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Project Engineer (On-Site) - Irvine, CA

Founded in 1987, this established Southern California manufacturer employs approximately 50-200 employees company-wide, with the majority of its workforce operating from its Irvine headquarters and manufacturing facility. The company specializes in turnkey contract manufacturing, engineering support, precision fabrication, assembly, testing, and qualification services for highly regulated industries requiring complex electro-mechanical products. Its vertically integrated capabilities include engineering development, procurement, manufacturing, machining, assembly, quality assurance, and product testing.

The Irvine facility serves as a full-service manufacturing and engineering center producing a wide range of customer-specific products including cable and wire harness assemblies, electrical distribution boxes, electrical panel assemblies, circuit card assemblies, light and lamp assemblies, ground support equipment, electro-mechanical assemblies, and interconnection systems. The organization supports customers across the Aerospace, Defense, Military, Government, Space, FAA, Transportation, Communications, Medical, and Industrial sectors.

This role will serve as the technical project lead, owning programs from contract award through first article approval while driving manufacturing readiness, assembly execution, testing, and customer deliverables for complex electrical and electro-mechanical products.

We are seeking a hands-on Electrical Project Engineer to support the development, production, assembly, and testing of aerospace and defense products. This individual will act as the primary engineering lead for assigned programs, working closely with Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, and customers to ensure successful execution from contract review through shipment. The ideal candidate combines strong electrical engineering fundamentals with practical manufacturing experience and thrives in an environment where engineering, project management, production support, and customer interaction are closely integrated.

Key Responsibilities

• Take full ownership of assigned programs from contract award through manufacturing, testing, first article submission, customer approval, and final shipment.
• Review technical data packages, drawings, specifications, and legacy government documentation to determine manufacturing, assembly, inspection, and test requirements.
• Develop and maintain Bills of Material (BOMs), manufacturing methods, work instructions, travelers, and test procedures to support production execution.
• Determine the most effective test strategy for each program, including designing in-house test equipment, outsourcing specialized testing, or sourcing commercial solutions.
• Provide hands-on support to production, assembly, machine shop, quality, and inspection teams to troubleshoot technical issues, improve throughput, and ensure successful product qualification.

Required Qualifications & Preferred Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Science, or a related engineering discipline.
• Minimum 5 years of engineering experience in Aerospace and Defense manufacturing environments supporting electro-mechanical or electrical products.
• Experience leading projects from engineering release through production and First Article Inspection (FAI) completion.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing planning, procurement, production scheduling, lead-time management, and configuration-controlled environments.
• Experience supporting electrical assemblies such as wire harnesses, cable assemblies, distribution boxes, electrical panels, circuit card assemblies, or custom test equipment.
• Bilingual communication skills (English/Spanish preferred)

Nice-to-Have Qualifications

• Experience with DoD government contracts, military specifications, and defense manufacturing requirements.
• Ability to interpret and work from legacy military drawings and documentation dating back several decades.
• Experience designing or building custom test equipment, test consoles, DAQ systems, control panels, PCB-based test fixtures, or automated functional test systems.
• Previous experience working within a small-to-mid-sized manufacturing company where engineers wear multiple hats and directly support production operations.

Benefits

Health

Dental

Vision

401k

For this position you must be currently authorized to work in the United States. We do not sponsor for this position.