Lead Harness Manufacturing Engineer - Defense Systems

Castelion Corporation; Torrance, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous benefits package

Job summary

Castelion is seeking a Lead Manufacturing Engineer to own the development, qualification, and scaling of wiring harness manufacturing for defense systems, guiding in-house and supplier capabilities from prototype to high-rate production.

This role will serve as the technical manufacturing lead for harnessing, driving both in-house and supplier capabilities from prototype development through high-rate production in support of next-generation defense systems.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Manufacturing, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 4+ years of manufacturing engineering experience in wiring harnesses, cable assemblies, electrical integration, or electromechanical hardware.
• Demonstrated experience owning manufacturing processes and scaling hardware from prototype through production.
• Strong hands-on technical capability and ability to lead engineers and technicians through complex manufacturing challenges.
• Must be authorized to work in the U.S. and comply with ITAR eligibility requirements.

Responsibilities

• Manufacturing Process Ownership – own harness manufacturing processes from incoming material through fabrication, inspection, electrical test, and final acceptance.
• Technical & Team Leadership – mentor engineers and technicians, support hiring and onboarding, establish best practices, develop technical capability across the team, resolve complex manufacturing issues, and drive standardization across harness programs.
• Supplier Development & Qualification – partner with Supply Chain and Quality to qualify and develop external harness suppliers.
• Design for Manufacturing & Test – partner with design engineering throughout the product lifecycle to improve manufacturability, testability, connector selection, routing, strain relief, serviceability, and assembly robustness.
• Testing & Validation – develop and implement harness test strategies and automated test systems for continuity, insulation resistance, dielectric withstand/HiPot, functional verification, and environmental screening when required.
• Manufacturing Readiness & Risk Reduction – lead manufacturing readiness reviews, process qualification activities, capability studies, and production risk assessments to ensure designs and processes are ready to scale.
• Continuous Improvement & Production Metrics – establish and drive improvements in first-pass yield, defect rates, throughput, labor efficiency, cycle time, and cost. Use production data and Lean methodologies to identify and eliminate manufacturing constraints.

Skills

Manufacturing engineering

Electrical wiring harnesses

Leadership

Prototype to production

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Manufacturing, Aerospace Engineering

Job description

Castelion is seeking a Lead Manufacturing Engineer to own the development, qualification, and scaling of wiring harness manufacturing for defense systems, guiding in-house and supplier capabilities from prototype to high-rate production.

This role will serve as the technical manufacturing lead for harnessing, driving both in-house and supplier capabilities from prototype development through high-rate production in support of next-generation defense systems.