Senior/Staff Manufacturing Engineer – Advanced Processes

Heron Power
Scotts Valley, US
On-site

Who this role is best for

Manufacturing engineers with hands-on automation and process validation experience will find this advanced process engineering role in power electronics manufacturing.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with 7+ years of high-volume manufacturing and automation experience in power electronics or magnetics
    — “7+ years of experience in high volume manufacturing with a focus on process engineering”
  • Individuals who have led inline inspection and electrical test system development from concept to production
    — “Lead development of inline inspection, process monitoring and automated electrical test across the Transformer Assembly line”
  • Professionals with strong statistical analysis skills and experience in SPC and Cp/Cpk studies
    — “Proficiency in statistical analysis, SPC, Cp/Cpk studies, hypothesis testing and Minitab/JMP”

Things to consider

  • This role demands ownership of complex processes from concept to production ramp
    — “owning them from concept to production ramp”
  • Commitment to hands-on work is essential, with no room for remote-only execution
    — “Hands-one experience deploying automated non-destructive inspection”

How to stand out

  • Highlight experience with high-viscosity potting systems and material optimization
    — “Experience with high-viscosity 1k/2k potting and dispense systems”
  • Emphasize leadership in test method validation and correlation with lab techniques
    — “Lead MSA, Gage R&R and test method validation for inspection and electrical test systems”
  • Showcase skills in ultrasonic, hot plate, and IR welding with inline monitoring
    — “Experience with ultrasonic, hot plate and/or IR welding of plastics”
  • Demonstrate experience with PFMEA and control plan implementation
    — “Experience implementing PFMEA’s, control plans, process flow diagrams”
  • Demonstrate ability to optimize and validate complex manufacturing processes
    — “Demonstrated ability to run DoE’s and optimize complex processes”
Pace · SteadyCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • Developed and deployed high-speed automated inspection systems
  • Led MSA and test method validation
Typical background
Experience in manufacturing engineeringKnowledge of electrical and mechanical systems

Skills & requirements

Required

Manufacturing EngineeringProcess DevelopmentHigh-speed Plastic WeldingElectrical TestingInline Inspection

Preferred

Surface Treatment ProcessesAutomated Electrical Test EquipmentHigh-viscosity Potting

Stack & domain

Manufacturing EngineeringAdvanced ProcessesInline InspectionElectrical Test StrategiesHigh-volume Transformer AssemblyPotting And Dispense SystemsSurface TreatmentHigh-speed Plastic WeldingElectrical TestingAutomationRoboticsPlcsVision SystemsInjection Molding ProcessesToolingCollaborationProblem SolvingTechnical DepthProject ManagementVendor ManagementElectrical EngineeringProcess EngineeringQuality Control

About the role

Original posting from Heron Power via Ashby

WHAT TO EXPECT

Heron Power is a startup company building cutting-edge power electronics for the 21st-century grid. We aim to debottleneck the growth of electricity generation and consumption with scalable, innovative, and less costly hardware solutions, accelerating the electrification of everything.

Our first goal is to build better converters (inverters & rectifiers) to connect large-scale renewables, storage, and loads to the grid. Heron’s leadership team is made up of seasoned veterans who have designed and shipped gigawatts of power conversion products over the past decade.

We understand that no one individual knows everything. We will all learn a lot together and from each other. We strive to build a collaborative, enriching environment conducive to personal, technical, and career growth. You can expect to work in a dynamic and collaborative environment, driven by first principles engineering, solving difficult problems.

JOB OVERVIEW

As a Sr./Staff Manufacturing Engineer - Advanced Processes, Inspection & Test, you will be responsible for developing, testing, deploying and scaling the processes, inline inspection and electrical test strategies that guarantee high process capability at line rate for our high-volume transformer assembly lines. This role spans medium to high viscosity potting and dispense systems, surface treatment, high-speed plastic welding – from void, surface energy and delamination detection to a variety of electrical tests. You will work closely with product, mechanical and electrical design teams early and often through DFM, design processes from a first principles approach and close the feedback loop to ensure both the product and the lines that make it are robust. You will collaborate closely with external suppliers and equipment partners to land scalable, reliable and highly repeatable equipment lines and processes, owning them from concept to production ramp.

HOW YOU WILL CONTRIBUTE

  • Lead development of inline inspection, process monitoring and automated electrical test across the Transformer Assembly line, from concept and vendor selection through FAT/SAT, commissioning, validation and ramp
  • Develop and deploy high-speed automated inspection of potted assemblies for voids, delamination, incomplete fill and cure defects – using technologies such as inline X-ray/CT, ultrasonic, thermography and machine vision
  • Develop surface treatments processes such as atmospheric plasma/corona treatment, solvent/chemical cleaning and adhesion preparation along with inline verification of treatment uniformity and quality (surface energy, contact angle etc)
  • Architect and deploy automated high volume electrical test equipment – capacitance, inductance, DC resistance, conductivity/resistivity, impulse, AC resistance, hipot and partial discharge – including test sequencing, fixturing, shielding/noise control, limit setting to balance cycle time, yield and escape risk
  • Partner with other manufacturing engineers in developing high-viscosity 1k/2k potting and dispense systems, high-speed plastic welding processes like ultrasonic, hot plate and IR welding with robust inline process monitoring and destructive/non-destructive weld validation
  • Lead MSA, Gage R&R and test method validation for inspection and electrical test systems, including golden/limit samples and correlation to lab methods such as sectioning and CT
  • Apply PFMEA, control plans, SPC methodology and structured problem solving to maintain world class process capability
  • Support automation integration with robots, conveyors and inline QA

WHAT YOU WILL BRING

MUST-HAVE REQUIREMENTS

We have a short list of must-have requirements. We prioritize a strong grip on first principles, hands-on skills, and a sense of initiative. Domain-specific knowledge and experience will help determine the career level for each hire.

  • Bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing/Industrial/Mechanical/Electrical/Chemical Engineering
  • 7+ years of experience in high volume manufacturing with a focus on process engineering, inline inspection, production test or automation for electromechanical, power electronics, magnetics or battery products
  • Hands-one experience deploying automated non-destructive inspection (X-ray/Ct, ultrasonic, thermography or vision) to detect voids, delamination or bond-line defects in production
  • Experience developing and validating automated electrical test for high volume production
  • Experience with design, optimization and validation for high-viscosity potting and dispense systems including material supply, metering, mixing, vacuum potting and degassing strategies
  • Experience with surface preparation processes and quantitative surface quality measurement
  • Experience with ultrasonic, hot plate and/or IR welding of plastics, including process monitoring and weld validation
  • Proficiency in statistical analysis, SPC, Cp/Cpk studies, hypothesis testing and Minitab/JMP
  • Demonstrated ability to run DoE’s and optimize complex processes
  • Experience implementing PFMEA’s, control plans, process flow diagrams
  • Hands-on experience with automation, robotics, PLCs and vision systems

NICE TO HAVE

  • Experience with injection molding processes and tooling

If you are passionate about technology and enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, we would love to hear from you. Join us in accelerating the electrification of everything at Heron Power.

Heron Power provides competitive compensation (salary and equity) and benefits. The salary for this role ranges from $130,000 to $180,000 per year.

Source: Heron Power careers (Ashby)

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