Senior Manufacturing Engineer

Blackwing; Salt Lake City, Northern (UT, KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Rainmaker is seeking a Senior Manufacturing Engineer to bridge Engineering and Production for drone platform builds. You will translate revisions into actionable build standards and maintain procedures to support reliability and serviceability on the floor.

The role requires coordinating changes, drafting clear instructions, and maintaining document control across PLM/ERP and related systems. Onsite training in El Segundo, CA precedes relocation to Salt Lake City, UT.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, or Manufacturing Engineering (or related field).
• Experience with PCB manufacturing processes and IPC class 2/3.
• Proficiency with CAD tools, PLM/ERP, and documentation platforms.
• Familiarity with fabrication, machining, and anodizing processes.
• 5+ years in manufacturing engineering, ideally aerospace/robotics hardware.
• 2+ years of management experience.
• Ability to manage documentation across multiple software systems.
• Experience with AI coding/tools to assist documentation and automation.
• Proven ability to draft build instructions and maintenance procedures.
• Strong cross-functional communication between Engineering and Production.
• Experience managing ECOs or revision-control processes.
• Attention to detail in translating designs to actionable instructions.

Responsibilities

• Engineering Coordination with design revisions for the drone platform.
• Draft build instructions for revisions and changes.
• Develop and maintain maintenance procedures for drone systems.
• Coordinate with production to implement changes on the floor.
• Build out quality assurance processes.
• Support root-cause investigations and process improvements.
• Maintain version control and traceability of documents.
• Train production staff on new build processes.
• Work with procurement on timely purchasing.
• Identify improvements in equipment, jigs, or workflows.

Skills

Mechanical/Manufacturing Eng

PCB standards IPC

CAD/PLM/ERP

Fabrication & machining

Aerospace hardware

Leadership experience

Documentation writing

ECO management

Cross-functional comms

AI tooling familiarity

Build instructions drafting

Quality procedures

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

CAD tools

PLM/ERP systems

Job description

Location Note: This is a full-time position based in Salt Lake City, UT. The selected candidate will complete an onsite training period in El Segundo, CA through January 2027, before relocating to Salt Lake City, UT to continue in the role.

Rainmaker is pioneering a modern cloud seeding system to solve water scarcity and inclement weather problems. We develop and incorporate radar validation, weather-resistant UAS, numerical weather modeling, and sustainable cloud seeds into an effective precipitation enhancement solution.

We're looking for a Senior Manufacturing Engineer to serve as the critical link between Engineering and Production as our drone platform evolves. You'll own the process of translating design revisions into actionable build and maintenance documentation, and ensure the production floor is always working from the latest, most accurate build standards.

What You'll Do

• Engineering Coordination: Partner closely with Engineering to understand, plan, and roll out design revisions and changes to the drone platform.

• Build Documentation: Draft clear, precise build instructions for new revisions and engineering changes, ensuring technicians can execute builds consistently and correctly.

• Maintenance Documentation: Develop and maintain maintenance procedures for drone systems, supporting reliability and serviceability throughout the product lifecycle.

• Production Liaison: Coordinate with the production team to communicate changes to build processes, ensuring smooth implementation on the floor with minimal disruption to throughput or quality.

• Build out quality assurance processes

• Support root-cause investigations and process improvements tied to engineering changes.

• Maintain version control and traceability of build/maintenance documentation as revisions are released.

• Support training of production staff on new or updated build processes as needed.

• Work with procurement to ensure purchasing happens in a timely manner

• identify improvements in equipment, jigs, or assembly workflows, general shop management.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).

• Well versed with PCB manufacturing processes and quality standards, IPC class 2 and class 3.

• Experience with CAD tools, PLM/ERP systems, and documentation platforms.

• Well versed with manufacturing processes like fabrication, machining, anodizing, etc

• 5+ years of industry experience in manufacturing engineering, ideally within aerospace, robotics, drones, or another complex hardware environment.

• 2+ years of Management experience

• Comfortable working across multiple software systems and platforms to manage documentation, revisions, and production data (PLM/ERP, file management systems, internal tools).

• Experience or familiarity using AI coding/prompt-based tools (e.g., Codex, ChatGPT, Copilot) to support technical documentation, scripting, or process automation — including writing clear, effective prompts to get useful output.

• Proven experience drafting technical build instructions, work instructions, or maintenance procedures.

• Strong cross-functional communication skills — comfortable working between Engineering and Production teams.

• Experience managing engineering change orders (ECOs) or similar revision-control processes.

• Strong attention to detail and ability to translate technical designs into clear, actionable instructions for production technicians.

Rainmaker is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Rainmaker 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.

Rainmaker participates in E-Verify. To learn more, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit E-Verify.gov.