JOB-1803

A defense manufacturer producing hypersonic weapons is shifting out of prototype work and into volume production, and it wants a senior leader to direct every aspect of tooling, plus automation and control systems. The leader decides which tools get built, how elaborate they should be and how they are rolled out safely, including around energetic materials in rocket motor work. Reporting goes to the head of manufacturing capacity planning, and the tooling team is expanding.

Responsibilities

  • Chart the course for tooling across all production programs, choosing which jigs, automated cells and robots to create and where each sits on the shop floor
  • Tackle high-consequence safety and handling problems with energetic materials, including equipment for transferring and dispensing large batches of propellant
  • Coach and guide a group of tooling engineers, ranking projects by program demand and steering people toward the efforts that remove production blockers
  • Work with the facilities group, production teams and engineers so tooling accounts for building layout, structural loading, safety rules and future capacity
  • Run projects from the first concept to start-up on the floor, including supplier management, capital equipment buying and controls rollout with safety PLCs, SCADA and HMI software

Qualifications

  • Eight to fifteen years in tooling design, automation and controls for complex manufacturing
  • Has personally created large, intricate tooling and can point to specific physical things rather than only process work
  • Hands-on background with big structural fixtures and robotic cells, mixing tooling and automation
  • Two to three or more years leading a tooling or automation group
  • Degree in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, mechatronics or a related discipline
  • Familiarity with safety-critical equipment for heavy loads, hazardous substances or energetics
  • Eligible under US export-control rules (citizen, permanent resident, refugee or asylee)

On-site in Los Angeles, with up to 30% travel. No visa sponsorship or transfers.