Hardware Sustaining & PLM Engineer

American Innovations LTD•Austin, TX

About The Position

American Innovations is seeking a skilled, hands-on Hardware Sustaining & PLM Engineer to join their R&D Engineering team. This role is the primary owner of hardware sustaining and operations support, including Arena PLM, BOM/ECO management, obsolescence and alternate-part workflows, EOL mitigation, and cost-reduction execution for field-deployed industrial products. The ideal candidate will have a solid electrical engineering foundation with bench and hardware debug experience, strong lifecycle and manufacturing support discipline, and comfort interfacing with Operations, Procurement, Contract Manufacturing, and Quality. This is a sustaining-first role, focusing on keeping engineering and manufacturing aligned so that shipped products remain buildable, supportable, and well-documented. In addition to sustaining and PLM responsibilities, this position provides backup support for manufacturing/production test and executes directed hardware tasks from the Senior Staff hardware engineer. The successful candidate will thrive in a collaborative environment, working closely with firmware, mechanical, test engineering, manufacturing, and program teams to close sustaining requests with clear qualification evidence and controlled Arena releases. Strong analog architecture or greenfield program design is not the primary focus of this role; analog and mixed-signal literacy are valued for qualifying sustaining changes, with escalation to senior hardware and test engineering for measurement and architecture decisions.

Requirements

BSEE or equivalent with credible bench / hardware debug experience (not PLM-only or document-only)
4–7 years in sustaining engineering, manufacturing engineering, product engineering (hardware), or hardware roles with heavy sustaining / lifecycle ownership
Demonstrated ownership of BOM, ECO, obsolescence, EOL mitigation, cost reduction, and alternate-part / second-source workflows
PLM systems experience (Arena preferred; Windchill or equivalent acceptable)
Manufacturing support and lifecycle management — production sustaining, contract manufacturing coordination, controlled release discipline
Manufacturing test literacy — test points, functional test impact, ECO regression on production test (not principal test architect)
Comfort working with Operations, Procurement, Contract Manufacturing, and Quality
Accepts sustaining-first scope (~50–60% in year one); disciplined use of Jira and Arena
Must be eligible to work in the US (visa sponsorship is not provided)
Must be able to pass a pre-employment background and drug test

Nice To Haves

Experience sustaining field-deployed or industrial electronics (installed base, long product life, Ops-driven changes)
Exposure to test & measurement, data acquisition, or industrial monitoring products (sustaining context — not program analog architect)
EOL mitigation and alternate sourcing with documented qualification evidence
Comfort working cross-functionally with mechanical, firmware, test engineering, and manufacturing teams
Altium or team schematic/CAD exposure (sustaining edits and BOM support)
Field / RMA debug experience
Interest in growing directed program EE skills over time (not required at hire)

Responsibilities

Own Arena PLM for hardware scope, revision control, and release documentation.
Maintain sustaining visibility.
Production support, failure analysis, and field issue resolution.
Cost reduction initiatives and alternate vendor qualification.
Execute manufacturing and production test sustaining tasks.
Build documented backup.
Escalate changes or test strategies as needed.
Execute directed schematic/BOM/support tasks - test point additions, sustaining HW changes, prototype support.
Collaborate on manufacturing-testable design inputs.
Partner with Operations, Procurement, Quality, ME, and Program Managers on sustaining intake, prioritization, and PAC visibility.