NPI Engineer: PCB First-Article Lead

Somacis; Poway (CA); On-site; USD 80,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Somacis is seeking an NPI Engineer to turn new PCB orders into manufacturable jobs, from customer data release through first-article approval. You will coordinate with Customer Service, Field Applications Engineering, Process Engineering, Materials Planning and Production Planning to resolve questions, confirm materials and capabilities, and set realistic build schedules.

You will review incoming designs for manufacturability, define build methods and travelers, lead first-article and pilot

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Chemical, Materials, Manufacturing or Industrial Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• 3+ years in bare-board PCB fabrication in NPI, front-end/CAM, manufacturing or process engineering.
• Working knowledge of PCB fabrication: imaging, etch, lamination, drilling, plating, solder mask, surface finish and electrical test.
• Ability to read and review PCB data (Gerber, ODB++, IPC-2581), fab drawings and stack-ups; experience with a PCB CAM tool (e.g., Frontline InCAM/Genesis or similar).
• Familiarity with IPC-6012 and IPC-A-600.
• Strong problem-solving and communication skills; able to explain technical issues clearly to customers and non-engineers.

Responsibilities

• Review customer Gerber, ODB++ or IPC-2581 data, drawings and fab notes for manufacturability (DFM) and flag issues before release.
• Define the build method for each new part: stack-up, lamination cycles, drill and plating sequence, surface finish and test.
• Create and release travelers and work instructions for new part numbers.
• Lead first-article and pilot builds; validate impedance, registration, plating and other critical features.
• Analyze first-build yield and defects; drive root cause and corrective action (8D) for new-part issues.

Skills

DFM review

Stack-up

Impedance

Material selection

Process capability

Root cause analysis

Clear communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Chemical, Materials, Manufacturing or Industrial Engineering

Tools

Frontline InCAM

Genesis

Job description

Somacis is seeking an NPI Engineer to turn new PCB orders into manufacturable jobs, from customer data release through first-article approval. You will coordinate with Customer Service, Field Applications Engineering, Process Engineering, Materials Planning and Production Planning to resolve questions, confirm materials and capabilities, and set realistic build schedules.

You will review incoming designs for manufacturability, define build methods and travelers, lead first-article and pilot