Sr Principal Engineer

Northrop Grumman • Plymouth, MN

2d • $123,400 - $185,000

About The Position

The Sr Principal SMT Production Engineer serves as a technical leader and manufacturing-process owner for Surface Mount Technology (SMT), Circuit Card Assembly (CCA), conformal coating, automated soldering, and related inspection processes. The role oversees production-process performance and provides Design for Manufacturability and Assembly (DFM/DFA) input so CCA designs can be produced safely, reliably, repeatedly, and cost-effectively.

The engineer improves quality, yield, throughput, capacity, and manufacturing cost through process optimization, automation, and evaluation and implementation of equipment and technologies. The role supports product and program execution through manufacturing planning, build documentation, production-readiness activities, issue resolution, and coordination across Engineering, Quality, Operations, Supply Chain, Test, and Program Management. The position requires hands-on work with hardware and production equipment in a manufacturing environment.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related engineering discipline.
• At least 8 years of experience in a relevant design and manufacturing environment, or a master’s degree plus at least 6 years of experience.
• Significant manufacturing, production, process, or industrial engineering experience in a complex manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated experience with SMT and CCA manufacturing processes, including equipment, materials, and defect-resolution methods.
• Experience providing DFM/DFA or producibility input for electronic hardware.
• Experience leading technical projects, process-improvement initiatives, equipment implementations, and/or cross-functional teams.
• Demonstrated ability to investigate complex manufacturing issues and lead root-cause analysis and corrective-action activities.
• Experience developing manufacturing documentation, including work instructions, process specifications, and build documentation.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to convey technical information to production personnel, engineers, program teams, suppliers, and leadership.
• Ability to work hands-on with hardware and production equipment in a manufacturing environment.
• Ability to obtain and maintain the required security clearance for the position; U.S. citizenship may be required based on program and clearance requirements.

Nice To Haves

• Advanced knowledge of SMT process development and control, including solder-paste printing, component placement, thermal profiling, reflow, cleaning, inspection, rework, and repair.
• Experience with conformal-coating materials and processes, including application, masking, curing, inspection, process qualification, and defect resolution.
• Experience with automated soldering technologies and automated inspection systems.
• Experience with solder-paste inspection (SPI), automated optical inspection (AOI), X-ray inspection, machine vision, robotics, and/or manufacturing-data acquisition.
• Working knowledge of applicable J-STD, IPC, MIL-STD, customer, and workmanship requirements.
• Experience conducting DFM/DFA reviews for complex CCAs and electronic assemblies.
• Experience developing equipment specifications, performing technical trade studies, preparing capital-equipment business cases, and calculating return on investment (ROI).
• Experience with capacity planning, line balancing, equipment utilization, production-rate ramp-up, and manufacturing-cell design.
• Familiarity with SPC, DOE, Six Sigma, Process FMEA, gage R&R, equipment qualification, First Article Inspection, and mistake-proofing.
• Experience using production metrics and data analytics to improve yield, throughput, quality, and cost.
• Experience supporting Production Readiness Reviews, new-product introduction, prototype builds, and transition to production.
• Strong organizational, project-management, technical-writing, and presentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a senior technical lead and process owner for SMT, CCA production, conformal coating, automated soldering, and associated inspection processes.
• Provide hands-on technical support to production personnel, manufacturing supervision, process engineering, quality engineering, and design engineering.
• Monitor and improve process capability, first-pass yield, defect rates, throughput, equipment utilization, and overall production performance.
• Troubleshoot complex equipment, material, process, and product issues; lead failure investigations, root-cause analysis, and corrective-action implementation.
• Establish and maintain process controls using tools such as Statistical Process Control, Design of Experiments, Process FMEA, mistake-proofing, measurement-system analysis, and equipment qualification.
• Support compliance with applicable J-STD, IPC, MIL-STD, customer, program, safety, and configuration requirements.
• Develop and maintain process documentation, work instructions, build books, manufacturing plans, equipment settings, inspection criteria, and training materials.
• Partner with production and quality organizations to ensure processes are repeatable, controlled, documented, and sustainable.
• Review CCA designs and provide DFM/DFA feedback on component selection, PCB layout, panelization, solder-joint formation, thermal considerations, inspection access, conformal coating, testability, repairability, and automation.
• Work with electrical, mechanical, components, quality, and test engineering to resolve producibility risks before release to manufacturing.
• Participate in design reviews and Manufacturing Readiness Reviews, identifying process risks, capacity constraints, tooling needs, and manufacturing-development requirements.
• Support prototype and first-build activities, capture lessons learned, and incorporate improvements into designs and production documentation.
• Develop manufacturing approaches that consider long-term quality, repeatability, supply-chain considerations, production volume, and total cost.
• Identify, evaluate, and implement manufacturing equipment and technologies that improve quality, yield, capacity, throughput, ergonomics, or cost.
• Develop technical and business justifications for capital equipment, including requirements, alternatives, cost estimates, expected benefits, return on investment, implementation risks, and production impact.
• Lead or support equipment selection, factory acceptance, installation, qualification, validation, documentation, training, and transition to production.
• Develop and support automated soldering and inspection solutions, including equipment integration and process optimization.
• Evaluate automated optical inspection, solder-paste inspection, automated soldering, vision systems, robotic handling, data collection, and other advanced manufacturing technologies.
• Support capacity analysis, equipment loading, line balancing, production-rate increases, and manufacturing ramp-up planning.
• Coordinate preventive maintenance, calibration, software, tooling, spare-parts, and sustainment strategies with appropriate support organizations.
• Use production data and key performance indicators to identify and prioritize improvement opportunities.
• Lead continuous-improvement projects focused on defect prevention, cycle-time reduction, yield improvement, capacity, labor efficiency, material utilization, and manufacturing cost.
• Develop implementation plans, quantify expected benefits, obtain stakeholder support, and advocate for required funding and resources.
• Establish measurable success criteria and verify that improvements deliver and sustain expected results.
• Use manufacturing data and analytics to identify trends, predict issues, and improve process control.
• Represent SMT manufacturing for assigned products, product lines, or programs and act as a primary manufacturing-engineering contact for assigned hardware within the production cell.
• Coordinate manufacturing activities across Design Engineering, Quality, Operations, Supply Chain, Test, Program Management, and other supporting functions.
• Support engineering-development, qualification, pilot, and production builds of CCAs and related electromechanical hardware.
• Create and maintain build books and other manufacturing documentation needed for hardware execution.
• Estimate and document non-recurring engineering and manufacturing costs associated with product introduction, process development, tooling, equipment, and production readiness.
• Support disposition of discrepant hardware and resolution of manufacturing-related nonconformances.
• Communicate manufacturing status, risks, recovery plans, and improvement activities to program and functional leadership.
• Lead or support production, yield, readiness, status, and problem-resolution meetings for technical and leadership audiences.
• Perform additional manufacturing-engineering and program-support duties based on production and business needs.

Benefits

• Health insurance coverage
• Life insurance
• Disability insurance
• Savings plan
• Company-paid holidays
• Paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business
• Employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus, depending on the position.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior