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Senior Materials & Process Engineer, Non-Metals

Torrance, California, United States
Full Time On-site

Summary

Job Description

Castelion is seeking an experienced Materials & Processes Engineer to serve as the company's technical authority for non-metallic materials. This individual will play a critical role in material and process selection, control, and qualification testing across all adhesive, sealant, elastomer, coating, and other applicable non-metallic material systems.

The successful candidate will demonstrate a strong understanding of process control and quality assurance frameworks, with experience supporting these material systems in a high-volume production environment.

Responsibilities

  • Serve as the SME for all non-metallics at Castelion – provide guidance relating to material selection, processing conditions, qualification strategies, and production-quality requirements to support reliable, scalable manufacturing.
  • Implement quality assurance and qualification testing protocols to ensure raw material consistency and performance and reliability requirements are met.
  • Develop and maintain material specifications, process controls, and test plans.
  • Support root-cause investigations and continuous improvement initiatives related to non-metallic material performance, reliability, and safety.

Basic Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in materials science/engineering, polymer science, chemistry, or related discipline.
  • 5+ years of experience working with non-metal materials, preferably within the aerospace or automotive industries.
  • Experience with material characterization techniques including mechanical testing, FTIR/Raman, SEM/EDS, OM, DSC, TGA, DMA, CTE, Humidity/Salt fog exposure, UV exposure, and thermal aging/cycling testing.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Mustbe authorized towork in the U.S. andcomply withITAR eligibility requirements.

Preferred Skills and Experience

  • Master's degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science/engineering, or a related discipline.

Additional Requirements

  • Must be willing to work extended hours and/or weekends as needed
  • Must be able to travel up to 20%

Leadership Qualities

Bias to Action and Creative Problem Solving. Desire and experience questioning assumptions in ways that lead to break through ideas that are ultimately implemented. Successfully bring in applicable processes/concepts/materials from other industries to achieve efficiency gains. Ability to personally resolve minor issues in development without requiring significant support.

High Commitment, High Initiative. A successful candidate will have a genuine passion for Castelion's mission and consistently look for ways to contribute to the company's technical goals and prevent hardware blockers. Ability to work in a fast paced, autonomously driven, and demanding atmosphere. Strong sense of accountability and integrity.

Clear Communicator. Proactively communicates blockers. Trusted in previous roles to be voice of company with regulators, suppliers, gate keepers and customers. Capable of tactfully managing relationships with stakeholders to achieve company-desired outcomes without compromising relationships. Emails, IMs and verbal interactions are logical, drive clarity, and detailed enough to eliminate ambiguity.

About Castelion

Castelion

Castelion is one of the fastest-rising defense technology companies focused on building affordable, rapidly deployable hypersonic strike systems for the U.S. military. Founded by former SpaceX leaders, the company is working to modernize how advanced weapons are developed and manufactured—using rapid iteration, vertical integration, and scalable production to deliver next-generation deterrence capabilities faster than traditional defense programs. Castelion’s mission centers on restoring America’s ability to field advanced military technology at speed and scale.

For job seekers, Castelion offers the opportunity to work directly on some of the most advanced technologies in national defense, including propulsion systems, avionics, flight software, guidance and navigation, missile systems, and advanced manufacturing. The company hires across aerospace engineering, embedded software, manufacturing, test engineering, avionics, cybersecurity, and operations—making it especially attractive to engineers, builders, veterans, and mission-driven professionals who want hands-on ownership of real hardware.

Unlike traditional defense contractors, Castelion operates with a startup-style engineering culture modeled after rapid aerospace development environments. Employees work closely with flight hardware, testing, and production systems in a fast-paced setting where speed, accountability, and execution are prioritized. The company openly emphasizes a builder mentality—giving team members the chance to own major projects and contribute directly to systems with national security impact.

As the U.S. military increases investment in hypersonic weapons, missile modernization, and scalable deterrence capabilities, Castelion continues to grow rapidly through major government contracts and manufacturing expansion. For professionals seeking a high-growth aerospace and defense company where they can help shape the future of national security technology, Castelion is quickly becoming one of the most exciting employers in the defense innovation ecosystem.

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