Engineering Technician - Electronics

Role and Responsibilities

• Development Testing & Execution: Execute detailed functional, parametric, and performance tests on cutting-edge RF, digital, and mechanical designs under the direction of hardware development engineers.
• Product Qualification Support: Setup, configure, and monitor units under test through environmental stress, including thermal cycle, humidity, shock, and vibration testing, to comply with internal quality plans and standards.
• Hands-On Laboratory Operations: Perform precision SMT soldering and rework down to fine-pitch and 0201 component sizes. Construct custom test fixtures, fabricate complex cable/wire harnesses, and perform mechanical prototype assemblies.
• Hardware Debugging & Troubleshooting: Assist Engineers with isolating component-level, board-level, and system-level defects. Read electrical schematics and use standard laboratory diagnostic tools to identify root causes of hardware anomalies or failures.
• Test Equipment Management: Set up, calibrate verification, and operate standard RF and electronic lab instruments, including Vector Network Analyzers (VNAs), Spectrum Analyzers, Digital Oscilloscopes, Vector Signal Generators, Power Meters, and Programmable Power Supplies.
• Manufacturing & NPI Support: Interface with Manufacturing, Engineering, and Production teams to assist with New Product Introduction (NPI). Build, validate, and document reference test configurations and assembly workflows for transfer to contract manufacturers (CMs).
• Data Collection & Documentation: Systematically log, analyze, and format raw test data. Maintain meticulous engineering notebooks, create structured failure analysis reports, and draft standard operating procedures (SOPs) for newly designed test setups.
• Lab Maintenance & Safety: Maintain a clean, organized, safe, and ESD-compliant laboratory environment. Track lab tools, coordinate routine calibration intervals for specialized instrumentation, and manage electronic component inventories.
• Perform other related duties of which the above are representative.

Required Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED with 5 years of direct electronics or RF hardware support experience; OR Associates degree in Electronics Engineering Technology (ASET) or a related technical field with 3 years of experience as an electronics or hardware support technician in an R&D, product validation, or advanced manufacturing environment; OR Equivalent formal military technical training (e.g., Navy A-School, Air Force PMEL, or Army PMOS 94 series) with hands-on electronics or RF hardware experience.
• Possess an understanding of component sizes/packages and wire gauges.
• Strong familiarity with the fundamental operation of digital multimeters, oscilloscopes, variable power supplies, and electronic loads.
• Certified with IPC-A-610 and/or J-STD-001 standards.
• Familiarity with basic scripting environments (e.g., Python, LabVIEW) to control instrumentation via GPIB, USB, or Ethernet interfaces is highly desirable.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Must be a U.S. Person (U.S. Citizen, or U.S. Permanent Resident) due to clients under U.S. federal contracts.

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities

• Basic knowledge of digital electronics systems and RF system design.
• Working knowledge of thermal interface materials, gaskets, thread locker, and conformal coating.
• Familiarity with environmental and reliability standards (e.g. IP, IPC, JEDEC, MIL-STD).
• Ability to manage priorities across several projects and operate with a high level of independence.
• Exceptional methodical troubleshooting and critical thinking skills, with the endurance to stick with complex intermittent hardware issues until root cause analysis is achieved.