Manufacturing Engineer

Defense Search; Huntington Beach (CA); Sur place; USD 90 000 - 160 000; Plein temps

Avantages offerts par ce poste

Equity option grants

Résumé du poste

Defense Search in Huntington Beach, CA is seeking a hands-on Manufacturing Engineer to design molds, fixtures, and production tooling for advanced composite components in aerospace and defense. You will work directly with production technicians, engineers, and customers on design-for-manufacturing and scalable tooling solutions.

The ideal candidate has 2+ years prepreg composites experience, strong mold and tooling design skills, and professional CAD proficiency (NX/SolidWorks/CATIA), with the

Qualifications

• 2+ years of prepreg composite manufacturing experience.
• Hands-on composites experience within a manufacturing environment.
• Strong tooling-design experience.
• Strong mold-design experience.
• Ability to independently design complex and multi-piece molds.
• Knowledge of tooling splits and ply drops.
• Knowledge of adhesive-film applications.
• Experience with debulking and core-splicing.
• Professional CAD proficiency required.

Responsabilités

• Design molds, fixtures, and production tooling for composite manufacturing.
• Develop scalable, production-ready tooling designs.
• Independently design complex and multi-piece molds.
• Create ply books and manufacturing kits from customer data.
• Develop projector programs and related manufacturing information.
• Support prepreg composite manufacturing processes.
• Develop approaches for complex composite geometries.
• Evaluate tooling splits and mold architecture.
• Support ply-drop design and manufacturing requirements.
• Provide DFM feedback to customers and internal teams.
• Identify cost-down and manufacturing-efficiency opportunities.
• Work with customers to solve manufacturing/design challenges.
• Spend significant time on the production floor to understand challenges.

Connaissances

Prepreg composites

Composite tooling

Mold design

Tooling design

CAD proficiency

DFM feedback

Onsite production floor

Formation

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Materials Science, Manufacturing, or related

Outils

Siemens NX

SolidWorks

CATIA

Description du poste

Are you looking for a new career opportunity with an exciting Defense/Aerospace company?! Then we've got the right team for you! In this role, you're responsible for the duties listed below.

Immediate opening for a Manufacturing Engineer in Huntington Beach, CA who possesses:

• 2+ years of hands-on composites experience within a manufacturing environment
• Strong experience with prepreg composite manufacturing processes
• Hands-on tooling and mold design experience, including complex or multi-piece tooling
• Strong understanding of tooling splits, ply drops, adhesive films, debulking, intensifiers, caul plates, and core splicing
• Professional CAD experience using Siemens NX, SolidWorks, CATIA, or similar software
• Ability to work hands-on with production technicians and independently drive manufacturing projects from design through production

FULL DESCRIPTION: We are seeking a hands-on Manufacturing Engineer to support the design, development, and scaling of advanced composite manufacturing processes in Huntington Beach, CA. This role will design molds, fixtures, tooling, ply documentation, and manufacturing solutions for complex Aerospace and Defense composite components while working directly with customers, technicians, software engineers, and production teams. The ideal candidate will have strong prepreg composite experience, hands-on tooling and mold design skills, professional CAD proficiency, and a startup mindset that thrives in a fast-moving environment where engineers are expected to spend meaningful time on the production floor.

The selected candidate will be responsible for:

• Designing molds, fixtures, and production tooling for composite manufacturing
• Developing accurate, scalable, and production-ready tooling designs
• Independently designing complex and multi-piece molds
• Creating ply books and manufacturing kits from customer design data
• Developing projector programs and related manufacturing information
• Supporting prepreg composite manufacturing processes
• Developing manufacturing approaches for complex composite geometries
• Evaluating tooling splits and mold architecture
• Supporting ply-drop design and manufacturing requirements
• Selecting and applying adhesive films, intensifiers, caul plates, and related composite-processing methods
• Supporting debulking and core-splicing processes
• Reviewing customer designs for manufacturability
• Providing Design for Manufacturing feedback to customers
• Identifying cost-down and manufacturing-efficiency opportunities
• Working directly with customers to solve manufacturing and design challenges
• Partnering with production technicians throughout development and manufacturing
• Spending significant time on the production floor to understand manufacturing challenges firsthand
• Identifying production bottlenecks and developing practical engineering solutions
• Improving manufacturing processes to make production more efficient and technician-friendly
• Supporting high-volume composite production programs
• Supporting lower-volume R&D and new-product programs as assigned
• Taking ownership of manufacturing projects from early design through production implementation
• Partnering with internal software engineering teams to test and validate proprietary manufacturing tools
• Providing clear technical feedback to improve internal software and automation systems
• Supporting development and validation of proprietary manufacturing equipment
• Using scanned data and geometric quality-control information to evaluate manufactured components
• Supporting manufacturing-quality and dimensional-analysis activities
• Helping plan and budget for new manufacturing equipment
• Supporting implementation of new equipment and processes
• Training manufacturing personnel on new tooling, processes, and equipment
• Developing new manufacturing methods as company capabilities expand
• Supporting continuous improvement of composite manufacturing processes
• Working collaboratively with Engineering, Production, Quality, Software, and Operations teams
• Performing other manufacturing-engineering duties as assigned

The selected candidate will also possess:

• 2+ years of prepreg composite manufacturing experience required
• Hands-on composites experience within a manufacturing environment required
• Strong tooling-design experience required
• Strong mold-design experience required
• Ability to independently design complex and multi-piece molds required
• Strong understanding of tooling splits required
• Knowledge of ply drops required
• Knowledge of adhesive-film applications required
• Experience with debulking required
• Knowledge of intensifiers and caul plates required
• Core-splicing experience required
• Professional CAD proficiency required
• Siemens NX experience strongly preferred
• SolidWorks experience may be considered
• CATIA or similar professional CAD experience may be considered
• Ability to create professional manufacturing drawings required
• Experience working directly with production technicians required
• Hands-on production-floor manufacturing experience required
• Experience providing DFM feedback required
• Strong mechanical aptitude required
• Experience with complex geometry and technically challenging composite parts strongly preferred
• Experience with scanned data or geometric quality-control analysis preferred
• Machining-design knowledge preferred
• Experience with VARTM preferred
• Compression-molding experience preferred
• Trapped-rubber-molding experience preferred
• Wet-layup experience preferred
• Experience with adjacent molding or advanced-material manufacturing processes may be considered
• Software or coding knowledge including C++, Python, MATLAB, VBA, Arduino, or similar technologies is a plus
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Materials Science, Manufacturing, or a related discipline preferred
• FSAE or similar intensive hands-on engineering project experience may be considered for developing engineers with strong composite and manufacturing experience
• Ability to own and drive projects with minimal guidance
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced startup environment
• Comfort working with shifting priorities and technical ambiguity
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills required
• Strong written and verbal communication skills required
• Ability to collaborate effectively with customers, technicians, engineers, and cross-functional teams
• Self-directed and resourceful work style required
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to manufacturing quality
• U.S. Person status required due to ITAR/export-control requirements
• Ability to successfully complete required background screening
• Ability to work onsite in Huntington Beach, CA
• Ability to work standard Monday through Friday business hours

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to split time between computer-based engineering work and hands-on production-floor activities
• Ability to sit and work at a computer for extended periods while performing CAD design, reviewing customer data, creating tooling, and preparing engineering documentation
• Ability to stand and walk throughout manufacturing, engineering, and production areas for extended periods as needed
• Ability to use hands and fingers for computer work, CAD activities, tooling evaluation, part inspection, and hands-on manufacturing support
• Ability to visually inspect molds, tooling, composite materials, manufactured components, scanned data, drawings, and quality information
• Ability to bend, reach, stoop, crouch, and move around tooling, manufacturing equipment, and production work areas as needed
• Ability to occasionally handle composite materials, tooling components, fixtures, prototypes, and manufacturing equipment
• Ability to work around production machinery, composite-processing equipment, tooling, materials, and normal manufacturing environments
• Ability to wear required PPE and follow all applicable manufacturing, engineering, quality, and safety procedures
• Ability to maintain accuracy, situational awareness, and attention to detail while supporting multiple engineering and production priorities

Salary Range: $90,000 to $160,000/year

Additional Compensation: Equity option grants

More information can be found at www.defensesearchusa.com.