Harness Manufacturing Engineer
Planet Labs · San Francisco, CA
- Level
- Engineer
- Team
- Manufacturing
- Degree
- Required
- Experience asked
- 4+ years
- Industry
- Aerospace & defense
- Posted
- 22 days ago
The role in 30 seconds
An engineer-level manufacturing role at Planet Labs (aerospace & defense) in San Francisco, CA. As we control every component of hardware design, manufacturing, data processing, and software engineering, our office is a truly inspiring mix of experts from a variety of domains.
- They ask for
- 4+ years · degree required
- Tools it names
- Tooling, SolidWorks, MES
- Day to day
- some off-shift / weekend coverage
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At a glance
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- 1
Pick 2–3 people on the Manufacturing team at Planet Labs
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About the role
About the Role
We are standing up an in-house harness production line, and we are looking for a Harness Manufacturing Engineer to own the manufacturing side of it.
You will own harnesses across every satellite Planet builds. You will work inside the New Product Introduction (NPI) team, which develops and scales the assembly, integration, and test operations for our next generation of satellites, and you will partner closely with our Electrical Engineering harness design team, production technicians, quality, and supply chain to take harnesses from first article through qualified, repeatable flight production.
This role is ideal for someone who wants to build a manufacturing capability from the ground up and enjoys hands-on work with the hardware.
This is a full-time, in-office position based in our San Francisco HQ 5 days per week.
requirements
- ✓Experience reading and creating harness drawings, wiring diagrams, and pinout tables
- ✓Experience with harness design and routing CAD such as RapidHarness or SolidWorks Electrical
- ✓SolidWorks skills sufficient to develop tooling and fixturing, verify routing and bend radius clearance in vehicle assemblies, and extract useful views for work instructions
- ✓Hands-on experience with hardware assembly, integration, and test
- ✓Excellent attention to detail and technical writing skills for documenting assembly and test processes
Requirements
This position requires access to export-controlled information, and as such, employment (or hiring of a contractor) is contingent upon the candidate’s ability to access all applicable export-controlled information without additional export licensing being required by the Bureau of Industry and Security and/or the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.
Show full description ↓Show less ↑
Welcome to Planet. We believe in using space to help life on Earth.
Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest constellation of imaging satellites in history. This constellation delivers an unprecedented dataset of empirical information via a revolutionary cloud-based platform to authoritative figures in commercial, environmental, and humanitarian sectors. We are both a space company and data company all rolled into one.
Customers and users across the globe use Planet's data to develop new technologies, drive revenue, power research, and solve our world’s toughest obstacles.
As we control every component of hardware design, manufacturing, data processing, and software engineering, our office is a truly inspiring mix of experts from a variety of domains.
We have a people-centric approach toward culture and community and we strive to iterate in a way that puts our team members first and prepares our company for growth. Join Planet and be a part of our mission to change the way people see the world.
Planet is a global company with employees working remotely world wide and joining us from offices in San Francisco, Washington DC, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and The Netherlands.
Impact You'll Own
- •Own manufacturing engineering and production operations for Planet’s in-house wire harness cell across all satellite programs
- •Develop and document harness assembly procedures, process flows, work instructions, and cleanroom/ESD protocols
- •Scope, design, and deploy tooling, fixtures, workstations, and verification programs (continuity, HiPot, pull-tests) for the harness cell
- •Partner with Electrical Engineering to provide DFM/DFA feedback on new harness designs prior to release
- •Support vehicle subsystem integration, troubleshoot build issues, and drive nonconformances to resolution
- •Manage the make versus buy transition, including qualifying external vendors and phasing production in-house
- •Participate in hiring and training production technicians to transition builds from prototype to flight production
- •Monitor production metrics and recommend facility or capital equipment improvements to scale capacity
What You Bring
- •4+ years of manufacturing development experience, including direct experience with wire harness or cable assembly manufacturing
- •Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field
- •Hands-on knowledge of harness fabrication, including wire preparation, crimping, solder cup termination, shield termination, backshell installation, and potting
- •Working knowledge of IPC/WHMA-A-620 Class 3 workmanship
What Makes You Stand Out
- •Experience standing up a new manufacturing cell or bringing outsourced assembly processes in-house
- •Familiarity with space flight interconnect standards (e.g., MIL-DTL-83513, MIL-DTL-22520, NASA workmanship standards, NASA Level 2 screening)
- •Experience programming and operating automated test systems (CAMI, Cirris) and specialized processing/crimp tooling (DMC, Schleuniger)
- •Active IPC/WHMA-A-620 certification or Certified IPC Trainer (CIT)
- •Experience with MES/PLM software and executing continuous improvement initiatives in cleanroom environments
Benefits While Working at Planet
These offerings are dependent on employment type and geographical location, based upon applicable law or company policy.
- •Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision plans
- •Health Savings Account (HSA) with a company contribution
- •Generous Paid Time Off in addition to holidays and company-wide days off
- •16 Weeks of Paid Parental Leave
- •Wellness Program and Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
- •Home Office Reimbursement
- •Monthly Phone and Internet Reimbursement
- •Tuition Reimbursement and access to LinkedIn Learning
- •Equity
- •Commuter Benefits (if local to an office)
- •Volunteering Paid Time Off