Principal Mechanical Engineer

Los Angelesfull timeOn Site

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senior

$185k–$200k

H1B: no

K2 Space The Principal Mechanical Engineer owns manufacturing strategy and development for large satellite subsystems from concept through production ramp. This role leads DFM efforts, architects scalable production flows, and deploys advanced manufacturing technologies.

Responsibilities

Partnering with design engineers early on in the process, you will ensure manufacturability, build the first prototype, design the build flow and fixturing, and finalize the process for transition to production. You will test out new techniques for manufacturing large satellite structures, mechanisms, and integrated electronics systems. In your first 6 months you will own manufacturing development for integrated avionics systems; define production-ready build flows, capacity models, and tooling strategies; and drive cross-functional DFM improvements that materially reduce risk, cost, or cycle time. In your first year you will lead implementation of advanced manufacturing techniques on flight hardware and transition prototype processes into stable, rate-capable production systems.
Own end-to-end manufacturing strategy for subsystems from concept through production ramp
Lead DFM efforts with design engineering, influencing architecture decisions to optimize for cost, quality, scalability and integration risk
Architect scalable production flows for large spacecraft assemblies including electromechanical systems, harnessing, and mechanisms
Develop and deploy advanced manufacturing technologies, automation concepts, and tooling systems to support increasing production rate
Establish production readiness plans including control plans, work instructions, takt alignment, and line balancing
Mentor and develop junior manufacturing engineers and technicians, raising the technical bar across the organization
Lead first article builds and flight hardware integration, resolving complex cross-functional technical issues
Develop capacity models and rate ramp strategies to support program growth
Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on cycle time reduction, yield improvement, and production robustness

Qualification

Bachelor’s degree in electrical

Required

Bachelor’s degree in electrical, mechanical, aerospace, or other relevant engineering discipline
10+ years of experience in a high volume, rapid production environment in a manufacturing, integration, and/or design engineering role
Demonstrated results with product development and/or process improvements
Experience leading first article builds and transitioning prototype processes into repeatable production
Experience setting up and scaling production lines in a rapid development environment
Demonstrated ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive design changes for manufacturability

Preferred

Experience designing tooling for mechanical subassemblies and electronics
Demonstrated leadership of small engineering teams or technical ownership of major subsystems
Deep familiarity with aerospace manufacturing standards (IPC soldering standards, torque/welding standards, quality systems, AS9100 environments)
Demonstrated experience developing production processes from the ground up including driving design improvements for manufacturing
Strong working knowledge of CAD software (NX or equivalent) and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T)
Experience working with MES to set up the foundation for procedure creation and documenting non-conformances