Lead Avionics Manufacturing Engineer

Northwood Space; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Northwood Space in Torrance, CA is seeking a Lead Avionics Manufacturing Engineer to lead the manufacturing engineering team responsible for avionics production, from SMT assembly through board-level testing, environmental screening, and final box build.

You will develop the manufacturing standards, processes, equipment, and controls required to build reliable avionics hardware at increasing production volumes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical, mechanical, or manufacturing engineering.
• 5+ years in electronics or avionics manufacturing engineering.
• Understanding SMT processes (stencil printing, pick-and-place, reflow, inspection).
• Experience developing and improving PCBAs and electronic assemblies.
• Experience leading manufacturing problems from investigation to corrective actions.
• Experience creating manufacturing documentation, process specs, and production controls.
• Ability to collaborate with engineering and production teams in a fast-paced hardware environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead the avionics manufacturing engineering team for SMT, post-SMT, testing, thermal cycling, and box build.
• Develop and maintain manufacturing standards, processes, and design guidelines.
• Own development, qualification, and continuous improvement of manufacturing processes.
• Establish process controls, acceptance criteria, workmanship standards, and documentation.
• Lead selection and improvement of manufacturing equipment and tooling.
• Partner with design engineering to improve manufacturability, testability, reliability, and scalability.
• Drive new product introduction from prototypes into controlled production.
• Identify production risks and drive root cause and corrective action.
• Define and track key metrics: yield, defects, rework, cycle time, process capability.
• Develop validation strategies for new equipment, materials, and methods.
• Work with Quality Engineering on inspection, traceability, and nonconformance for aerospace hardware.
• Mentor manufacturing engineers and technicians and foster engineering ownership on the floor.

Skills

Leadership

SMT processes

Root cause analysis

Manufacturing problem solving

Documentation & controls

Education

Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, or a related technical field

Tools

IPC workmanship standards

MES / production traceability systems

AOI / X-ray inspection experience

Production test equipment

Job description

Northwood is a modern space infrastructure company bringing the benefits of space to the masses through advanced communications technology. We are building a global network of phased array ground stations that enable real-time, reliable communication for satellite missions such as national security, global connectivity, and disaster response. With a vertically integrated approach, Northwood designs, builds, and rapidly deploys scalable systems that power the next generation of space missions. If you like solving complex challenges and seeing your work deployed around the world with real impact, Northwood is the place to do it.

Role Overview:

Northwood Space is looking for a Lead Avionics Manufacturing Engineer to lead the manufacturing engineering team responsible for our avionics production processes. This role will own the manufacturing engineering strategy and execution from SMT assembly through board-level acceptance testing, environmental screening, and final box build.

You will be responsible for developing the manufacturing standards, processes, equipment, and controls required to build reliable avionics hardware at increasing production volumes. You will work closely with Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and Production to transition designs into repeatable manufacturing processes and continuously improve those processes as our products and production systems mature.

Responsibilities

• Lead the manufacturing engineering team responsible for avionics production, including SMT, post-SMT processing, board acceptance testing, thermal cycling, and electromechanical box build.
• Develop and maintain Northwood’s avionics manufacturing standards, processes, design guidelines, and best practices.
• Own the development, qualification, and continuous improvement of manufacturing processes across the avionics production flow.
• Establish process controls, acceptance criteria, workmanship standards, and manufacturing documentation required to consistently produce high-quality hardware.
• Lead the selection, implementation, qualification, and improvement of avionics manufacturing equipment and tooling.
• Partner with design engineering to improve manufacturability, testability, reliability, and production scalability of new avionics designs.
• Drive new product introduction from engineering prototypes into controlled production processes.
• Identify production risks and recurring manufacturing issues and drive them to root cause and corrective action.
• Define and track key manufacturing metrics such as yield, defect rates, rework, cycle time, and process capability.
• Develop process validation and qualification strategies for new equipment, materials, and manufacturing methods.
• Work with Quality Engineering to establish inspection, process control, traceability, and nonconformance practices appropriate for aerospace hardware.
• Mentor and develop manufacturing engineers and technicians while establishing strong engineering ownership on the production floor.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, or a related technical field.
• 5+ years of experience in electronics or avionics manufacturing engineering.
• Basic understanding of SMT manufacturing processes, including stencil printing, pick-and-place, reflow, inspection, and process troubleshooting.
• Experience developing and improving manufacturing processes for PCBAs and electronic assemblies.
• Experience supporting products through multiple stages of manufacturing, from PCBA fabrication through integration into higher-level assemblies.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex manufacturing problems from initial investigation through implementation of corrective actions.
• Experience creating manufacturing documentation, process specifications, work instructions, and production controls.
• Ability to work directly with engineering and production teams in a fast-paced hardware development and manufacturing environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading manufacturing engineers or owning a significant electronics manufacturing area.
• Experience with aerospace, defense, automotive, medical device, or other high-reliability electronics manufacturing.
• Strong knowledge of IPC workmanship and electronics manufacturing standards.
• Experience with automated optical inspection, X-ray inspection, rework, cleaning, conformal coating, or other PCBA manufacturing processes.
• Experience developing board-level acceptance test processes and production test equipment.
• Experience with environmental screening processes such as thermal cycling.
• Experience with electromechanical assembly and avionics box build.
• Experience implementing manufacturing processes within an MES and developing production traceability systems.
• Experience with PFMEAs, control plans, statistical process control, process capability, and structured root-cause methodologies.
• Familiarity with AS9100 or similar aerospace quality management systems.
• Experience bringing electronics manufacturing processes in-house or scaling a new production operation.

Additional Information:

If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Northwood Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Northwood Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.