Manager, Composites Manufacturing

Impulse Space; Redondo Beach (CA); On-site; USD 175,000 - 195,000; Full time

Job summary

Impulse Space in Redondo Beach seeks a Composites Manufacturing Manager to hire, mentor engineers and technicians across two shifts, supporting lamination, bonding, curing, mechanical assembly, and hardware integration for composite structures. You will work with leaders from other disciplines and help advance all aspects of composites development.

You will build processes, set production targets, and drive reliability on the factory floor, while maintaining high technical standards through

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years of manufacturing experience in aerospace hardware.
• Experience managing and growing a team.
• Desire to improve team processes and train other team members.
• Ability to communicate technical challenges and resolve concerns.

Responsibilities

• Hire and mentor composites manufacturing engineers and technicians.
• Collaborate with design engineers and quality teams to ensure manufacturability and DFM compliance.
• Set daily and weekly production targets with performance metrics.
• Provide day-to-day production floor support, resolve build issues, update work instructions, and improve yields.
• Develop, document, and optimize manufacturing processes for lamination, bonding, curing, mechanical assembly and hardware integration.
• Develop new production processes for high-temperature composites and COPV technologies; establish and maintain high technical standards through specs and training.
• Set up equipment maintenance plans and improve robustness and reduce downtime.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring

Process Improvement

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical or Chemical Engineering

Master’s degree in Mechanical or Chemical Engineering

Job description

Department

Manufacturing

Location

Redondo Beach

Compensation

$175,000 - $195,000 / year

Description

As the Composites Manufacturing Manager at Impulse, you will hire, manage, and mentor composites manufacturing engineers and technicians across two shifts to support hardware builds for Impulse’s composite structures. You will support activities ranging from lamination, bonding, curing, mechanical assembly, new process development, and hardware integration. You will work directly with leaders and individual contributors in other disciplines. You will have the opportunity to contribute to all aspects of composites development.

Responsibilities

• Hire and mentor composites manufacturing engineers and technicians
• Collaborate with design engineers and quality teams to ensure manufacturability, design for manufacturing (DFM) compliance, and long-term reliability
• Set daily and weekly production targets, backed by performance metrics
• Provide day-to-day support for the production floor, resolving build issues, updating work instructions, and improving yields
• Develop, document, and optimize manufacturing processes for hardware, including lamination, bonding, curing, mechanical assembly, and hardware integration
• Develop new production processes for unique composites applications, such as high-temperature composites, and weight-saving COPV technologies Establish and maintain high technical standards through specifications and training
• Setup equipment maintenance plans, and take actions to improve robustness, reliability, and reduce downtime

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or related field
• 5+ years professional experience manufacturing structural aerospace hardware
• Professional experience managing and growing a team
• Desire to improve team processes and train other team members
• Ability to communicate technical challenges, explain rationale and/or resolve concerns

Preferred Skills And Experience

• Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or related field
• 5+ years of demonstrated experience with composites manufacturing for in-space vehicles
• 2+ years of full lifecycle experience (design, low-rate production, scaled production) with COPV's and COPV liners
• Demonstrated experience managing both exempt and non-exempt employees within a manufacturing environment
• Experience in a startup or agile development environment

Additional Information

Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.

Impulse Space’s spacecraft manufacturing business is subject to U.S. export regulations including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR). This position requires applicants to be either U.S. Persons (i.e., U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent U.S. resident (green card holder), an individual granted asylum in the U.S., or an individual admitted in U.S. refugee status) or persons eligible to obtain an export license from the U.S. Departments of State, Commerce, or other applicable U.S. government agencies. Learn more about the ITAR here.

Impulse Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Impulse Space is governed on the basis of merit, 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.