Staff CMC Manufacturing Engineer for Flight Hardware

Impulsespace; Redondo Beach (CA); On-site; USD 175,000 - 215,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Medical, vision & dental coverage

401(k) retirement plan

Job summary

Impulse Space seeks a Staff Manufacturing Engineer for CMC Applications to own the end-to-end manufacturing of ceramic matrix composites for ultra-high-temperature parts. You will drive process development, qualification, and production readiness while collaborating with propulsion, structures, and quality teams.

You will mentor technicians, lead tool development, and define roadmaps for scalable, flight-ready hardware in a tight aerospace environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or related field required.
• 5+ years with high-temperature materials or advanced composites; or Master's with 3+ years; or PhD with 1+ year hands-on.
• Experience in aerospace, defense, hypersonics, gas turbine, nuclear, energy, or industrial ceramics preferred.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end C/SiC and ceramic composite manufacturing processes from preform to final parts.
• Develop and qualify densification and joining processes (CVI, PIP, brazing) with defined cycles and fixtures.
• Analyze materials, qualify vendors, and de-risk long-lead precursors.
• Define inspection, acceptance, and validation approaches including NDI methods.
• Author process specifications, travelers, and work instructions; manage changes.
• Design tooling and fixtures for CMC part fabrication.
• Collaborate with propulsion, structures, and thermal teams for producibility feedback.
• Lead root-cause investigations and drive corrective actions.
• Scale from prototype to rate production including capital equipment decisions.

Skills

CMC manufacturing

densification CVI

PIP

CVD

machine tooling

lean six sigma

AS9100 knowledge

root cause analysis

NDI methods

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering, materials science, chemistry, physics, or a related technical field

Master's degree with 3+ years

PhD in a relevant field with 1+ years hands-on

Tools

Vacuum furnace operation

CT/Ultrasonic/Thermography

Job description

Impulse Space seeks a Staff Manufacturing Engineer for CMC Applications to own the end-to-end manufacturing of ceramic matrix composites for ultra-high-temperature parts. You will drive process development, qualification, and production readiness while collaborating with propulsion, structures, and quality teams.

You will mentor technicians, lead tool development, and define roadmaps for scalable, flight-ready hardware in a tight aerospace environment.