Lead Manufacturing Engineer - Motors

Castelion; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock incentives

Medical, vision, and dental insurance

Paid time off (4 weeks per year)

Job summary

Castelion is seeking a Lead Manufacturing Engineer to own all aspects of solid rocket motor production. You will lead a cross-functional team through propellant mixing, casting, case bonding, and launch readiness, while driving safety, quality, and schedule targets.

This role requires hands-on leadership in an energetic manufacturing environment, with a focus on process ownership, continuous improvement, and compliance with DoD regulations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Chemical, or Manufacturing Engineering.
• Minimum 7 years of hands-on aerospace manufacturing experience.
• At least 3 years in formal leadership.
• Experience leading production of solid rocket motors is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of manufacturing engineers in solid rocket motor production, ensuring on-time delivery with zero safety incidents.
• Own the entire solid motor manufacturing value stream and drive process improvements.
• Serve as primary technical interface to Design Engineering, Program Management, Quality, EHS, and customers.
• Lead manufacturing readiness for new solid motor designs and capital projects.
• Enforce energetic materials safety standards and maintain thorough operating procedures.

Skills

Leadership

Project management

Process improvement

Cross-functional collaboration

Troubleshooting

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Chemical, or Manufacturing Engineering

Tools

PFMEA

Job description

Castelion is bringing a new approach to defense development and production: one that focuses on short, iterative design cycles, rapid testing in development, and modern commercial manufacturing strategies for production at scale. Were designing, building, and testing next generation long range strike weapons systems to give America and its Allies a definitive edge and deter future conflicts.

Lead Manufacturing Engineer - Motors

Castelion is seeking a Lead Manufacturing Engineer to own all aspects of solid rocket motor production. In this role, you will lead a cross-functional team responsible for the safe, repeatable, and rate-capable manufacture of solid propellant motors, from propellant mixing through final acceptance. You will drive aggressive cost, quality, schedule, and safety targets in an energetics manufacturing environment while scaling production for mission-critical programs.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

Manufacturing Leadership and Execution.

Lead a team of manufacturing engineers in the daily execution of solid rocket motor production, including propellant mixing, casting, case bonding, and proof/acceptance testing. Ensure on-time delivery of flight hardware while maintaining zero safety incidents and full compliance with DoD regulations.

Process Ownership and Continuous Improvement

Own the entire solid motor manufacturing value stream. Develop, qualify, and continuously improve processes, tooling, and facilities to increase throughput, reduce labor hours, and achieve first-pass yield targets. Implement automation, digital thread/MES, and advanced inspection techniques to support rapid production scaling.

Technical Authority and Customer Interface.

Serve as the primary technical interface to Design Engineering, Program Management, Quality, EHS, and the customer on producibility, non-conformances, and anomaly resolution. Lead root-cause and drive robust corrective actions for defects or process escapes.

New Product Introduction and Capacity Expansion

Lead manufacturing readiness for new solid motor designs, including process development, PFMEA, control plans, and qualification builds. Plan and execute capital projects for the installation of mixers, casting facilities, and automated insulation/liner application.

Safety and Regulatory Compliance

Enforce strict adherence to energetic materials safety standards (NFPA 495, DOD 4145.26M). Author and maintain explosive safety submissions, hazard analyses, and operating procedures. Champion a strong safety culture across the team.

Team Development

Mentor junior engineers and technicians, conduct performance reviews, and build succession plans. Foster a culture of ownership, urgency, and technical excellence.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements

• Bachelors degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Chemical, or Manufacturing Engineering.
• Minimum of 7 years of hands-on experience in an aerospace manufacturing environment or equivalent.
• At least 3 years in formal leadership.

Preferred Experience

• Proven track record leading production of solid rock motors from development through sustained rate production.
• Deep expertise in propellant formulation, vacuum casting, case-bonded grain design, liner/insulator systems, and non-destructive evaluation of energetic articles.
• Demonstrated success scaling hazardous processes while reducing cost per pound and labor hours per motor.
• Prior work on orbital launch vehicles, strategic systems, missile defense, or hypersonic programs.
• Aptitude for mentoring teams and influencing cross-functional stakeholders in a fast-paced, resource-constrained startup environment.

Leadership Qualities

• Bias to Action and Creative Problem Solving. Desire and experience questioning assumptions in ways that lead to break through ideas that are ultimately implemented. Successfully bring in applicable processes/concepts/materials from other industries to achieve efficiency gains. Ability to personally resolve minor issues in development without requiring significant support.
• High Commitment, High Initiative. A successful candidate will have a genuine passion for Castelion's mission and consistently look for ways to contribute to the company's technical goals and prevent hardware blockers. Ability to work in a fast paced, autonomously driven, and demanding atmosphere. Strong sense of accountability and integrity.
• Clear Communicator. Proactively communicates blockers. Trusted in previous roles to be voice of company with regulators, suppliers, gate keepers and customers. Capable of tactfully managing relationships with stakeholders to achieve company-desired outcomes without compromising relationships. Emails, IMs and verbal interactions are logical, drive clarity, and detailed enough to eliminate ambiguity.
• To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Employment with Castelion is governed on the basis of competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

• All employees are granted long-term stock incentives as part of their employment at Castelion.
• All employees receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental insurance, and the company offers four weeks of paid time off per year.