SI/PI Simulation Engineer

Job Title: SI/PI & EMI/EMC Simulation Engineer

Job ID: 535088

Client: Alcon

Location: Lake Forest, CA

Position Summary

Seeking a contract engineer with expertise in Signal Integrity (SI), Power Integrity (PI), and EMI/EMC simulation to support PCB design reviews, simulation-driven design optimization, and development of electrical design best practices for high-speed electronic systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Perform SI simulations to evaluate transmission line behavior, impedance control, insertion loss, return loss, crosstalk, timing margins, and signal quality for high-speed interfaces.

• Conduct PI simulations to assess power delivery network performance, target impedance compliance, voltage ripple, resonance behavior, and decoupling effectiveness.

• Model and characterize vias, connectors, packages, breakouts, capacitors, and other interconnect discontinuities to minimize signal degradation and impedance mismatches.

• Review schematics and PCB layouts and provide recommendations for component placement, routing topology, return current paths, grounding, stack-up definition, and manufacturability.

• Generate and validate electromagnetic models and perform EMI/EMC analyses to identify and mitigate emissions and susceptibility risks.

• Evaluate and optimize shielding concepts, enclosure designs, and grounding architectures to improve EMC performance.

• Develop PCB design guidelines and best practices for high-speed digital designs, power delivery networks, and EMI/EMC mitigation.

• Support engineering teams through design reviews and provide recommendations to reduce electrical and EMC-related risks.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience with high-speed digital design, SI/PI analysis, and EMI/EMC engineering.

• Proficiency with industry-standard simulation tools such as Ansys HFSS, SIwave, Altium, Cadence, CST Studio Suite, or equivalent.

• Experience reviewing PCB designs containing high-speed interfaces, differential pairs, and complex power delivery networks.

• Strong understanding of EMC design practices, grounding, shielding, and return path management.

• Ability to communicate findings and provide actionable design recommendations to cross-functional engineering teams.

Relevant Industries & Company Locations to Focus

• Industries: Consumer Electronics, Medical Devices, Automotive, Aerospace & Defense, Industrial Electronics, Semiconductor, Telecommunications.
• Company Locations: Southern California / Orange County / Los Angeles / San Diego and other U.S. electronics engineering hubs.

Priority 1 – Must Have

• 7+ years of relevant engineering experience
• Signal Integrity (SI) simulation
• Power Integrity (PI) simulation
• EMI/EMC simulation and analysis
• High-speed digital PCB design
• SI/PI simulation tools: Ansys HFSS / SIwave, Cadence, CST, Altium
• Transmission lines, impedance, insertion/return loss, crosstalk
• Power delivery networks, target impedance, ripple, resonance
• PCB layout and schematic review
• Grounding, shielding, and return-path management

Priority 2 – Preferred

• Experience with differential pairs and high-speed interfaces
• Via, connector, package, and interconnect modeling
• PCB stack-up and routing topology review
• EMC emissions and susceptibility analysis
• Shielding and enclosure optimization
• Design reviews and actionable engineering recommendations

Nice to Have

• Development of PCB design guidelines/best practices
• Experience with decoupling optimization
• Manufacturability-focused PCB recommendations
• Cross-functional engineering collaboration

What to Look for on Resume

• Strong SI + PI + EMI/EMC simulation background
• 7+ years in relevant electrical/electronics engineering
• Hands-on HFSS/SIwave/CST/Cadence/Altium experience
• High-speed PCB and signal integrity experience
• Power integrity / PDN analysis
• EMI/EMC mitigation, grounding and shielding
• Evidence of PCB design reviews and optimization
• Experience with high-speed interfaces and differential pairs

Do Not Consider

• Candidates with no SI/PI simulation experience
• Pure PCB layout candidates without simulation expertise
• Candidates focused only on EMI/EMC testing without simulation
• Software/Firmware engineers without SI/PI/EMC experience
• Candidates lacking high-speed digital/PCB experience
• Less than 7 years of relevant experience

Education & Experience

• 7+ years of relevant experience in Electrical/Electronics Engineering.
• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, or related field .
• Strong hands-on experience in SI, PI, and EMI/EMC simulation .

Screening Questions