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Supplier Quality Engineer (I, II, Senior I, Senior II) - PCBA

Rocket Lab · Long Beach, CA

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Level
Senior
Team
Quality
Degree
Required (or equivalent experience)
Experience asked
2+ years
Industry
Aerospace & defense
Posted
30+ days ago

The role in 30 seconds

A senior quality role at Rocket Lab (aerospace & defense) in Long Beach, CA.

They ask for
2+ years · degree required (or equivalent experience)
Tools it names
Root cause, GD&T, AS9100, Supplier quality, Painting / coating

Read from the posting. The full description is below.

It asks for 2+ years. If you're close, apply anyway: requirements are a wish list. Talk to someone on the team first.

At a glance

Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.

Your game plan for this job

Most people just hit Apply. Do these first and you show up with someone on the inside.

  1. 1

    Find 2–3 people on the Quality team at this site

    Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply most.

  2. 2

    Send a short, curious note

    Ask about the work, not for a referral. We write it for you.

  3. 3

    Have a 15-minute chat

    Good questions for this role:

    • What does a normal week look like on your team?
    • Which standards drive the work here: ISO 13485, IATF 16949, AS9100?
    • How much of the job is customer complaints versus prevention?
    • How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
  4. 4

    Apply, ideally with a referral

    Ask if they'd refer you or introduce you to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link and tell them the day you apply.

  5. 5

    Bring proof to the interview

    One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.

About the role

requirements

for procured parts, services, and processes are achieved. Working as a liaison between internal design/manufacturing stakeholders and suppliers, you translate technical

requirements

into clear specifications, drive supplier improvement, and manage the competing priorities between customers and suppliers.

  • ✓*(This position can be hired as a Supplier Quality Engineer (I, II, Senior I, Senior II) - PCBA**

requirements

to the supply base.

  • ✓Scope advanced depaneling (cutting), optical inspection (AOI), and X-ray inspection technologies that improve rate, quality, or efficiency.
  • ✓Drive root cause resolution on assigned part issues; implement changes at suppliers or internally and pursue re-sourcing where warranted.
  • ✓Create and disposition Nonconformance tickets; coordinate rework, repair, or use-as-is dispositions with engineering.
  • ✓Lead containment activities on assigned parts — define scope, align cross-functional stakeholders, and drive to resolution.

requirements

(ionic contamination testing, no-clean vs. wash processes).

  • ✓Understanding of component qualification and counterfeit parts mitigation (AS5553, AS6081).
  • ✓Familiarity with ESD controls, handling requirements, and MSL compliance (IPC/JEDEC J-STD-033).
  • ✓Experience with electronics-specific quality systems and NADCAP Electronics accreditation.
Show full description ↓

About rocket lab

Rocket Lab is the end-to-end space company building rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems that keep the world connected, protected, expand humanity’s reach to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. We move fast, build real hardware for meaningful missions, and make the impossible routine. Come shape the future with us.

Supply chain

Rocket Lab’s Supply Chain team is responsible for the flow of all materials, products, and components through the business. With many of our own products functioning as critical components to our own and our customers’ missions, the Supply Chain team has a direct impact on the success of our rocket and satellite programs. They set up the assembly kits that enables our technicians to put together our Electron rockets, manage inventory, look after shipping and receiving, manage direct and indirect procurement, and inspect and ensure that all of our materials and products are compliant and up to standard. They are the chain that links our teams together, and are critical to our success.

SUPPLIER QUALITY ENGINEER (I, II, Senior I, Senior II) - PCBA

Based out of Rocket Lab's headquarters in Long Beach, CA, the Supplier Quality Engineer (I, II, Senior I, Senior II) - PCBA role is responsible for ensuring quality

What you'll get to do

  • •Serve as the technical point of contact for assigned parts and assemblies, solving emergent supplier quality challenges and mitigating risk to the manifest.
  • •Own production components and assemblies end-to-end — driving improvements in manufacturing methods, identifying new suppliers, and developing reliable rate-ramp processes.
  • •Conduct DFM reviews to ensure parts are manufacturable, preferably prior to sourcing.
  • •Partner with procurement to vet suppliers for quality capability and takt time alignment.
  • •Author and flow down specifications translating Rocket Lab quality and manufacturing

You’ll bring as a supplier quality engineer i - pcba

  • •Experience in a regulated industry: Aerospace, Medical, Automotive, or similar.
  • •Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Aerospace, Mechatronic Engineering, or equivalent.
  • •Prior experience in a supplier quality role.
  • •Proficiency with GD&T and engineering drawing interpretation.

You’ll bring as a supplier quality engineer ii - pcba

  • •Minimum 2 years' experience in a regulated industry: Aerospace, Medical, Automotive, or similar.
  • •Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Aerospace, Mechatronic Engineering, or equivalent.
  • •Prior experience in a supplier quality role.
  • •Proficiency with GD&T and engineering drawing interpretation.

You’ll bring as a senior supplier quality engineer i - pcba

  • •Minimum 5 years' experience in a regulated industry: Aerospace, Medical, Automotive, or similar.
  • •Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Aerospace, Mechatronic Engineering, or equivalent.
  • •Prior experience in a supplier quality role.
  • •Proficiency with GD&T and engineering drawing interpretation.

You’ll bring as a senior supplier quality engineer ii - pcba

  • •Minimum 8 years' experience in a regulated industry: Aerospace, Medical, Automotive, or similar.
  • •Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Aerospace, Mechatronic Engineering, or equivalent.
  • •Prior experience in a supplier quality role.
  • •Proficiency with GD&T and engineering drawing interpretation.

Would be nice to have

  • +PCB / PCBA Electronics-Specific
  • +PCB fabrication processes: lamination, drilling, plating, surface finish (ENIG, HASL, immersion silver), and solder mask application.
  • +PCBA assembly processes: SMT (reflow, paste inspection, placement), through-hole, selective soldering, wave soldering, and hand soldering per IPC-A-610.
  • +IPC standards fluency: IPC-A-600, IPC-A-610, IPC-7711/21, IPC-6012; ability to apply acceptability criteria directly in supplier audits and NCR disposition.
  • +First article and qualification processes for PCBs and PCBAs including UL certification, material traceability, and layer stack-up verification.
  • +Test methods for electronics: ICT, flying probe, functional test, X-ray inspection, AOI, and conformal coating inspection.
  • +Failure analysis techniques relevant to electronics: cross-sectioning, SEM/EDS, delamination/intermetallic analysis.
  • +Cleanliness and contamination control

Shared across all sqe roles

  • •Structured problem-solving experience using 8D, A3, or equivalent RCA methodology.
  • •Familiarity with AS9100 quality management systems; exposure to NADCAP special proc

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