Manufacturing Engineer
Company: Defense-technology company (name shared under NDA)
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Type: Full-time
Reports to: Head of Engineering
Compensation: $130,000 to $165,000 annually (includes excellent benefits, profit sharing, and potential equity)
Clearance: Ability to obtain Secret
Citizenship/Work Authorization: U.S. Person
Confidential Search · Defense Technology
Confidential search. The hiring company's identity is shared with candidates under NDA.
About the Client
A defense-technology company building mission-ready sensor and edge hardware, where none of it reaches the field without a production line that works.
About the Role
As Manufacturing Engineer, you'll own that line — the processes, fixtures, and quality systems that turn engineering designs into hardware that ships. You'll be the person production stops for when something breaks, and the person design comes to when a drawing doesn't survive contact with the assembly bench. This is a build-it-yourself role in a company small enough that your decisions on the floor directly affect whether the next delivery is hit.
Responsibilities
- Own manufacturing process development, tooling, and test fixture design for the company's stand up of a Las Vegas production line
- Serve as the primary technical escalation point for production issues — diagnosing root cause and implementing corrective action, not just documenting the defect
- Provide design-for-manufacturability (DFM) feedback to engineering before and during new product introduction, catching production-unfriendly designs before they hit the floor
- Develop and maintain work instructions, quality checkpoints, and production documentation
- Directly manage Associate Engineers on the assembly floor - technical mentorship, day-to-day work direction, and formal performance ownership
- Partner closely with Operations on capacity planning and production scheduling, and with Program Management on order commitments
- Drive continuous improvement in yield, cycle time, and first-pass quality across product lines
Requirements
Must-Haves
- BS in Mechanical Engineering (or Electrical Engineering with directly relevant manufacturing/production experience — see below)
- 3-6 years of hands-on manufacturing/production engineering experience, ideally in low-volume, high-mix hardware environments
- Demonstrated experience taking a product from design into production - process development, fixture/tooling design
- Experience diagnosing and resolving production issues under schedule pressure
- Ability to read and work directly from engineering drawings, schematics, and BOMs
- Prior experience managing or formally supervising junior engineers or technicians
Nice-to-Haves
- Experience in defense, aerospace, or other regulated/low-volume hardware manufacturing
- Formal quality systems experience (ISO 9001, or similar)
- For EE candidates specifically: demonstrated mechanical/production fluency (fixture design, tolerancing, hands-on assembly troubleshooting) beyond core EE coursework
Compensation & Benefits
- Health coverage, fully covered - premiums paid 100% for you and your dependents
- 401(k) with company contribution - a 4% contribution on your behalf regardless of your own contribution level
- Unlimited PTO - average employee takes 3-4 weeks
- Annual profit sharing - when the company wins, you share in it directly
Process
- This is a confidential search. An NDA is required before the company's identity and full role details are shared. We screen for interest at a high level first, then read candidates in once an NDA is in place.
This position supports U.S. Government-related work. Applicants must be U.S. persons. The hiring company is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
