Electronics Technician

About the role

Hands-on technical role designing specialized instrumentation and executing critical hardware/software evaluations for advanced airborne weapon systems. You will serve as the front-line technician ensuring the operational readiness of the Air Force's cutting-edge electronic, electromechanical, and electro-optical avionics suites.

Responsibilities

• Direct Warfighter Impact: Work inside state-of-the-art System Integration Labs (SILs) to directly sustain and improve the Air Force's combat aviation capabilities.
• Innovate & Design: Create custom, specialized instrumentation designed to capture, measure, and record critical test parameters under extreme flight and laboratory conditions.
• Next-Gen Tech Exposure: Gain hands-on experience with advanced Automatic Test Stations (ATS) and next-generation Test Program Set (TPS) hardware and software architectures.
• Technical Design & Testing: Perform non-professional technical work to design, measure, and analyze flight-line instrumentation for airborne weapon systems.
• TPS Activation Support: Support all phases of the TPS activation process, assisting with both brand-new software/hardware developments and legacy system rehosting.
• SIL Sustainment & Troubleshooting: Provide timely engineering and technical troubleshooting support for both TPS and ATS System Integration Labs to prevent mission downtime.
• Environmental Testing: Deploy specialized recording equipment to capture system data across a variety of airborne environmental, field, and laboratory profiles.

Qualifications

• May occasionally require travel away from normal duty station on military or commercial aircraft
• May require the employee to drive a motor vehicle. An appropriate, valid driver's license may be required for the position.
• May act as project liaison with the Equipment Engineers or other design agencies as required
• May occasionally require the modification of software code, the ability to modify assembly language software code for 8/16/32 bit microprocessors, microcontrollers, C/C++/C#, and Field Programmable Gate Arrays. Skill in the use of software tools such as compilers and emulators, is desirable.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Circuit & Hardware Fabrication: Knowledge and skill in designing new circuitry and the ability to perform associated product fabrication techniques such as layout and construction of multi-layer printed circuits, complex back planes, Mil-Std-2000 Cat E High-Reliability soldering and de-soldering, and cutting, bending and drilling of metal using a milling machine, lathe, and drill press.
• Electronics Fundamentals: Thorough knowledge of basic electronic concepts and fundamentals (e.g. Ohm's and Kirchoffs Laws, time and frequency domain relationships, Boolean algebra, and basic digital technology) and the ability to convert theoretical ideas of engineers and scientists to functional components and systems.
• Digital & Analog Components: Knowledge of digital and analog components used in modern technology such as microprocessors, gate arrays, FPGA, LSI devices, and memory devices. Familiarity with data transmission techniques such as Radio Frequency (RF), telemetry, microwave, and fiber optic data links.
• Schematic Interpretation & CAD: Ability to read, interpret, correct and modify electrical/electronic schematics/diagrams using the latest software version of the computer-aided-design tool. Skill in using the latest software versions of the computer-aided-design tools AUTOCAD, ALTIUM, and GENERIC CADD for mechanical designs and layouts.
• Test Equipment Proficiency: Knowledge of and skill in the use of various pieces of electronic test equipment such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, FPGA programmers, telemetry ground stations, synthesizers, spectrum analyzers, Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and Mil-Std-1553 simulators and analyzers.
• Serial Data Standards: Knowledge of and skill in using and applying the following serial data communication standards: RS-422, RS-232, and Mil-Std-1553.
• Quality Assurance: Knowledge of and ability to apply Mil-Std-454K to the quality assurance and inspection of locally designed electronic systems.
• Telemetry & Flight Termination: Skill in the development and application of Telemetry Systems and Flight Termination Systems to the test and evaluation of munitions.

Salary Range: $61,722 – $97,087

Recruitment, Relocation, Retention and Student Loan Incentives may be authorized.