Spacecraft PCBA Manufacturing Engineer - Equity & Impact

Apex; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 195,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity in Apex

Healthcare (medical, dental, vision)

PTO starting at 15 days, 20+ days

401(k) matching

8 weeks parental leave

Daily catered lunch

Office Playa Vista

Stock options

Job summary

Apex is hiring a PCBA Manufacturing Development Engineer to develop, implement, and scale manufacturing for high-reliability spacecraft electronics in Playa Vista, CA. You will own process development for PCBA assemblies from prototype to production ramp, collaborating with avionics, manufacturing, quality, and suppliers to improve yield and hardware quality.

The role requires deep PCBA manufacturing knowledge, hands-on SMT experience, and a track record solving complex electronics manufacturing

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or related field.
• 4+ years in PCBA manufacturing engineering, electronics manufacturing, or SMT process development.
• Hands-on experience with SMT assembly, soldering, reflow profiling, and PCBA inspection.

Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, and optimize PCBA manufacturing processes for spacecraft avionics and electronic hardware.
• Own manufacturing process development from prototype builds through qualification and production ramp.
• Establish and improve SMT assembly processes including solder paste printing, component placement, reflow soldering, and inspection.
• Develop manufacturing processes for through-hole assembly, selective soldering, hand soldering, and rework.
• Define manufacturing requirements, process parameters, inspection criteria, and workmanship standards.
• Partner with avionics design to address manufacturability and assembly challenges.
• Support equipment selection, tooling development, production line configuration, and manufacturing readiness.
• Investigate and resolve PCBA defects including solder joint failures and contamination.
• Develop process controls and validation methods to improve first-pass yield and throughput.
• Collaborate with quality engineering for root cause investigations and corrective actions.
• Support board-level inspection and test processes (AOI, X-ray, ICT, functional testing).
• Work with external partners to ensure process consistency and quality.

Skills

SMT processes

PCB assembly

Process development

QA/testing support

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Manufacturing/Mechanical Engineering

Job description

Apex is hiring a PCBA Manufacturing Development Engineer to develop, implement, and scale manufacturing for high-reliability spacecraft electronics in Playa Vista, CA. You will own process development for PCBA assemblies from prototype to production ramp, collaborating with avionics, manufacturing, quality, and suppliers to improve yield and hardware quality.

The role requires deep PCBA manufacturing knowledge, hands-on SMT experience, and a track record solving complex electronics manufacturing