Lead Avionics Manufacturing Engineer
Torrance, CA$141.6k - $177kFull-timePosted 1mo ago
About the role
Lead the manufacturing engineering team responsible for avionics production, overseeing the strategy and execution from SMT assembly through board-level acceptance testing, environmental screening, and final box build. Partner with design, quality, supply chain, and production to transition designs into repeatable manufacturing processes and drive continuous improvement for scalable production of avionics hardware.
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.
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.
Skills
Required:SMT manufacturingManufacturing process developmentManufacturing documentation
Benefits
- equity
- comprehensive medical
- vision
- dental coverage
- flexible spending accounts
- flexible time off
- 10 or more paid holidays per year
- retirement savings plans
- opportunities for professional development
Last updated Oct 7, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
About northwoodspace
The world runs on space. We’re building the infrastructure to keep it connected.
The world runs on space. We’re building the technology to keep it connected.
spaceinfrastructureground segmenttechnology
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