Materials Test Lab Lead — Build & Scale with Equity

Hadrian Automation; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 126,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision, and life

401k

Relocation support

Flexible vacation policy

Equity

Job summary

Hadrian is seeking an Engineering Manager, Materials Test, to build and lead the flagship materials test lab at our Los Angeles HQ. You will oversee engineers and technicians, shape technical direction, and equip the lab with tensile, impact, hardness, metallography, and chemistry testing gear while ensuring data collection and traceability.

The role requires hands-on materials testing, leadership experience, and the ability to scale lab capabilities across sites.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, materials, aerospace, or electrical engineering, or 8+ years of equivalent experience.
• 3+ years designing, buying, or installing test or manufacturing equipment
• 1+ years leading people. You’ve managed engineers, technicians, or both.
• Hands-on materials testing experience on metals or composites
• Working knowledge of ASTM test standards, the equipment used to run them, and when each one applies
• Experience writing work instructions and process documentation for a lab or production floor
• Able to set technical direction and defend it with teams you don’t manage
• Able to travel to other sites

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operations of the flagship materials test lab
• Hire, manage, and develop a team of engineers and technicians
• Make the final call on technical direction for materials testing
• Select, buy, and install tensile, impact, hardness, metallography, and chemistry equipment, plus specimen prep machines like saws, waterjets, and EDMs. Design custom test equipment when nothing off the shelf fits.
• Set data collection, labeling, and storage requirements for all materials testing. Work with our software and data teams to build the tools.
• Write test automation, work instructions, process plans, and technician training
• Set priorities across welding, casting, forging, and additive so every team gets on-time, quality data
• Own lab safety and quality risks through engineering controls
• Work with quality to keep full traceability on every material and test result
• Standardize workflows and tools with the rest of the test team
• Package the lab so we can deploy it to new factories and programs

Skills

Leadership

Materials testing

Lab management

Data management

ASTM standards

Work instructions

Travel flexibility

Technical direction

Education

Bachelors in engineering

Tools

Python

MATLAB

LabVIEW

Job description

Hadrian is seeking an Engineering Manager, Materials Test, to build and lead the flagship materials test lab at our Los Angeles HQ. You will oversee engineers and technicians, shape technical direction, and equip the lab with tensile, impact, hardness, metallography, and chemistry testing gear while ensuring data collection and traceability.

The role requires hands-on materials testing, leadership experience, and the ability to scale lab capabilities across sites.