This is an exciting opportunity to join a fast-growing startup in the aerospace/defense industry as an Industrial / Manufacturing Engineer. This position will support day-to-day manufacturing engineering activities as the organization scales prototype and low-rate production. This is a highly hands-on, floor-focused role embedded within the Manufacturing Engineering team, responsible for developing the layouts, standards, processes, and Lean infrastructure needed to keep production organized, repeatable, and efficient—including how hardware is kitted, staged, presented, and replenished at the line.
You’ll help transform a fast-moving production environment into standardized, well-documented, and continuously improving workflows. From optimizing work cell layouts and establishing standard work to implementing Lean improvements and point-of-use material systems, your work will have a direct and visible impact on the production floor—often within days of implementation.
Responsibilities
- Develop and maintain facility, work cell, and production floor layouts in AutoCAD, optimizing equipment placement, material flow, and space utilization.
- Conduct time studies and work measurements to establish labor standards, identify bottlenecks, and support line balancing and capacity planning.
- Develop standard work combination sheets and standardized work documentation, accurately capturing manual, machine, and walk time relative to takt time.
- Lead and support Lean manufacturing initiatives, including 5S implementation, shadow board design and development, and visual management across production work centers.
- Design and optimize hardware kitting processes, including kit layouts, point-of-use presentation, and staging strategies to improve assembly flow and minimize line-side searching.
- Establish and maintain vendor-managed inventory (VMI) programs for hardware and consumables, including bin/Kanban sizing, min/max levels, replenishment triggers, and point-of-use stocking in partnership with Supply Chain and suppliers.
- Design point-of-use tooling, hardware organization, and workstation layouts to improve process repeatability, ergonomics, efficiency, and error-proofing.
- Analyze cycle time, throughput, capacity, and other production data to identify improvement opportunities and drive continuous improvement and Kaizen activities.
- Partner cross-functionally with Production, Quality, and Engineering to identify and implement process improvements directly on the manufacturing floor.
- Maintain accurate process and manufacturing documentation with appropriate revision control and change management.
- Perform additional duties and support special projects as assigned.
Requirements And Desired Experience
- Bachelor's degree in Industrial, Manufacturing, or Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent
- At least 2 years of experience as an industrial or manufacture engineer in a production environment
- Proficiency in AutoCAD for facility, work cell, and production floor layout development.
- Demonstrated experience conducting time studies and work measurement to establish labor standards and improve production efficiency.
- Experience developing standard work documentation and standard work combination sheets.
- Working knowledge of Lean manufacturing principles and tools, including 5S, visual management, shadow boards, and Kaizen.
- Strong attention to detail, analytical skills, and a willingness to spend significant time on the manufacturing floor supporting process improvements.
- Experience with hardware kitting, line-side material replenishment, and vendor-managed inventory (VMI) or Kanban systems a plus
- Experience using time-study, work measurement, or standard work software tools a plus
- Experience in a startup or high-mix, low-volume manufacturing environment a plus
- Familiar with ISO 9001 or AS9100 environments a plus
- Must be a US citizen, able to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance
Pay Rate (DOE)
$55.00 - $70.00 per hour