Senior Avionics PCBA Development Engineer

Relativity; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Relativity Space is seeking a Senior Avionics PCBA Development Engineer to own the bring-up of new avionics prototypes. You will program machines, develop processes, conduct inspections, and troubleshoot defects hands-on while maintaining documentation.

You’ll partner with design and manufacturing engineers, support DFМ initiatives, and bridge to mass production. This role combines hands-on manufacture with automation and data analysis across avionics systems.

Qualifications

• 5-8 years of hands-on PCBA assembly experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Proficiency with SMT equipment including solder paste printers, pick-and-place, and reflow ovens.
• Professional-grade soldering and rework skills, including component replacement, fine-pitch soldering, and BGA rework.
• Strong understanding of SMT processes, common defects, and troubleshooting, including inspection methods such as visual, AOI, and X-ray.
• Ability to read PCB assembly drawings, schematics, and datasheets; comfortable building automation tools or scripts to improve data collection and analysis.

Responsibilities

• Provide DFM feedback: Review PCB designs for manufacturability and partner with hardware engineers to resolve assembly issues before builds begin.
• Operate the full SMT line: Support the operation of every station on the line for avionics prototype builds to ensure quality and process control.
• Inspect and troubleshoot: Perform first-article inspections (visual, AOI, X-ray), investigate defects such as bridging, tombstoning, and voiding, and drive corrective actions to root cause.
• Program and optimize equipment: Develop programs and tune parameters, placement routines, and reflow profiles for high-reliability aerospace PCBAs.
• Build and rework hardware: Support prototype and qualification builds hands-on, and perform professional-grade soldering and PCBA rework, including component replacement, BGA rework, and fine-pitch repairs.
• Maintain process control documentation: Work with the team to keep work instructions, assembly drawings, inspection criteria, and process specifications current.
• Develop automation tools: Build and enhance tools for machine-programming automation, data-collection pipelines, and analysis workflows that improve efficiency and reduce manual effort.

Skills

PCBA assembly

SMT equipment

Soldering & rework

SMT inspection

Automation scripting

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Mechanical/Manufacturing Engineering

Tools

Solder paste printers

Pick-and-place machines

Reflow ovens

Job description

At Relativity Space, we're building rockets to serve today's needs and tomorrow's breakthroughs. Our Terran R vehicle will deliver customer payloads to orbit, meeting the growing demand for launch capacity. But that's just the start. Achieving commercial success with Terran R will unlock new opportunities to advance science, exploration, and innovation, pioneering progress that reaches beyond the known.

Joining Relativity means becoming part of something where autonomy, ownership, and impact exist at every level. Here, you're not just executing tasks; you're solving problems that haven't been solved before, helping develop a rocket, a factory, and a business from the ground up. Whether you're in propulsion, manufacturing, software, avionics, or a corporate function, you'll collaborate across teams, shape decisions, and see your work come to life in record time. Relativity is a place where creativity and technical rigor go hand in hand, and your voice will help define the stories we're writing together. Now is a unique moment in time where it's early enough to leave your mark on the product, the process, and the culture, but far enough along that Terran R is tangible and picking up momentum. The most meaningful work of your career is waiting. Join us.

About the Team:

The Avionics team is responsible for the full lifecycle of Terran R's nervous system, designing, building, testing, installing, and operating the hardware that connects and controls every major electrical system on the vehicle and ground. The team leverages close partnership between avionics design, manufacturing, and test to enable rapid iteration and feedback loops. Engineers are deeply embedded into other functions within Relativity, working closely with propulsion, GNC, fluids, and stage engineering teams to ensure seamless integration and operation. Now is a unique time to join: you'll get to help shape Terran R's fundamental avionics architecture and be given a high degree of ownership on components that will fly.

About the Role:

As the Senior Avionics PCBA Development Engineer, you are part of the Avionics Engineering team and responsible for the entire bring-up of new avionics prototypes. You'll program machines, develop processes, conduct inspections, and troubleshoot defects hands-on, while maintaining process control documentation. A key differentiator: you'll partner with design engineers and manufacturing engineers, and support DFM initiatives while realizing the first prototype builds and using tools to harvest process data. You'll also bridge to the manufacturing team, supporting the handover of mature products and processes for mass production. You're both a technical craftsman and a technology integrator, combining hands-on manufacturing expertise with modern tools and automation while collaborating across engineering, design, and manufacturing teams. Responsibilities include:

• Provide DFM feedback: Review PCB designs for manufacturability and partner with hardware engineers to resolve assembly issues before builds begin
• Operate the full SMT line: Support the operation of every station on the line for Avionics prototype builds to ensure quality and process control.
• Inspect and troubleshoot: Perform first-article inspections (visual, AOI, X-ray), investigate defects such as bridging, tombstoning, and voiding, and drive corrective actions to root cause
• Program and optimize equipment: Develop programs and tune parameters, placement routines, and reflow profiles for high-reliability aerospace PCBAs
• Build and rework hardware: Support prototype and qualification builds hands-on, and perform professional-grade soldering and PCBA rework, including component replacement, BGA rework, and fine-pitch repairs
• Maintain process control documentation: Work with the team to keep work instructions, assembly drawings, inspection criteria, and process specifications current
• Develop automation tools: Build and enhance tools for machine-programming automation, data-collection pipelines, and analysis workflows that improve efficiency and reduce manual effort

About You:

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Mechanical, or Manufacturing Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent hands-on experience)
• 5-8 years of hands-on PCBA assembly experience in a manufacturing environment
• Proficiency with SMT equipment including solder paste printers, pick-and-place, and reflow ovens.
• Professional-grade soldering and rework skills, including component replacement, fine-pitch soldering, and BGA rework
• Strong understanding of SMT processes, common defects, and troubleshooting, including inspection methods such as visual, AOI (Automated Optical Inspection), and X-ray
• Detail-oriented, with the ability to read PCB assembly drawings, schematics, and datasheets, and comfortable building automation tools or scripts to improve data collection and analysis

Nice to haves but not required:

• IPC-A-610 (CIS) or IPC-J-STD-001 soldering certification (highly prefe