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Lausanne, Vaud, Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera/Svizra
Onsite
Harmattan AI is a next-generation defense prime building autonomous and scalable defense systems. Following the close of a $200M Series B, valuing the company at $1.4 billion, we are expanding our teams and capabilities to deliver mission-critical systems to allied forces.
Our work is guided by clear values: building technologies with real-world impact, pursuing excellence in everything we do, setting ambitious goals, and taking on the hardest technical challenges. We operate in a demanding environment where rigor, ownership, and execution are expected.
As the composite technician on the Airframe team, your core mission is to prototype carbon structures fast, in-house — from mould to finished, quality-checked part — and to bring innovative solutions that make assembly and prototyping easier. A true hands-on professional, you combine technical skills, initiative, and a maker mindset. You build tooling, lay up and finish composite parts (carbon / glass fibre), and turn the engineers' CAD into flight-worthy structures on short cycles. You are also the owner of technical drawings and supplier quotations for the parts you handle, and the one who trains production operators when a design moves to series. You thrive with minimal supervision, favour pragmatic, quick-result approaches over perfect-but-slow tooling, and are equally comfortable laying up a part, machining or printing a mould, and reading a technical drawing.
Rapid in-house prototyping (core)
Produce carbon prototype structures quickly in-house, choosing the fastest viable route rather than heavy tooling when a proto is the goal.
Propose innovative, simple solutions to speed up assembly and prototyping.
Design certain parts and prototyping tools yourself (fixtures, adapters, simple structural parts) when it is faster than going through the design loop.
Iterate fast with the design engineers: short loops between concept, part and feedback, flagging manufacturability issues before they cost a mould.
Tooling & moulds
Build and maintain moulds and tooling, in coordination with the design team; machine or 3D-print mould masters, prepare and polish mould surfaces.
Design and build layup jigs, trimming templates, bonding and assembly fixtures.
Manage the composite workshop consumables and material inventory (fabrics, resins, cores, vacuum consumables) including storage and shelf-life follow-up.
Design & documentation
Read and interpret 2D/3D drawings and ply books; model simple parts and tooling in CAD when needed; give manufacturability feedback early.
Own the technical drawings: produce and keep up to date the manufacturing drawings for the parts and tooling you handle.
Write and maintain clear, accessible fabrication procedures, ply books and cure logs on Confluence so processes are repeatable by others.
Optimise part designs for their manufacturing process: adapt geometries for plastic injection (wall thickness, draft angles, ribs) or for composite / 3D-printed fabrication (layup feasibility, demoulding, printability), in collaboration with the design engineers.
Support & improvement
Support assembly and mechanical testing, including preparing test coupons and samples for structural analysis.
Identify and propose process and quality improvements; help run the composite workshop safely (dust extraction, PPE, resin handling and waste management).
Own the knowledge transfer to production: train the production operators on fabrication and assembly processes, and validate that a process is repeatable by others before handover.
Technical diploma or degree in composite materials, mechanical / aerospace manufacturing, industrial technology, or equivalent hands-on experience.
Proven experience in rapid in-house composite prototyping (carbon / glass fibre): hand layup, vacuum bagging, infusion and/or prepreg; mould making and surface preparation a strong plus.
Track record of quick, pragmatic solutions — getting a functional carbon part out fast, with sound trade-offs, rather than perfect parts requiring heavy tooling.
Ability to read technical drawings and ply books, and to control layup orientation, resin ratios, debulking and cure cycles with rigour and traceability.
Ability to produce manufacturing drawings (2D plans)
Understanding of design-for-manufacturing basics for plastic injection (wall thickness, draft angles) and composite / 3D-printed parts, to optimise geometries with the design engineers.
Hands-on finishing skills: trimming, sanding, drilling composites, structural bonding, insert fitting, and basic defect detection (porosity, delamination).
Proficiency with common fabrication tools (hand tools, bench equipment, 3D printer; basic machining appreciated); CAD literacy (Fusion 360, SolidWorks, FreeCAD or similar) to adapt tooling and jigs.
Highly autonomous — able to take ownership of tasks and drive them to completion with minimal supervision; resourceful and solution-oriented, comfortable improvising with available means.
Pedagogy and communication: able to write clear, accessible procedures and to train production operators so processes remain repeatable without you; rigorous on process, safety and documentation.
We look forward to hearing how you can help shape the future of autonomous defense systems at Harmattan AI.
