Senior Manufacturing Engineer – Composites

Castelion is seeking a Senior Manufacturing Engineer - Composites, who will be an expert in composites manufacturing to help define and scale our in-house composites manufacturing processes from raw material to flight parts. This will include scaling our current ceramic matrix composite (CMC) production line and supporting day to day production of all composite vehicle components including nozzles, aeroshells, fins, etc. This role will report directly to Castelion's Head of Manufacturing and work closely with the engineering leadership team to identify and eliminate roadblocks to achieving long term company goals. As an early hire on the manufacturing team, this role will be highly influential in defining manufacturing and production strategy and culture at Castelion.

Responsibilities

• Identify, plan, and execute capital equipment, machine, and facility/layout definition to meet business needs
• Develop and refine process documentation including build instructions, test and validation procedures, health and safety standards, and mBOMs
• Create, maintain, and communicate detailed production plans and schedules
• Work closely with supply chain to develop new and existing suppliers as needed
• Design, develop and implement production tooling and equipment
• Participate in design reviews to drive design for manufacturing (DFM)
• Oversee introduction and implementation of new products and manufacturing capabilities
• Analyze and resolve manufacturing issues and non-conformances
• Develop, mentor, and train peers and colleagues

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in mechanical, aerospace, or manufacturing engineering, or other technical degree
• 5+ years of composite manufacturing experience
• Experience with operations/product line management
• Demonstrated direct or indirect leadership
• Proficiency in CAD/CAM software (NX preferred)
• Experience in selection, procurement, and implementation/validation of manufacturing equipment

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience in filament winding, automated fiber placement and/or automated tape laying
• Experience with Non-Destructive Testing/Inspection of composite components
• Experience in qualification and acceptance testing of composite structural components
• Working experience with capacity modeling, process mapping, Lean/Six Sigma and value stream mapping
• Experience with Ceramic Matrix Composites
• Experience in transitioning development processes to rate production

Additional Requirements

• Must be willing to work extended hours and/or weekends as needed
• Must be able to travel up to 30% of the time

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.