Site Operations Leader — Solid Rocket Motors

Castelion; Midland (TX); On-site; USD 170,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

PTO

Holidays

Health benefits

Parental leave

Fitness stipend

EV charging

Catered meals

Job summary

Castelion in Midland, TX seeks a Site Operations Manager to own end-to-end operations of its R&D manufacturing and testing site for solid rocket motors. You will lead a multidisciplinary team of engineers, technicians, and operators to deliver on development schedules while upholding safety, quality, and compliance.

This role partners with Propulsion Design, Manufacturing Engineering, Test Engineering, Quality, and Program Management to scale from prototype to production and continuously improve

Qualifications

• Experience leading teams in aerospace/defense propellant environments.

Responsibilities

• Own day-to-day operations of the development site, including propellant manufacturing, SRM assembly/integration, and testing.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of manufacturing engineers, test engineers, technicians, and operators; foster a strong safety culture and continuous improvement mindset.
• Develop and execute site operational plans, schedules, and resource allocation to meet program milestones for R&D builds and testing campaigns.
• Drive process maturity, yield improvement, throughput, and cost efficiency while transitioning processes from R&D/prototype to more repeatable production-ready methods.
• Ensure rigorous compliance with energetic materials handling, DoD 4145.26-M, ATF regulations, ITAR, range safety, and all site-specific explosive safety and environmental standards.
• Oversee facility readiness, equipment uptime, maintenance coordination, and capital planning for mixers, casting systems, test stands, instrumentation, and support infrastructure.
• Partner with Test Engineering and Propulsion teams to plan, resource, and execute safe and effective static fire and other development tests; support post-test data reviews and anomaly resolution.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Design, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and Automation teams on new product introduction, process changes, and design-for-manufacturability/testability feedback.
• Lead root-cause investigations, corrective actions, and continuous improvement initiatives across manufacturing and test operations.
• Support capability expansion and knowledge transfer as processes scale to higher-rate production sites (including Project Ranger in New Mexico).

Skills

Leadership

Manufacturing

Operations

Testing

Safety culture

ERP/MES

Drawing interpretation

Compliance

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical/ Chemical/ Aerospace/ Manufacturing/ Industrial Engineering

Tools

ERP/MES systems

Configuration management

Job description

Castelion in Midland, TX seeks a Site Operations Manager to own end-to-end operations of its R&D manufacturing and testing site for solid rocket motors. You will lead a multidisciplinary team of engineers, technicians, and operators to deliver on development schedules while upholding safety, quality, and compliance.

This role partners with Propulsion Design, Manufacturing Engineering, Test Engineering, Quality, and Program Management to scale from prototype to production and continuously improve