Hardware Electronics Engineer

Job Description: Hardware Electronics Engineer (Series Production Support)

Purpose of the Role

Ensure long-term manufacturability and quality of electronic assemblies in series production through qualified component alternatives, up-to-date data, robust changes, and well-founded risk assessments.

Key Responsibilities
-Component and Obsolescence Management
-Identify, select, and evaluate alternative SMD components (electrical/thermal/EMC compatibility, footprint, availability, cost).
-Assess PCN/EOL notifications and derive actions.
-Maintain and align with AVL/approved parts lists.
-Bill of Materials and Data Maintenance (BOM/PLM/ERP)
-Update and maintain bills of materials including attributes, manufacturer and order numbers.
-Manage versioning, traceability, and release of changes in accordance with the ECN/ECR process.
-Ensure consistency between ECAD data, BOM, and manufacturing documentation.
-ECAD and Manufacturing Data
-Proficient use of Altium Designer (schematic/PCB, libraries, variant management).
-Maintain and assure quality of libraries (symbols/footprints per IPC-7351, parameters).
-Generate and review manufacturing data: Gerber/ODB++, drill data, pick-and-place/XY, BOMs, assembly and manufacturing drawings, IPC-2581 if required.
-Risk Assessment and Validation for Changes
-Conduct technical risk analyses (e.g., DFMEA, risk matrix) for deviations caused by alternative components.
-Confidently use a delta qualification matrix to determine necessary verifications/validations (e.g., function, EMC, reliability, environmental/temperature, lifetime).
-Define test plans, organize tests, and document results to substantiate the technical impact.
-Change and Configuration Management
-Structured processing of ECR/ECN, creation of change dossiers, coordination of approvals.
-Ensure compatibility with existing assembly variants and backward compatibility where required.
-Production and Supplier Interfaces
-Provide technical support to manufacturing, test, quality, and procurement (EMS/OEM).
-Clarify manufacturing feedback, conduct failure analyses, and derive corrective and preventive actions.
-Execute DFM/DFT optimizations to stabilize yield, cycle time, and cost.
-Quality, Standards, and Compliance
-Apply relevant standards (e.g., IPC-A-610, IPC-2221/7351), ESD protection, RoHS/REACH.
-Ensure complete and auditable documentation for audits and approvals.
-Continuous Improvement
-Identify cost and supply risks; implement design-to-cost/design-to-availability.
-Monitor KPIs (e.g., on-time ECN, first-pass yield, component availability).

Typical Deliverables
- Updated BOM including alternative approvals and change tracking.
-Complete manufacturing data packages (Gerber/ODB++, pick-and-place, drawings, test specifications).
-Risk and validation documents (delta qualification matrix, DFMEA, test plans/reports).
-Change documentation (ECR/ECN, approval records).

Key Tools and Methods
-Altium Designer (schematic/PCB, libraries, variants).
-PLM/ERP systems for BOM and change management.
-Methods: DFMEA, DFM/DFT, risk matrix, PCN/EOL management, ECN/ECR process.