Manufacturing Engineer, CNC

About this role

HADRIAN - MANUFACTURING THE FUTURE

Hadrian is building autonomous factories to reindustrialize America. By combining AI, advanced software, robotics, and full-stack manufacturing, we help aerospace and defense companies build rockets, satellites, aircraft, ships, and other mission-critical systems up to 10x faster and at significantly lower cost.

Following our $1.37B Series D at a $7.87B valuation, Hadrian is rapidly expanding our manufacturing footprint, launching new capabilities across welding, casting, forging, electronics, additive manufacturing, and more, while scaling our Factory-as-a-Service platform to transform how critical products are built.

Backed by leading investors including JPMorgan Chase, Valor Equity Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, 137 Ventures, Lux Capital, T. Rowe Price, and Morgan Stanley, we’re building the future of American manufacturing—and looking for exceptional people to help make it happen.

If you’re ready to take on the most challenging and rewarding work of your career while helping create American manufacturing jobs for generations to come, you’re exactly who we’re looking for.

The Role We're hiring a Manufacturing Engineer with deep CNC machining expertise to join our team at the FX facility in Torrance, CA. You'll join a group of roughly twenty engineers and SMEs specialized across manufacturing capabilities — sheet metal, tube & pipe, and more — and bring dedicated machining depth at a moment when it matters most: our machining capacity and process maturity are directly on the critical path for one of Hadrian's highest-priority programs.

This is a process development and qualification role, not a machine operation role. You'll define machining processes from CAM strategy through first-part-off and drive them to capable, repeatable production — turning tough titanium and Inconel parts into documented, validated processes. You'll be the machining voice in capital equipment decisions, supporting SMEs through capex selection, and you'll partner with the factory development team as new capability is installed, commissioned, and brought online. It's a role for an engineer who combines hands-on machining judgment with data-driven rigor (DOE, SPC, capability studies) and wants their fingerprints on both the parts and the machines we buy — all in a fast-moving, high-mix, low-volume environment.  

What You’ll Do

- Lead CNC machining process development and research end to end — machining strategy, CAM/toolpath direction, cutting parameters, workholding and fixturing, and in-process probing — for complex, tight-tolerance aerospace and defense parts in a high-mix, low-volume environment (5-axis strongly preferred; mill-turn a plus), with a focus on steel, titanium and Inconel.

- Qualify processes to capable, repeatable production: first-article builds, process capability studies (Cp/Cpk), SPC, and DOE-driven parameter optimization.

- Serve as the CNC subject-matter expert supporting the capital equipment (capex) selection process — defining requirements and runoff criteria, evaluating machine tools, vendor assessment and capability studies, and factory acceptance testing (FAT).

- Support the factory development team as new machining capability comes online — providing machining expertise through equipment installation, commissioning, and machine bring-up from first-part-off to fully ramped and stabilized production.

- Provide Design for Machinability (DFM) feedback and tolerance definition to design and engineering teams, and drive cycle-time and cost-down improvements against aggressive program milestones.

What We're Looking For

- 4+ years of manufacturing engineering experience in CNC machining processes in aerospace & defense, precision manufacturing, medical device, or consumer electronics environments (a BS in Mechanical/Manufacturing Engineering is great; equivalent hands-on experience is just as valued).

- Deep multi-axis expertise: 3–5-axis simultaneous milling and turning/mill-turn, with CAM proficiency (e.g., hyperMILL, NX CAM, Mastercam) and the judgment to direct programming strategies and review toolpaths even when you're not the primary programmer.

- Hands-on experience machining titanium, Inconel, or other difficult-to-machine alloys — practical command of cutting tools and coatings, speeds and feeds, tool-life management, and thermal/distortion control.

- Strong fundamentals in GD&T (ASME Y14.5), workholding/fixture design, inspection, and process validation — with a demonstrated data-driven method (SPC, DOE, process capability analysis) behind yield and process-change decisions.

- Ability to operate autonomously in a fast-moving, high-mix environment: you own workstreams end to end, navigate ambiguity, and communicate clearly with machinists on the floor, engineers, and cross-functional stakeholders.

What Will Set You Apart

- Capital equipment qualification experience: machine runoffs, vendor bring-up, capability studies, and factory acceptance testing — including greenfield buildouts or overseas equipment qualification.

- Process development pedigree at scale — consumer electronics CNC (e.g., Apple MDE-style programs), space/propulsion machining, or medical device machining — with rigorous parameter and process documentation.

- Large-format machining and/or mill-turn programming and process development experience.

- Entrepreneurial ownership: machine-shop startup or buildout, 0-1 process launches, or products and businesses you built on your own initiative.

- Automation and data skills: macro programming (Heidenhain/Fanuc), in-process or automated metrology, tool-life/load monitoring, or production data analysis.

Compensation

For this role, the target salary range is $89,000 - $150,000 (actual range may vary based on experience).

This is the lowest to highest salary we reasonably and in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of

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