycle Management, ECO Management, Manufacturing Process Tools, Semiconductor Design, Measurement, Packaging, Analog IC Design, Mixed-Signal IC Design, Cadence Virtuoso, Siemens/Mentor Calibre, DRC/LVS Verification, Organic Interposer Design, Silicon Interposer Design

> Lead the complete printed circuit board design from concept to volume product, handling architectural design, schematic capture, layout, fabrication, test, and qualification. The role involves ensuring signal and power integrity, managing component vendors, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to develop hi...

## Job description

About the Team: Born at X, Google's Moonshot Factory, Taara is on a mission to connect billions of people lacking abundant and affordable internet today by pioneering the way we use light to deliver faster, cheaper, more reliable connectivity. Lead the charge in bringing our groundbreaking wireless optical communication and photonics chip technologies to the world. Drive our growth story as we scale innovative solutions across the world. Join us to light the way for bridging the digital divide and illuminating the future. About the Role: Taara is seeking a Board Design Engineer to lead the complete printed circuit board design from concept to volume product.  This individual will be responsible for the architectural design, schematic capture, layout, fabrication, test and qualification of complex high speed printed circuit boards (PCBs).  The candidate will be proficient in high-speed digital design, signal integrity, power integrity, wirebonding and board fabrication. They’ll work closely across teams including photonics integrated circuits, electronic integrated circuit, mechanical design and software in developing the board designs. The position seeks highly-motivated individuals that enjoy working in a small dynamic team environment, with a passion for solving challenging problems that can lead to high-impact advances in technology.

## How you’ll make 10x impact

- Designing the analog and digital circuitry including high speed transceivers, power, memory, and sensitive receivers
- Selecting electrical component including SoCs, FPGAs and high speed switches optimizing for performance and cost
- Ensuring signal integrity and power integrity through modeling and lab characterization
- Managing the PCB Layout including detailed signal and power integrity electrical constraint documentation
- Managing component vendors and contract manufacturers for fabrication and testing including defining and coordination with test software resources
- Leveraging system knowledge including EMI/EMC, reliability and compliance

What you should have:

- Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and 5+ years of related experience
- Familiar with Product Lifecycle Management tools and ECO management
- In-depth knowledge of manufacturing and process tools
- Ability to work in the Sunnyvale office at least 3 days per week.

It would be great if you also had these:

- Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, or a related field
- Knowledge of semiconductor design, measurement and packaging
- Experience in analog and mixed-signal IC design using Cadence Virtuoso and Siemens/Mentor Calibre for DRC/LVS verification
- Experience in organic or silicon interposer design for advanced packaging

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $160,000 - $210,000 + bonus + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your location during the hiring process.

## About Taara

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Taara uses invisible beams of light to deliver high-speed, low-latency wireless internet connectivity, acting as a fiber alternative for hard-to-reach areas.
- **Entity Type**: Private (spun out from X, Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory in March 2025; backed by Series X Capital, with Alphabet retaining a minority stake)
- **Headquarters**: Sunnyvale, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2025 (spin-out); predecessor Project Taara began in 2017
- **Founders**: Mahesh Krishnaswamy

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Telecommunications technology / Free-space optical communications
- **Target customers**: B2B – mobile operators, wireless ISPs, fiber operators, enterprises, smart city operators, government/emergency response, and innovation partners (satellite operators, photonics companies)
- **Mission**: “Bringing high-speed, affordable and abundant connectivity to people everywhere using beams of light.”

## Products & Services
- **Taara Lightbridge**: Free-space optical terminal delivering up to 20 Gbps over line-of-sight distances up to 20 km with carrier-grade availability. Used for backhaul, fronthaul, and mesh.
- **Taara Lightbridge Pro**: Enhanced version offering “five nines” (99.999%) availability for mission-critical networks.
- **Taara Beam**: First product built on Taara's Integrated Photonics Platform, designed for expansion with flexibility in a smaller form factor.
- **Integrated Photonics Platform**: Silicon photonics chip that uses light to transmit data through the air, enabling miniaturized terminals and reduced mechanical complexity.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding – undisclosed round led by Series X Capital at spin-out (2025); Alphabet retains minority stake
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Series X Capital, Alphabet (via X Development); strategic partners include T‑Mobile, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Econet Group, Digicomm International
- **Growth Signals**: Deployments in over 20 countries across Africa, India, North America, and Southeast Asia; recognized as TIME Best Invention of 2024 and Fast Company World Changing Ideas Award; successful live events connectivity (Coachella, Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta with T‑Mobile)

## Competitive Advantages
- **No trenching or spectrum licensing**: Light beams travel through air, avoiding costly fiber deployment and radio spectrum constraints.
- **Rapid deployment**: Can be deployed in hours instead of months – ideal for disaster recovery and temporary capacity.
- **Silicon photonics platform**: Proprietary chip technology that shrinks hardware and lowers cost, enabling mass scalability.
- **Fiber-class performance**: Delivers symmetrical 20 Gbps+ with ultra-low latency, competing directly with fiber in capacity.

## Strategic Focus
- **Expand photonics-based connectivity** beyond telecom into data centers, industrial campuses, and satellite communications.
- **Scale manufacturing** of its Integrated Photonics Platform to serve global demand.
- **Deepen partnerships** with mobile operators, internet service providers, and government entities to close the digital divide.

## Why Work Here
- **Innovation pedigree**: Born inside X (Google’s Moonshot Factory) – a culture of tackling world-scale challenges with ambitious technology.
- **Mission-driven impact**: Work directly on bringing affordable internet to underserved communities and disaster zones.
- **Cutting-edge tech**: Hands-on with advanced photonics, optical engineering, and system-level hardware/software design.
- **Growth phase**: Recently spun out as an independent company – opportunity to shape engineering culture and processes from an early stage.
- **Hybrid/office**: Based in Sunnyvale, CA; roles range from hardware engineering (optical, mechanical, FPGA) to software (backend, Linux, cloud) and go-to-market (sales, customer success). Per company careers page: open roles include Principal Optical Engineer, Director of Product Management, Senior Backend Software Engineer, etc.
- **Perks & culture**: Described as “a new technological era” with a focus on collaboration, rapid iteration, and global impact.

## Sources
1. [taaraconnect.com](https://www.taaraconnect.com/) – Homepage product details
2. [taaraconnect.com/careers](https://www.taaraconnect.com/careers) – Open roles and engineering focus
3. [taaraconnect.com/about](https://www.taaraconnect.com/about) – Leadership, history, milestones
4. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taara_(company)) – Company overview, spin-out, funding, deployments

## Other roles at Taara

- [Senior High-Speed Photonic Design Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-high-speed-photonic-design-engineer-taara-sunnyvale-0efpz5qbbqra) — Sunnyvale, CA
- [Coherent Optical Systems Internship](https://feeny.ai/job/coherent-optical-systems-internship-taara-sunnyvale-f09xrc2ex19m) — Sunnyvale, CA
- [Senior Technical Escalations Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-technical-escalations-engineer-taara-sunnyvale-ed981hzfns48) — Sunnyvale, CA
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- [Principal Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-analog-mixed-signal-asic-engineer-taara-sunnyvale-esst4g51npkn) — Sunnyvale, CA
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- [Director of Product Management](https://feeny.ai/job/director-of-product-management-taara-sunnyvale-c8wndxcamgwn) — Sunnyvale, CA
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