Supplier Development Engineer, Special Processes

Location

Los Angeles

Full time

On-site

Factory Operations, Supply Chain

• $105K – $190K
  • Offers Equity

Hadrian is building autonomous factories that help aerospace and defense companies manufacture rockets, satellites, jets, and ships up to 10x faster and up to 2x cheaper. By combining advanced software, robotics, and full-stack manufacturing, we are reinventing how America produces its most critical parts.

We recently raised $260 million dollar Series C to accelerate this mission. We are excited to be launching a new Factory in Mesa, Arizona, a 270,000 square foot facility that will create 350 new jobs immediately. We are opening a new headquarters to support thousands of future hires, launching Hadrian Maritime to serve naval production, and introducing a Factory-as-a-Service model that delivers complete systems instead of individual parts.

Hadrian works with startups, Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, and major defense contractors across space, shipbuilding, and aviation to scale production, reduce costs, and accelerate delivery on mission-critical programs. We are backed by leading investors including Lux Capital, Founders Fund, and Andreessen Horowitz. Our fast-growing team is united by a shared mission to reindustrialize American manufacturing for the 21st century and beyond!

The Supplier Development Engineer supports the supply chain team and global commodity strategy by driving process optimization, technology development and continuous improvement initiatives with suppliers to drive world-class performance in quality, cost and delivery. The role engages with cross-functional teams to ensure supplier production capabilities and capacity exist to support NPI execution and readiness for business growth.

The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in industrial engineering and be passionate about manufacturing process improvement. A core element of being effective in the role will be influencing and gaining the respect of supplier executives; therefore, it will be critical to be able to articulate complex manufacturing concepts in a relatable way that gains buy-in and support.

Your responsibilities will include, but are not limited, to the following:

• Develop global supplier development systems and processes to support Hadrian supply chain.
• Own and manage supplier development activities, primarily for special process commodities (primarily surface finishing/coating).
• Create supplier capability and technology road maps in collaboration with commodity manager and supplier leadership.
• Act as primary technical liaison between suppliers and internal teams for assigned commodities owning the supplier side DFM process and communicating process capability and any associated risk to meeting customer requirements.
• Assess suppliers' production capabilities, processes, facilities, workforce for inclusions on AVL and in commodity strategy.
• Streamline full value chain for lead time reduction and production optimization
• Conduct supplier diagnostic process to identify and remedy failure modes when supply continuity is at risk.
• Build trust and influence with supplier teams and be able to adapt communication and engagement styles to all levels of an organization.
• Own capacity assessments, monitoring and expansion at suppliers to support Hadrian demand and long-term forecast.
• Identify suppliers with potential for deep partnership
• Develop and own APQP process and ensure successful PPAP in co-operation with SQE.
• Support SQE with root cause analysis and be responsible for closing the loop on corrective and preventative actions.

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering or a related discipline or equivalent practical experience.
• 8+ years of experience in manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering or supply chain engineering (SQE, SDE, STM etc.)
• Expertise in various root cause analysis and problem-solving techniques with the ability to choose / recommend the appropriate tool for the situation.
• Proven capabilities in manufacturing process improvement through demonstrated…