Principal Manufacturing Engineer

About Castelion

Castelion is bringing a new approach to defense development and production: one that focuses on short, iterative design cycles, rapid testing in development, and modern commercial manufacturing strategies for production  design, build, and test next generation weapon systems to give America and its Allies a definitive edge in defense capabilities.

Castelion is seeking a principal manufacturing engineer to join our Radar development team. In this role, you will own the end-to-end transition from prototype to full-scale production. You will architect and implement manufacturing processes to achieve aggressive production cost, quality, and delivery targets.

• Define & Scale Manufacturing Processes
  Lead R&D-to-production transition by capturing existing (yet informal) production flows, formalizing them, and architecting scalable, high-throughput processes (e.g., tooling, layout, SOPs, PFMEA). Design a greenfield production site from scratch to produce radars at scale.
• Production Test Equipment Selection and Implementation
  Specify stations and necessary equipment for each production step-defining functional requirements, safety interlocks, interfaces, and use cases. Manage procurement and coordinate with hardware and software teams to ensure integration and deployment
• Data Capture & Quality Control
  Collaborate with design engineers and software teams to define what data to collect, set process control limits, and enable data capture, validation, storage, and visualization (e.g., dashboards, SPC tools)
• Troubleshooting & Continuous Improvement
  Provide technical support to resolve production issues, lead root-cause analysis, and drive continuous improvements in quality, cost, and throughput
• Cross-Functional Collaboration & Documentation
  Engage with R&D, design, test, operations, and suppliers to align manufacturing needs with design intent. Maintain up-to-date, accurate documentation for flow processes, test systems, and manufacturing specs
• Mentorship & Influence
  Act as the go-to expert for electronics production and test. Provide guidance to less experienced engineers and influence the company's overall approach to electronics production.

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Aerospace, Systems, or Manufacturing Engineering (or related field)
• 10+ years in manufacturing engineering and/or production, with significant experience in avionics, high-reliability electronics, or aerospace hardware development

• Proven record in supporting NPI, pilot runs, and transition to production-delivering robust and scalable manufacturing systems.
• Demonstrated success in troubleshooting complex build issues and driving corrective actions.
• Skilled at interfacing with design, systems, test, and supplier teams to close the loop on manufacturability and production readiness.
• Experience in regulated or defense environments
• Aptitude for mentoring and influencing cross-functional teams-without direct reporting relationships.

• Bias to Action and Creative Problem Solving
  . Desire and experience questioning assumptions in ways that lead to break through ideas that are ultimately implemented. Successfully bring in applicable processes/concepts/materials from other industries to achieve efficiency gains. Ability to personally resolve minor issues in development without requiring significant support.
• High Commitment, High Initiative
  . A successful candidate will have a genuine passion for Castelion's mission and consistently look for ways to contribute to the company's technical goals and prevent hardware blockers. Ability to work in a fast paced, autonomously driven, and demanding atmosphere. Strong sense of accountability and integrity.
• Clear Communicator
  . Proactively communicates blockers. Trusted in previous roles to be voice of company with regulators, suppliers, gate keepers and customers. Capable of tactfully managing relationships with stakeholders to achieve company-desired outcomes without compromising relationships. Emails, IMs and verbal interactions are logical, drive clarity, and detailed enough to eliminate ambiguity.