Senior Manufacturing Engineer
Senior Manufacturing Engineer
Position Summary
The Senior Manufacturing Engineer is responsible for supporting, improving, and sustaining manufacturing processes for Class 3 printed circuit board assembly production in a high-mix, low-to-medium volume environment. This role serves as a technical leader across SMT, through-hole, mechanical assembly, test, rework, conformal coating, and final inspection operations.
The Senior Manufacturing Engineer will work closely with Production, Quality, Test Engineering, Program Management, Supply Chain, and customers to ensure products are built efficiently, repeatably, and in compliance with customer requirements, IPC standards, and aerospace/defense-level workmanship expectations. This position is hands-on and requires strong problem-solving skills, manufacturing floor presence, and the ability to drive process improvements from concept through implementation.
Key Responsibilities
Manufacturing Process Support
Support day-to-day manufacturing operations for Class 3 PCBA assembly, rework, test, coating, and final inspection processes.
Provide technical guidance to production teams to resolve manufacturing issues, bottlenecks, yield concerns, and process interruptions.
Review customer documentation, assembly drawings, BOMs, specifications, and work instructions to ensure manufacturability and process readiness.
Develop, maintain, and improve manufacturing processes for SMT, selective solder, hand solder, mechanical assembly, conformal coating, and related production areas.
Support new product introduction builds, first article builds, prototype production, and production ramp activities.
Assist with process validation, equipment setup, tooling requirements, fixture needs, and production readiness reviews.
Continuous Improvement & Yield Improvement
Identify and lead continuous improvement projects focused on quality, throughput, labor efficiency, first-pass yield, and defect reduction.
Analyze production data, defect trends, rework data, test failures, and process performance to identify root causes and corrective actions.
Drive improvements in cycle time, line balance, material flow, changeover efficiency, and operator work instructions.
Support Lean manufacturing initiatives, 5S, standard work, waste reduction, and process control improvements.
Partner with Quality and Production teams to reduce recurring defects and improve overall manufacturing reliability.
Technical Leadership & Problem Solving
Serve as a senior technical resource for manufacturing operators, technicians, supervisors, and engineers.
Lead root cause investigations for complex manufacturing defects, assembly issues, test failures, and process escapes.
Support corrective and preventive action activities, including containment, root cause analysis, corrective action implementation, and effectiveness checks.
Provide hands-on troubleshooting support for production equipment, fixtures, tooling, and process-related issues.
Mentor junior manufacturing engineers, process engineers, technicians, and production personnel.
Documentation & Process Control
Create, review, and maintain manufacturing work instructions, process procedures, visual aids, routings, and production documentation.
Ensure manufacturing documentation is clear, accurate, controlled, and aligned with customer and quality requirements.
Support ECO implementation, process changes, customer-driven changes, and internal documentation updates.
Ensure manufacturing processes comply with IPC-A-610, J-STD-001, customer specifications, and internal quality system requirements.
Participate in process audits, customer audits, and internal quality system activities as needed.
Cross-Functional Support
Work closely with Program Management and Customer Engineering teams to resolve manufacturing concerns and communicate technical risks.
Partner with Test Engineering on test process improvements, failure analysis, fixture readiness, and test yield improvement.
Support Supply Chain and Materials teams with component substitution reviews, material issues, and manufacturability concerns.