Casting Technician Hardware

Front Door Defense; Centennial, Northern (CO, KY); Hybrid; USD 48,000 - 63,000; Full time

Job summary

Boom is building a nickel casting unit in-house and this role leads from concept through first heat, reviewing equipment specs, engaging vendors, and commissioning the cell.

You will apply high-melt alloy experience, safety expertise, and hands-on craft to rig and install equipment, run tie-ins, and craft melt procedures for the inaugural heats.

This unique role places you at the center of a new manufacturing capability with strong ownership over safety, quality, and the very first pours.

Qualifications

• 5+ years hands-on foundry or melt shop experience, including pouring heats.
• Experience with nickel or cobalt superalloys, and vacuum melting (VIM) a strong plus.
• Strong mechanical craft: tools, rigging, alignment, assembly, and maintenance ownership.
• Fluent understanding of utilities feeding a furnace: power, cooling, air, vacuum, inert gas.
• Deep molten-metal safety knowledge, especially water/molten-metal hazards.

Responsibilities

• Guide the buildout of Boom's casting unit from concept to first heat: layout, reviews, vendor engagement, installation, commissioning, shakedown.
• Bring hot-metal judgment to design decisions: crucible practices, mold handling, preheat, pour practice, moisture control.
• Turn wrenches: rig and set equipment, run utility tie-ins (power, water, air, vacuum, inert gas), assemble and align.
• Own safety foresight: identify hazards and help specify interlocks, containment, and emergency response for the cell.
• Write and validate the unit's first melt and pour procedures, maintenance plans, and spares systems; improve them.
• Execute melt and pour operations as the unit comes online, with documentation that survives audits.

Skills

Foundry hands-on experience

Melt pour experience

Nickel or cobalt alloy experience

Machinery setup & maintenance

Safety risk assessment

Technical communication

Job description

Casting Technician

Lead the design, installation, and commissioning of Boom's in-house nickel casting unit

Location: Centennial, Colorado

Compensation: $35 - 46 USD / hour

About The Role

Boom Foundry Technician

Boom is building supersonic jet engines out of nickel superalloys - some of the most demanding metals in aerospace - and we're bringing casting capability in-house. Our first casting capability is currently being installed and activated and this role immediately engages as a key participant during commissioning and then leads the hands-on portion of the first pour.

The rarest kind of foundry job

At an established foundry, you inherit the furnace, the procedures, the interlocks, and the layout - all of it decided years before you arrived. You run the standard, and the interesting decisions belong to someone else.

This is not that job.

At Boom you'll be in the room while a casting unit is still lines on a drawing - reviewing equipment specs and cell layouts, catching the safety and process problems before they get built, running utility tie-ins, rigging furnaces into place, and writing the first melt procedures. Then you'll be the one making the first heats. The unit will pour the way you built it to.

What you'll do

• Guide the buildout of Boom's casting unit from concept to first heat: layout and spec reviews, vendor engagement, installation, commissioning, and shakedown
• Bring hot-metal judgment to design decisions: crucible and refractory practice, mold handling and preheat, pour practice, charge handling and moisture control
• Turn wrenches: rig and set equipment, run utility tie-ins with facilities - power, cooling water, compressed air, vacuum, inert gas - assemble, align, leak-check, and shake down
• Own safety foresight: identify water/molten-metal interfaces and other hazards at the drawing stage; help specify interlocks, containment, and emergency response for the cell
• Write and validate the unit's first melt and pour procedures, maintenance plans, and spares systems - then improve them
• Execute melt and pour operations as the unit comes online, with documentation that survives scrutiny
• Work shoulder-to-shoulder with engineers as a peer - flag manufacturing issues early, push back with specifics, and help the team make good decisions

This job is demanding

The procedures you need are first iterations - you'll help us improve them pour over pour. The equipment you'll run is complex but it is the same equipment you just helped commission and test. The metal you'll pour is unforgiving of moisture, contamination, and shortcuts, so your experience and judgement are key inputs to help the team produce high quality parts safely. This team loves feedback and if a layout, spec, or design is going to cause a manufacturing problem we want to hear it early and often so we can solve it together.

You probably have

• 5+ years of hands-on foundry or melt shop experience, including personally melting and pouring heats
• High-melt alloy experience - nickel or cobalt superalloys, steels, or titanium; vacuum melting (VIM) experience is a strong plus
• Real mechanical craft: tools, rigging, alignment, assembly, and preventive maintenance ownership
• Working fluency in the utilities that feed a furnace: electrical power and controls, cooling water, compressed air, vacuum systems, and inert gas
• Deep, specific molten-metal safety knowledge - especially the water/molten-metal hazard and how to design and operate against it
• Experience installing, rebuilding, or commissioning furnace or casting equipment
• Proven ability to communicate equally well with engineers and technicians alike and robust documentation habits that would survive an audit of melts and pours.

It would be great if you have

• Investment casting exposure: shell handling, dewax, mold preheat, and mold handling at temperature
• Vacuum systems depth: leak detection, pump rebuilds, gauging and interlocks
• Refractory installation or furnace rebuild/reline experience
• Experience in an AS9100/NADCAP aerospace environment
• Crane, rigging, or forklift certifications; formal electrical, millwright, or maintenance training
• Experience on a greenfield buildout, line relocation, or major capacity installation
• Experience in an R&D, prototype, or startup-pace environment

Why Boom

Boom's engines are being designed, built, and tested under one roof - and the casting unit that pours their hottest parts is about to be built the same way. There is no version of this role at an established foundry where a technician's judgment shapes the cell itself: the layout, the safety basis, the procedures, and the first heat all carry your fingerprints, and the parts poured there will fly.

Compensation

The Base Rate for this position is $35- $46 per hour. Actual rate will vary based on factors including but not limited to location, experience, and performance. The range listed is just one component of Boom's total rewards package for employees. Other rewards may include long term incentives/equity, a flexible PTO policy, and many other progressive benefits. There is no set deadline to apply for this job opportunity. Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the search is no longer active.

ITAR Requirement

To conform to U.S. Government aerospace technology export regulations (ITAR and EAR), applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about ITAR here.

Boom is an equal opportunity employer, including for individuals with disabilities and protected veterans. We are building a culture of merit and excellence.

Want to build a faster future? Come join Boom.