Manufacturing Engineer - Composites

Helicon; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Helicon is building the next generation of manufacturing for advanced composites in Torrance, CA. You will design and own production tooling, ensure parts are manufacturable at scale, and drive automation on the factory floor while collaborating with software engineers to align manufacturing constraints with Argos OS for supply chain, quoting, and simulation.

You will join a team that values high agency and urgency, with a focus on turning ambitious engineering into scalable, repeatable

Qualifications

• Designed, built, tested composite parts from scratch.
• Experience with high-volume composites processes and hydraulic presses.
• Ability to work on tooling and manufacturing improvements.
• Familiarity with automated manufacturing lines or tooling development is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Work with customers and complete DFM to make parts manufacturable at scale.
• Design and own production tooling for composite parts.
• Master the factory floor and push process capabilities toward full automation.
• Collaborate with software engineers to integrate manufacturing constraints into Argos OS.

Skills

Composite part design

High-volume composites

Hydraulic presses

Automated manufacturing

Machining

3D printing for tooling

Tools

Argos OS

Job description

Helicon's mission is to accelerate the world's transition to advanced materials. We combine AI software, robotics, and full-stack manufacturing to reinvent how the West maintains a competitive edge.

We hire people with high agency and high urgency. We look for slope over intercept. We care about what you’ve built. At Helicon, everyone owns problems end to end and makes consequential decisions that shape the outcome. Every day we build what most think is impossible.

We're backed by the investors who were first believers in Applied Intuition, Valar Atomics, Factory, Astranis, Flock Safety and Relativity Space.

What You'll Do

• Work with customers and complete DFM to make parts manufacturable at scale

• Design and own production tooling for composite parts.

• Master the factory floor and push process capabilities every day towards full automation.

• Collaborate with world‑class software engineers to teach real manufacturing constraints to Argos (our OS for supply chain, quoting, pricing, simulation)

Who We're Looking For

Need

• You have designed, built, tested composite parts from scratch.

• Experience with high volume composites processes and hydraulic presses

Nice to have

• Experience with automated manufacturing lines

• Experience with machining and 3D printing for tooling

We're not for you if

• You think composites will never be used at industrial scale

• You think software can't learn the artisanal work that today limits composite part volumes

Why Join

Bethlehem for steel. Helicon for composites.

For too long the most advanced materials in the world have been left to the exquisite, we’re industrializing composites enabling the systems of the future to be built at mass scale.

We want the best people and have no bureaucracy. That includes covering meals and paying for products that make you more productive and our partners stronger.

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.