CNC Setup Machinist Mills Lathes

Complete Metal Design Inc.; Glendora (CA); On-site; USD 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and dental

Paid time off

401(k) / CalSavers

Stable, growing shop

Ownership of work

Job summary

Complete Metal Design Inc. is seeking a CNC Setup Machinist in California. The role centers on fast, accurate setups for mill and lathe work, dialing in the first piece from a setup sheet, and verifying it against print before production starts.

When needed, you will run production and manage tool wear, offsets, and process inspection to maintain tight tolerances. You will train operators and collaborate with programmers to improve setups.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of hands-on CNC experience with real setup time on both mills and lathes
• Strong workholding fundamentals and ability to dial in first piece from a setup sheet
• Comfortable at the control: touching off tools, setting offsets, and making small edits at the machine
• Solid grasp of speeds, feeds, tool selection, and aluminum/steel/non-ferrous behavior
• Read prints and interpret GD&T well enough to verify first piece matches spec
• Fast without being sloppy; this seat is measured on setup quality and turnaround
• Reliable, organized, and communicates cleanly with programmers and operators

Responsibilities

• Setup the job from the programmer's setup sheet, tool list, and notes, and prove it out before production
• Build workholding (vises, chucks, soft jaws, fixtures) and dial it in accurately
• Load tools, touch off, set offsets, stage the program, and run the first piece
• Hand off cleanly to the operator and explain any gaps in paperwork
• Flag mismatches and involve the programmer for fixes
• Keep tooling areas organized to minimize waste of time
• Run short/hot production when needed, manage tool wear and adjust offsets
• Inspect in-process with calipers, micrometers, indicators, and height gauges
• Move between mill and lathe as schedule demands
• Document process notes and help train operators and junior setup people

Skills

CNC setup

Mills and Lathes

GD&T

Print reading

Organization

Communication

Job description

The Role

Complete Metal Design is hiring a CNC Setup Machinist for our mill and lathe departments. This is a setup-first role. Your main job is getting machines dialed in: our programmer hands you a proven job with a setup sheet, tool list, and program notes, and you build the setup, verify the first piece is on print, and get the job running clean.

Most of the time, once a job is proven and stable, an operator takes it from there and you move to the next setup. But this isn't a setup-only seat — when the schedule calls for it, you'll run production too. Short runs, hot jobs, or days when setups are caught up, you're on a machine making parts.

If you take pride in a tight, fast setup and don't mind running the job you just dialed in when the shop needs it, this is your seat.

What You'll Do

Setup (the main job)

• Read the setup sheet, tool list, and program notes from the programmer and execute the setup as proven.
• Build the workholding — vises, chucks, soft jaws, fixtures — and dial it in accurately.
• Load tools, touch off, set tool and work offsets, and stage the program.
• Run the first piece, measure it against the print, and confirm dimensions before the job goes into production.
• Hand off cleanly to the operator running the job — walk them through anything that isn't in the paperwork.
• Flag anything that doesn't match the proveout and pull the programmer back in when the process needs a real fix.
• Keep tooling, workholding, and staging areas organized so setups don't waste time.

Running production (the smaller part)

• Run short jobs, hot jobs, and production when setups are caught up.
• Manage tool wear, swap inserts, and adjust offsets to hold tolerance through the run.
• Inspect in-process with calipers, micrometers, indicators, and height gauges.

Across both

• Move between the mill and lathe side as the schedule demands.
• Document process notes that help the next person on the job.
• Help train operators and newer setup people.

Who Fits

• 3+ years of hands-on CNC experience with real setup time on both mills and lathes — not just running parts someone else set up.
• Strong on workholding fundamentals and confident dialing in a first piece from a setup sheet.
• Comfortable at the control: touching off tools, setting offsets, making small edits at the machine.
• Solid grasp of speeds, feeds, tool selection, and how aluminum, steel, stainless, and non-ferrous metals behave.
• Read prints and interpret GD&T well enough to verify a first piece matches spec.
• Fast without being sloppy — this seat is measured on setup quality and turnaround.
• Reliable, organized, and communicates cleanly with programmers and operators.

Even Better If You've Got

• CNC lathe live tooling setup experience.
• Multi-axis (4-axis or 5-axis) setup experience.
• Aerospace or other tight-tolerance production background.
• Experience training operators or junior setup people.
• Bilingual English / Spanish.

What We Offer

• Competitive pay based on experience
• Health and dental
• Paid time off and holidays
• 401(k) / CalSavers
• Stable, growing shop with a mix of prototype, production, and aerospace work
• A team that treats setup as a real trade and gives you ownership of your work