Job Description

Manufacturing Engineer

Los Angeles, CA Area – Relocation Assistance Provided

The Company

Our client is a rapidly growing startup that is on a mission to change the world by solving global water scarcity. They bring together an impressive background in engineering of space systems to develop innovative, desalination systems to tackle one of the world’s most critical challenges.

The Job

Our client is seeking a Manufacturing Engineer to design and scale manufacturing processes for desalination systems from early builds through high-rate production, leading DFM/DFA, tooling, fixtures, and automation efforts while partnering cross-functionally to define equipment, cycle times, cost, quality, and yield. Own work instructions, layouts, and process validation, and drive continuous improvement to increase throughput, reliability, and cost efficiency in collaboration with procurement, quality, integration, and external suppliers.

Functions

• Design, develop and optimize manufacturing processes and production lines for our desalination systems—from first builds through high-rate production.
• Lead DFM/DFA initiatives: tooling, fixtures, robot end-effectors, conveyors, automation programming, control systems.
• Work cross-functionally to select equipment, define cycle-times, yield targets, cost-per-unit, quality metrics.
• Develop work instructions, process flows, layout designs; implement and validate manufacturing methods for new systems.
• Own continuous-improvement efforts: reduce cost, increase throughput, improve reliability and uptime in a fast-moving hardware startup environment.
• Collaborate with procurement, quality, test, integration teams and external vendors/suppliers to ensure smooth scale-up & ramp-out of manufacturing.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial or equivalent).
• 2+ years professional experience in manufacturing engineering, process development or production optimization (including internships).
• Strong CAD (SolidWorks / other) experience and familiarity with manufacturing automation, tooling & fixture design.
• Hands-on mindset: comfortable designing the process and also working with operators & equipment to validate and refine.
• Strong problem-solving skills, ability to operate in ambiguous/higher-growth environment, clear communicator across teams.

Preferred Skills

• Experience in consumer hardware production, or systems with high-volume manufacturing.
• Knowledge of pumps, valves, pressure vessels, fluid systems or broadly mechanical-hardware manufacturing.
• Experience with automation programming, conveyors, robotics, fluid/pressure equipment.
• Familiarity with Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, statistical process control (SPC).
• Experience in a hardware startup or mission-driven organization.

Additional Requirements

• Hands on work on development hardware.
• Long periods of standing, crouching, walking.
• Lifting up to 50 lbs.