Senior Supplier NPI & Industrialization Engineer - Electrical, PCB/PCBA

We're building safety-enhancing technology for aviation that will save lives. Automated aviation systems will enable a future where air transportation is safer, more convenient and fundamentally transformative to the way goods — and eventually people — move around the planet. We are a team of mission-driven engineers with experience across aerospace, robotics and self-driving cars working to make this future a reality.

We're building safety-enhancing technology for aviation that will save lives. Automated aviation systems will enable a future where air transportation is safer, more convenient, and fundamentally transformative to the way goods — and eventually people — move around the planet. We are a team of mission-driven engineers with experience across aerospace, robotics, and self-driving cars, working to make this future a reality.

As a Senior Supplier NPI & Industrialization Engineer, Electrical (PCB/PCBA), you will serve as the primary technical authority for the New Product Introduction (NPI) and manufacturing readiness of external electrical hardware, including complex printed circuit boards (PCBs), PCB assemblies (PCBAs), and custom electronic modules. You will own supplier industrialization across all program lifecycle phases from early R&D concept reviews and Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) through FAA certification baselines and full-rate production.

In this role, you will bridge the gap between design engineering and our supply chain. You will evaluate supplier technical capabilities, lead Design for Excellence (DFx) programs, drive capacity and tooling scale-up, architect incoming quality infrastructure, and resolve complex anomalies to ensure our airborne electronics meet the most stringent standards of safety, quality, yield, and airworthiness.

Responsibilities

• Supplier Industrialization: Qualify, ramp, and scale external manufacturing lines; validate tooling/fixtures (stencils, pallets, carriers); and establish cycle-time and throughput targets for volume production.

• DFx & Hardware Readiness: Partner with hardware design teams to lead DFM/DFA/DFT reviews, optimize First Pass Yield (FPY), and eliminate single-source or component obsolescence risks early in the NPI lifecycle.

• Process Qualification & Part Validation: Lead supplier Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) execution from kick-off through Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) approval and validate compliance through robust First Article Inspections (FAIs) per AS9102.

• Technical Sourcing & Assessments: Partner with Strategic Sourcing to serve as the lead technical authority for evaluating, auditing, and down-selecting external electrical and avionics suppliers using objective capability matrices and risk models.

• Root Cause & Yield Optimization: Lead cross-functional RCCA investigations (8D, 5-Why) for supplier fallout and flight-test escapes; analyze production telemetry to eliminate bottlenecks and reduce scrap.

Basic Success Criteria

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Manufacturing, Mechanical, Materials Science Engineering, or a related field.

• 6+ years of experience in NPI, manufacturing engineering, or supplier industrialization of high-reliability PCBs/PCBAs in safety-critical sectors.

• Strong technical background in DFM/DFA/DFT, high-density multi-layer board fabrication, SMT processes, and conformal coating.

• Direct experience with board-level electrical test methods and implementing quality tools (PFMEA, Control Plans, SPC).

• Proficiency with root cause analysis and defect investigation methodologies (8D, 5-Why).

• Familiarity with quality inspection setups, including 3D AOI, AXI, and micro-section analysis.

• Experience using ECAD/MCAD viewers and PLM systems, with willingness to travel 25–35% for supplier audits.

Preferred Criteria

• Master’s degree in Electrical, Industrial & Systems, or Materials Science Engineering.

• Aerospace & Certification Rigor: Direct experience maintaining configuration control (ECOs, deviations) under civil aviation frameworks.

• Industry Standards & Counterfeit Mitigation: Active or prior certification/fluency in IPC-A-610 Class 3, J-STD-001 (Space addendum), IPC-6012 Class 3, and counterfeit parts mitigation standards (AS5553 / AS6174).

• Global Scale: Experience qualifying, auditing, and ramping global Tier-1 and Tier-2 electronics contract manufacturers (CMs) and bare-board fabricators.

• Safety-Critical Requirements: Experience with high-reliability electronics development and safety-critical hardware standards in aerospace or automotive environments.

Our team is passionate about delivering on our commitments, solving hard problems, continuously improving, and helping the business succeed. We are constantly reevaluating our technologies, products, and capabilities. If you are a lifelong learner, you will love this environment. Get in on the ground floor and help us build the company.

The position will be located at our facility in Mountain View, California.

Must be willing to travel 25% of the time.

This position requires access to information that is subject to U.S. export controls. An offer of employment will be contingent upon the applicant’s capacity to perform in compliance with U.S. export control laws.

All applicants are asked to provide documentation that legally establishes status as a U.S. person or non-U.S. person (and nationalities in the case of a non-U.S. person). Where the applicant is not a U.S. person, meaning not a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful permanent resident, (iii) refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or not otherwise permitted to access the export-controlled technology without U.S. government authorization, the Company reserves the right not to apply for an export license for such applicants whose access to export-controlled technology or software source code requires authorization and may decline to proceed with the application process and any offer of employment on that basis.

At Reliable Robotics, our goal is to be a diverse and inclusive workforce. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, creed, ancestry, sex, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability or medical conditions, national origin, military or veteran status, genetic information, marital status, or any other basis covered by applicable law. All employment and promotion is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need.

If you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to [email protected]