Senior Avionics PCBA Development Engineer

Socket.dev; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 148,000 - 222,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

PTO

Sick leave

Parental leave

Learning stipend

Job summary

Relativity Space in Long Beach, CA is seeking a Senior Avionics PCBA Development Engineer to lead the bring-up of new avionics prototypes and partner with design and manufacturing teams. You will collaborate across avionics, propulsion, and manufacturing to ensure rapid iteration and robust hardware for Terran R.

You will program machines, optimize processes, conduct inspections, and troubleshoot defects hands-on while maintaining documentation and supporting handover to mass production.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Mechanical, or Manufacturing Engineering (or equivalent hands-on experience).
• 5–8 years of hands-on PCBA assembly in manufacturing.
• Proficiency with SMT equipment including solder paste printers, pick-and-place, and reflow ovens.
• Professional-grade soldering and rework skills, including component replacement and BGA rework.
• Strong understanding of SMT processes, defects, and inspection methods (visual, AOI, X-ray).
• Ability to read PCB drawings, schematics, and datasheets; build automation tools to improve data collection and analysis.

Responsibilities

• Review PCB designs for manufacturability and partner with hardware engineers to resolve assembly issues before builds begin.
• Operate the full SMT line: support operation of every station on the line for Avionics prototype builds.
• Inspect and troubleshoot: perform first-article inspections and drive root-cause actions.
• Program and optimize equipment: develop programs and tune parameters, placement routines, and reflow profiles.
• Build and rework hardware: perform prototype and qualification builds and soldering/rework.
• Maintain process control documentation: keep work instructions, drawings, inspection criteria, and specs current.
• Develop automation tools: build and enhance tools for machine-programming, data-collection pipelines, and analysis workflows.

Skills

PCBA assembly

SMT & reflow

DFM feedback

Automation tools

Soldering

AOI/X-ray inspection

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Mechanical/Manufacturing Engineering

Tools

Altium

Valor NPI

Jira

Python scripting

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 preferred)
• Experience with low-to-mid-volume or prototype PCBA manufacturing and familiarity with aerospace/defense quality requirements (AS9100, IPC Class 3)
• Programming and scripting skills (Python, JavaScript, SQL) for tool development and data analysis, including experience integrating manufacturing equipment with data systems (MES, Jira APIs, databases) and applying AI/ML or agentic workflows in manufacturing
• Familiarity with specialized processes and handling standards—selective soldering, conformal coating, potting, ESD control, moisture-sensitivity handling, and component traceability—as well as ECAD tools such as Altium and Valor NPI

At Relativity Space, we are committed to transparency and fairness in our compensation practices. Actual compensation will be determined based on experience, qualifications, and other job-related factors. Compensation is only one part of our total rewards package. Relativity Space offers competitive salary and equity, a generous PTO and sick leave policy, parental leave, an annual learning and development stipend, and more! To see some of the benefits & perks we offer, please visit here.

Hiring Range:

$148,000 — $222,000 USD

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

If you need a reasonable accommodation, please contact us at [e-mail].