Senior Tooling Engineer for Space Manufacturing Automation

Northwood

Torrance (CA)

On-site

USD 120,000 - 180,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Medical, vision & dental coverage

Flexible spending accounts

Flexible time off

10+ paid holidays per year

Retirement savings plans

Professional development

Job summary

Northwood Space in Torrance, CA is seeking a Senior Tooling Engineer who will design, build, commission, and improve production tooling for ground systems. You'll work cross‑functionally with mechanical, electrical, manufacturing, test, operations, and deployment teams to deliver robust, scalable tooling and automation that accelerates production while maintaining quality and safety.

This role requires hands‑on shop experience, fast problem solving, and a track record of taking tooling from

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, mechatronics, robotics, electrical engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
5+ years of experience designing, building, or supporting tooling, fixtures, production equipment, manufacturing systems, or automation equipment.
Strong mechanical design fundamentals, including structures, mechanisms, tolerances, material selection, manufacturability, and maintainability.
Experience with CAD and drawing release workflows.
Hands‑on experience building, assembling, debugging, and improving hardware in a shop, lab, production, or field environment.
Experience developing tools or equipment used by operators, technicians, manufacturing teams, or field teams.
Working knowledge of electromechanical systems, pneumatics, actuators, sensors, motors, or motion‑control hardware.
Familiarity with automation and controls concepts, including PLCs, ladder logic, relays, HMIs, industrial sensors, and machine safety systems.
Ability to take ambiguous process needs and turn them into working hardware quickly.
Strong communication skills and ability to work across mechanical, electrical, manufacturing, test, operations, and deployment teams.
High ownership, strong bias toward action, and comfort working in a fast‑paced hardware environment.
Experience taking tooling from prototype through production release, including validation, documentation, operator training, and maintenance planning.

Responsibilities

Own the design and delivery of production tooling from initial concept through deployment on the shop floor or in the field.
Partner with engineers, technicians, and operators to understand the underlying process, not just the requested tool, and develop solutions that improve quality, speed, safety, and repeatability.
Build quick prototypes when speed matters, then mature the design into robust, documented, maintainable equipment.
Bring up automated and semi‑automated production equipment, including sensor integration, actuator selection, control panels, PLC logic, HMIs, and machine safety features.
Troubleshoot tooling and equipment issues in real time, including mechanical failures, control logic problems, operator usability issues, tolerance stackups, and process variation.
Create CAD models, detailed drawings, BOMs, work instructions, commissioning plans, and maintenance documentation.
Work with internal teams and external vendors to fabricate, source, assemble, test, and improve custom tooling and production equipment.
Drive continuous improvement across manufacturing and deployment processes by reducing cycle time, improving ergonomics, simplifying operations, and increasing first‑pass success.
Establish practical tooling standards and best practices as Northwood scales from low‑rate builds to repeatable production and deployment.