Lead Composites Technician, Airframe Manufacturing

Astro Mechanica CORP.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

401(k) program with stock options

Flexible time-off policy

In-office collaboration culture

Job summary

Astro Mechanica in San Francisco is seeking an experienced composites technician leader to stand up and scale a new airframe manufacturing line. You will lead the composite technicians, develop processes, and partner with engineers to translate build plans into on‑the‑floor reality.

Role requires deep hands‑on expertise in prepreg layup, infusion, cure, and bonding, plus proven ability to hire, train, and mentor a growing team while meeting aggressive production targets.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of hands-on composite fabrication in high-performance environments.
• Track record of building and leading a hands-on crew.
• Deep experience with prepreg, wet layup, vacuum bagging, resin infusion, oven/autoclave cure, and bonding.

Responsibilities

• Lead composite technicians on the floor, set workmanship standards, and ensure consistent quality.
• Help build and grow the team through interviewing, onboarding, and training.
• Stand up airframe manufacturing operations from scratch, including facilities, workflows, tooling, and equipment.

Skills

Composite fabrication

Team leadership

Prepreg layup

Vacuum bagging

Cure processes

Bonding & joinery

Tools

Molds & layup tools

CAD drawings

Infusion equipment

Job description

ABOUT US:

Astro Mechanica is a vertically integrated aerospace company building a faster, more connected future. Our mission is to democratize high-speed flight by making supersonic travel flexible, accessible, and sustainable. We believe that rapid, on-demand, point-to-point global mobility will become the new standard for moving people and goods across the planet. To achieve this, we are integrating our advanced airframe and engine technologies—which include Duality™, our proprietary dual-use propulsion system—with a new flight operations model to make supersonic transport as efficient and economical as commercial air travel is today. In the near term, we are developing adaptable, high-speed systems to close aircraft performance gaps for the United States government.

WHO WE ARE:

We’re a team of passionate engineers dedicated to advancing aerospace. We’re generalists with specialist depth, united by a flat structure and a shared obsession with building things that work well. We move fast, stay pragmatic, and let engineering excellence speak louder than hierarchy.

WHO YOU ARE:

You are an experienced composites technician that is excited by the challenge of establishing new processes, growing a highly capable team, and standing up a manufacturing line. You are well versed in a variety of composites manufacturing methods from either aerospace, marine or advanced automotive industries and can quickly and effectively identify which processes and techniques will yield the best results. You are comfortable providing design for manufacturing feedback to engineers and all technical partners. The ideal person for this role will help write the composites manufacturing playbook, not just follow it.

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

• Lead Astro Mechanica’s composite technicians day to day on the floor, setting the standard for workmanship and holding the team to it

• Help build the team: interview candidates, onboard and train new technicians, develop a skills matrix, and grow people into harder work

• Help stand up Astro Mechanica’s airframe manufacturing operation from scratch, including facilities, workflows, tooling concepts, equipment and consumables needs, with a focus on both rapid implementation and future scalability

• Run the daily build: sequence the work, assign the crew, track progress against milestones, and raise blockers before they cost schedule

• Perform and supervise layup, bagging, infusion, cure, bonding, trimming, drilling, and assembly of airframe structure

• Own the condition of molds, layup tools, and assembly fixtures in the shop, and coordinate repair or replacement with the tool design team

• Work shoulder to shoulder with the Airframe Manufacturing Engineers and Airframe Design Engineers to turn build plans into process that actually runs on the floor

• Feed engineering real build data: what is slow, what is fragile, and what the drawing does not account for

• Establish and improve shop practice around material handling, out-time control, kitting, cleanliness, consumables, and cure records

• Check your team’s work in process and at completion, document non-conformances honestly, and help find and fix the cause

• Own safety and housekeeping in the composite shop, including PPE and respirator discipline, chemical handling and storage, and hazard reporting

• Support first article builds and help define what good looks like on parts nobody has made before

• Train the team as new processes and materials come in, and write the documentation that makes those processes repeatable

• Help scale the shop as build rate grows, with a view on headcount, equipment, and floor layout

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

• 10+ years of hands-on composite fabrication in aerospace, defense, marine, motorsports, or another high-performance build environment, with at least 2 of those years directing the work of other technicians

• A track record of building a hands-on crew: interviewing, onboarding, training, setting the workmanship bar, and holding people to it

• Deep personal command of prepreg and wet layup, vacuum bagging, resin infusion, oven and autoclave cure, and secondary bonding

• Practical experience with core materials including honeycomb, foam, and syntactic, covering splicing, potting, and core-to-skin bond quality

• Strong trimming, drilling, sanding, fairing, and fitting skills, plus the judgment to tell when a surface or edge is genuinely good enough

• Experience joining composite detail parts into larger structure: bond prep, adhesive bonding, shimming, and fastener installation

• Comfort working alongside metallic detail parts, weldments, and machined fittings, including composite-to-metal joints

• Care and keeping of molds, layup tools, and assembly fixtures, including prep, release systems, minor repair, and knowing when a tool is no longer fit to build on

• Ability to work directly from engineering drawings, ply books, CAD models, and evolving build definitions

• Ability to write and improve work instructions that a new technician can actually follow

• Experience running builds to a schedule: sequencing the work, staffing it, flagging risk early, and keeping a crew productive

• Ownership of quality at the source, including in-process checks, first article support, and honest records of what was actually built

• Demonstrated experience and strong desire to work closely with engineering on the shop floor, including the confidence to say when a design cannot be built as drawn

• Physically able to do the work: full shifts on your feet, lifting, respirator use, and moving in and around large structures

• Experience standing up a composite shop or a new build cell from scratch, including equipment, consumables, layout, and process

• Time spent in a development or prototype shop where the build definition changed week to week

PERKS & BENEFITS:

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance, including Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)

• 401(k) program and transparent stock option plan

• Self-managed and flexible time-off policy, including PTO, paid holidays, and sick time

• Flexible work environment

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

At Astro Mechanica, we highly value in-office work to foster collaboration and strengthen our company culture. We consider working in the office five days a week an essential part of the employee’s role.

Astro Mechanica is an equal opportunity employer. We proudly recruit and hire a diverse workforce and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.