Electronics Bench Technician

Job Title: Electronics Bench Technician (PCB Assembly, Rework and Prototype Build)
Location: Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
Salary: £35,000 to £50,000 plus benefits, depending on experience
Working Pattern: On site 4.5 days a week (half day Friday), with the odd day at home for paperwork

Every so often a role lands on my desk that I'd describe, without a shred of exaggeration, as a proper once in a career opportunity, and this is one of them.

Our client is an R&D led technology business near Milton Keynes. They are working on a concept that one of the largest technology firms on the planet tried to crack about ten years ago and failed. The idea wasn't wrong; the technology of the day simply wasn't up to it. A decade on, the advances in electronics have caught up, and with a genuinely remarkable team of engineers our client is making it work. What they are building will change how a great deal of the technical world operates.

The business is past the theory stage. Their first product is about to enter production, and several more are coming through the prototype phase behind it. There are a number of design engineers producing proof of concept boards at the same time, and all of them need building, testing and modifying quickly. Waiting weeks for a prototype house to populate a board isn't an option, so the work is done in house, by hand, and that's where you come in.

You'll be the right hand of a highly experienced senior technician who has been doing this for the best part of four decades. Put simply, he needs a second pair of skilled hands, somebody he can give a job to with confidence and know it'll come back done properly.

This is a hands on bench technician role. Your skill with a soldering iron matters far more to them than certificates on the wall. Day to day you'll be:

• Populating PCBs by hand from scratch, both through hole and surface mount, down to 0201 and on boards with up to 3oz copper planes
• Reworking, repairing and modifying PCB assemblies using specialist soldering, rework and inspection equipment
• Working under a microscope as needed
• Building test equipment and test fixtures, including bed of nails rigs
• Making up cable looms and wiring harnesses to specification, fitting wires and crimping terminals
• Doing box builds and mechanical assembly and disassembly of products
• Working accurately from BOMs, assembly drawings and work instructions
• Recording inspection and rework results and documenting your work properly
• Sourcing BOM components, using online ordering portals and raising purchase orders
• Following ESD procedures and keeping your workstation clean and well organised
• Supporting the wider engineering team with whatever turns up, which will vary from day to day

What You'll Need

• Solid, demonstrable experience of PCB assembly, hand soldering and rework, both PTH and SMD
• A good understanding of component polarity and orientation, and a real eye for detail
• Experience of wiring, cable looms, box builds or test equipment fabrication
• Confidence with standard test equipment and hand tools
• The resourcefulness to take on something you haven't seen before, work it out and get it done without being led by the hand
• Good organisation, and the ability to juggle a workload whose priorities change regularly
• Awareness of health and safety and ESD good practice
• Working knowledge of MS Office, Excel and Word in particular

Desirable, but not essential:

• BGA rework experience
• IPC or J STD certification
• Familiarity with Altium Viewer (training can be provided)
• A background in R&D, prototype, defence, aerospace, automotive, medical or similar high reliability environments

There will be a practical soldering assessment at interview. I'd encourage anyone thinking of applying to treat it as a chance to show what they can do rather than something to fret about. You'll be judged on what you say you can do, so be honest on your CV and you'll be absolutely fine. You don't need to have done every item on that list, either. If you can cover a good chunk of it and have the appetite to learn the rest, you'll be shown the ropes by somebody who knows this trade inside out.

What's On Offer

• A salary of £35,000 to £50,000, depending on skills and experience
• 25 days' holiday plus bank holidays
• Half day Fridays and a degree of flexibility around working hours
• Support to develop your skills and gain recognised qualifications
• Varied and genuinely interesting work, where no two days are the same
• A seat at the bench in a small, friendly and fast growing team, at the point where the technology goes from prototype to production

The role would suit a seasoned technician who wants their craft to count for something again, and it would equally suit a bright, driven technician earlier in their career who has good hands and wants to learn from the best. Either way, if you're the sort who takes pride in a tidy joint and can't leave a problem alone until it's sorted, this is for you.

How to Apply

Our client has engaged KO2, a specialist electronics and embedded engineering recruitment consultancy based in Harrogate, to handle this appointment exclusively.