Hardware Repair Technician III

AeroVironment•San Diego, CA

10d•$68,640 - $104,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Hardware Repair Technician is the lead for hardware repair, warranty, service, and upgrade activities at AV in San Diego. The role handles returned hardware—including items processed through RMA, warranty, or defect-management processes—and diagnoses, troubleshoots, repairs, and tests units to ensure they meet quality and performance standards. Work may also include hardware upgrades, refurbishment, parts procurement, and detailed root-cause failure analysis under engineering direction. The technician supports the engineering organization and repair-pipeline throughput, working closely with mechanical, electrical, and systems engineers. The role requires strong debugging capabilities with advanced electronics and hardened computing systems, as well as comfort working through ambiguity and change and curiosity about hardware, electronics assembly, and manufacturing.

Requirements

Associate’s degree or equivalent trade-school training in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, robotics engineering, mechatronics, or an equivalent technical discipline, or strong equivalent hands-on experience.
At least 5–7 years of experience in hardware repair, technical debugging, or defect analysis in an electronics or systems environment.
Strong mechanical aptitude and proficiency with hand tools used in electronics unit assembly and repair.
Strong electronics troubleshooting skills, including proficiency using multimeters.
Experience with soldering and connector rework.
Familiarity with system-level and functional testing.
Experience reading schematics, block diagrams, and mechanical drawings, and understanding system integration.
Strong understanding of RF principles, including frequency, impedance, gain, noise, and modulation.
Ability to isolate mechanical, electrical, and firmware faults and correlate symptoms to root cause.
Excellent hands-on skills, attention to detail, and a methodical approach to debugging.
Strong documentation, communication, and general computer skills.
Ability to work closely with engineering staff, accept direction, and follow test procedures and change control.
Ability to manage multiple repair tasks concurrently and meet throughput goals.
Commitment to quality, safety, and process discipline, including ESD protocols and maintaining a clean environment.
Ability to lift and maneuver unit assemblies up to 40 pounds and wheeled cases up to 75 pounds.
Must qualify as a U.S. person under ITAR/EAR or be eligible for an export license; U.S. citizenship is required for this position.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, robotics engineering, mechatronics, or an equivalent technical discipline, or strong equivalent hands-on experience.
Experience assembling and repairing ruggedized or hardened computer systems, including MILSTD, vibration, EMC, or harsh-environment electronics.
Experience with failure-analysis tools such as microscopes and thermal imaging.
Experience with mechanical repair or alignment, such as micromechanics or precision assemblies.
Experience debugging RF electronics systems.
Familiarity with version control, defect-tracking systems, and repair databases.
Prior exposure to manufacturing tests, acceptance tests, or field-return programs.
Certifications such as IPC soldering, IPC rework, or other electronics-repair credentials.
Prior work in aerospace, medical, defense, or rugged-electronics industries.
Experience troubleshooting transmitters, receivers, amplifiers, and RF modules.

Responsibilities

Receive, log, and triage incoming hardware returns, defective units, and upgrade requests.
Diagnose and troubleshoot faults in mechanical, electrical, firmware, connectivity, and other subsystems or components.
Repair RF assemblies, including connectors, cables, wire harnesses, sensors, and mechanical subassemblies.
Perform firmware updates, calibration, alignment, burn-in, and validation testing after repairs to support the production team.
Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, and systems engineering staff to obtain schematics, test procedures, engineering change notices, and tolerances.
Implement corrective modifications or retrofits as directed, including engineering change orders.
Refurbish, rework, or upgrade units according to specifications or customer requests.
Document repair steps, root causes, and lessons learned, and maintain repair logs and databases.
Provide input to failure analysis and continuous-improvement programs.
Ensure repairs follow quality, safety, and regulatory requirements, including ESD controls, cleanroom requirements, certifications, and internal standards.
Maintain inventories of spare parts, consumables, and tooling relevant to repair operations.
Suggest process optimizations, tooling improvements, and test-fixture enhancements.
Assist engineering as needed with prototype debugging, mechanical modifications, or system-level integration tasks.