Lead Aerospace Wire Harness Technician

Dayton T. Brown•Bohemia, NY

4d•Onsite

About The Position

Dayton T. Brown, Inc. is seeking an experienced Lead Wire Harness Technician to join our Technical Services Division. This role involves establishing and leading a new wire harness assembly operation for complex military and aerospace programs. The successful candidate will be responsible for reviewing technical drawings, defining manufacturing processes, selecting tooling and equipment, setting up production areas, procuring materials and tooling, and developing processes for high-quality wire harness assemblies. Once established, the individual will serve as the technical and program lead, remaining hands-on in production, building and troubleshooting assemblies, training technicians, interfacing with Quality and Engineering, supporting customer requirements, and providing technical leadership. The ideal candidate has extensive experience in high-reliability aerospace or defense cable and wire harness manufacturing, with strong knowledge of associated tooling, processes, workmanship, inspection, and testing. Strong organizational and communication skills are essential for establishing a scalable manufacturing capability. The role involves collaboration with Purchasing, Quality, Operations, Program Management, and customers. Overtime and travel may be required.

Requirements

Demonstrated ability to interpret complex engineering drawings, wiring diagrams, wire lists, bills of material (BOMs), specifications, and manufacturing requirements.
Strong working knowledge of IPC/WHMA-A-620 workmanship and inspection requirements.
Experience working to SAE AS50881 or comparable aerospace wiring requirements.
Extensive hands-on experience with aerospace wire harness manufacturing processes including: Wire cutting, stripping, preparation, and routing; Precision crimping and contact termination; Connector assembly and contact insertion/extraction; Shielding, overbraid, and EMI/RFI back shell termination; Solder sleeves and heat-shrink components; Coaxial cable termination; Twinax and/or quadrax termination; Harness identification and labeling; Harness layout and build-board/template development.
Demonstrated knowledge of crimp tooling, dies, turrets, positioners, insertion/extraction tools, and associated inspection/calibration requirements.
Experience with crimp pull testing and process validation.
Ability to establish manufacturing processes, work instructions, travelers, tooling requirements, and inspection/test processes for new harness assemblies.
Experience supporting material procurement, tooling selection, manufacturing planning, and production readiness activities.
Ability to troubleshoot manufacturing issues and provide hands-on technical directions to other technicians.
Strong communication skills with the ability to interact effectively with internal teams and external customers.
Demonstrated experience working with Microsoft Office applications.
Ability to work in an on-site manufacturing environment.
Minimum High School diploma REQUIRED.
US Citizenship
Minimum 10+ years of direct hands-on experience manufacturing complex aerospace, defense, or other high-reliability cable and wire harness assemblies.
IPC/WHMA-A-620 certification.
IPC J-STD-001 certification.
Ability to determine appropriate manufacturing tooling and equipment based upon engineering drawings, component requirements, and manufacturer specifications.

Nice To Haves

Experience with automated wire harness test equipment such as Cirris or equivalent is highly desirable.
Experience leading technicians, manufacturing teams, or aerospace production programs is highly desirable.
Experience with military aircraft wiring systems, MIL-spec connectors, MIL-STD-1553 data bus assemblies, and other defense/aerospace interconnect systems is highly desirable.

Responsibilities

Reviewing technical drawing packages
Defining manufacturing processes
Identifying and selecting required tooling and equipment
Establishing production work areas
Supporting material and tooling procurement
Developing processes for high-quality aerospace wire harness assemblies
Serving as the technical and program lead for wire harness manufacturing activities
Building and troubleshooting harness assemblies
Training future technicians
Interfacing with Quality and Engineering personnel
Supporting customer requirements
Providing technical leadership throughout the manufacturing process
Performing and/or overseeing electrical continuity, open/short, and miswire testing of completed harness assemblies
Establishing manufacturing processes, work instructions, travelers, tooling requirements, and inspection/test processes for new harness assemblies
Supporting material procurement, tooling selection, manufacturing planning, and production readiness activities
Troubleshooting manufacturing issues and providing hands-on technical directions to other technicians
Interacting effectively with internal teams and external customers
Leading technicians, manufacturing teams, or aerospace production programs (highly desirable)