Tooling Engineer

About Prometheus Energetics

Prometheus Energetics is an independent U.S.

-based merchant supplier of solid rocket motors and warheads. A joint venture between Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Prometheus combines U.S. industrial speed and credibility with decades of combat‑proven designs, manufacturing know‑how, and technical training to deliver field‑ready products at scale.

The Senior Manager / Principal Tooling Engineer is the lead tooling authority for Prometheus Energetics and reports directly to the Director of Engineering. In this role, you are responsible for establishing, executing, and sustaining the company’s tooling design and manufacturing equipment framework as the business moves from facility startup and product industrialization into high‑rate production. This technical leader establishes an independent tooling function with the authority, systems, people, and discipline required to ensure that production tooling, molds, jigs, and fixtures meet technical, safety, operational, and customer requirements across key program sites.

Working across Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Programs, Safety, and strategic partner technology-transfer teams, this engineer converts product design requirements and energetic process constraints into robust, safe, and highly reliable tooling systems. The role owns enterprise tooling strategy, 3D CAD design architecture, vendor technical oversight, tool proofing/qualification, shop floor integration, and the use of tooling performance data to prevent defects, ensure explosive safety, and optimize cost, schedule, and mission assurance.

• Develop and execute the enterprise tooling strategy, CAD design standards, capital equipment roadmap, staffing plans, and operating rhythm aligned with department goals and company production ramp plans.
• Lead the modeling, detailing, and structural analysis of complex tooling, molds, dies, holding fixtures, drill jigs, handling carts, and assembly equipment using advanced 3D CAD packages (e.g., PTC Creo, Siemens NX, Solid Works).
• Serve as the company's technical authority for tooling; perform rigorous structural analysis, free-body calculations, tolerance stack-ups (GD&T per ASME Y14.5), and kinematic evaluations to guarantee tool integrity under load.
• Design specialized press tooling, hydraulic/pneumatic fixtures, casting/curing hardware, and semi-automated tooling adapted for high‑risk, high‑precision energetic processing operations.
• Advise the Director of Engineering, Operations leadership, and Program Managers on tooling risk, capital expenditure priorities, long‑lead vendor lead times, and capacity expansion strategies.

• Manage full‑lifecycle tooling programs—from concept generation, documentation, and external procurement through source inspection, receipt proofing, and shop‑floor deployment.
• Serve as the primary technical lead and contract liaison with external tool‑and‑die shops, precision machine shops, and equipment fabricators; review vendor proposals, manage design reviews, and conduct final tooling buy‑offs.
• Flow down technical specifications, quality requirements, and military/industry standards to tooling suppliers, ensuring full drawing compliance, material pedigree, and certified heat‑treatment/plating processes.
• Lead on‑site tool setup, proof loading, CMM verification, and operational line buy‑offs prior to releasing tooling hardware to active production lines.
• Partner with EHS and Energetics Safety teams to ensure all tooling designs strictly adhere to site‑specific explosive safety standards (e.g., DoD 4145.26‑M), grounding/ESD rules, and OSHA ergonomic guidelines.

• Provide high-level technical direction to manufacturing operations to troubleshoot active tooling issues, eliminate line stoppages, and reduce tool‑induced product variation.
• Lead rapid containment, failure analysis, and Root Cause Corrective Action (RCCA) for tooling‑related hardware nonconformances, shop…