Advanced Production Test Technician
manufacturing › Production Test · S4 — S4 — Lead Support Specialist · Support
Performs complex pass/fail testing and diagnostic repair on circuit boards and mechanical assemblies with minimal supervision.
Median pay · United States · annual
$58,202 USD
▲ +51.1% vs S1 on this ladder
Typical range ()
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What this role is
Performs complex pass/fail testing and diagnostic repair on circuit boards and mechanical assemblies with minimal supervision. At the Lead Support Specialist (S4) level, the role owns team process and quality, cross-case patterns and process gaps, and drives team-level quality and efficiency. Mentors and coordinates the support team.
What this level does
- Adapts existing test methods and fixtures to handle unfamiliar units, low-yield situations, and unprecedented failure modes where the standard procedure gives no answer.
- Assists engineers in developing manufacturing test strategies, fixtures, and processes, and drives continuous-improvement/lean initiatives to raise test coverage and station throughput.
- Diagnoses complex, intermittent, and cross-station failures, weighing implications for yield and schedule and recommending new solutions rather than just re-testing.
- Determines the setup and test approach for new or one-off assignments, resolving conflicts between test specs, fixture limits, and production pressure.
- Acts as a working lead on the test floor — informally guiding less experienced technicians, allocating test work, and being the go-to for the hardest station problems.
- Knowledge applied
- Extensive knowledge of test procedures and their administration, enough to adapt methods and fixtures in unfamiliar and low-yield situations.
- Complexity & problem solving
- Understands implications of complex/intermittent failures for yield and schedule and recommends new solutions; determines methods for new assignments.
- Collaboration & interaction
- May informally guide and allocate work for less experienced technicians; partners with engineers on test strategy and process improvement.
- Typical experience
- 4–6 years; advanced production-test experience.
Skills at this level
- Test Station Operation (ICT/FCT/ATE)
- — Sets up and operates in-circuit, functional, and automated test equipment — loading test programs, seating PCBAs and assemblies in fixtures, and executing pass/fail runs to the applicable procedure.
- Test Procedure Execution
- — Reviews material and test specifications, confirms the correct pre-established procedure applies, and runs tests in the specified sequence for electronic hardware products.
- Test Documentation and Record-Keeping
- — Produces full and complete test documentation and maintains organized, traceable test records of serial numbers, results, and yields for engineering review.
- Test Equipment Calibration and Setup
- — Performs routine calibration and daily setup checks on test stations and swaps standard fixture components, recognizing when a station drifts out of tolerance.
- Test Data Analysis
- — Assesses production test data to distinguish genuine unit failures from station/fixture faults, identify recurring deficiencies in equipment, and flag corrective actions.
- Test Failure Troubleshooting
- — Isolates the source of a non-routine failure across unit, fixture, test program, and ATE, applying established corrective actions and re-testing to confirm resolution.
- Test Fixture Adaptation and Design
- — Adapts existing fixtures for unfamiliar units and, at the top tier, designs and brings up assembly-level test fixtures for new products and contract-manufacturing sites.
- Test Procedure Authoring
- — Creates and validates new test procedures, calibration routines, and station setup standards for the test area where no established method previously existed.
- Design for Test (DFT) Input
- — Participates in design and test reviews to push testability decisions upstream into product design, improving how easily production units can be tested on the floor.
- Continuous Improvement / Lean on the Test Floor
- — Drives improvements in test coverage, methodology, and station throughput through lean initiatives, reducing false-fail rates and cycle time in the test area.
- NPI Test Readiness
- — Supports new-product introduction and new-line startup by preparing and transferring test processes, fixtures, and programs so a station is qualified before production ramp.
- Test-Floor Work Coordination
- — Allocates and sequences testing tasks across stations and serves as the procedural reference and informal guide for less experienced technicians without formal supervisory authority.
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As of · 2026-07-30
Edition · canon-v2@2.1.0-complete
Source · canon-v2 cell + salary-benchmark (model)
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