Industrial​/Manufacturing Engineer; Contactor

Firestorm is looking to hire a hands‑on Industrial / Manufacturing Engineer on a contract basis to support day‑to‑day manufacturing engineering as we scale prototype and low‑rate production. This is a floor‑focused role embedded with the manufacturing engineering team, delivering the layouts, standards, and Lean infrastructure that keep production organized, repeatable, and efficient — including how hardware is kitted, staged, and replenished at the line.

You’ll turn a fast‑moving production environment into standardized, well‑documented workflows — and you’ll see your work on the floor the same week you build it.

• Develop and maintain facility, work cell, and production floor layouts in AutoCAD — equipment placement, material flow, and space planning
• Conduct time studies and work measurement to establish labor standards, identify bottlenecks, and support line balancing
• Author standard work combination sheets and standardized work documentation, capturing manual, machine, and walk time against takt
• Lead and support Lean initiatives — 5S implementation, shadow board design and build, and visual management across work centers
• Design and optimize hardware kitting processes — kit layouts, point-of-use presentation, and staging to support assembly flow and reduce line-side searching
• Establish and maintain vendor‑managed inventory (VMI) programs for hardware and consumables — bin/Kanban sizing, min/max and replenishment triggers, and point‑of‑use stocking in coordination with supply chain and suppliers
• Design point‑of‑use tooling and hardware organization and workstation layouts for repeatability, ergonomics, and error‑proofing
• Analyze cycle time, throughput, and capacity data to drive continuous improvement and Kaizen activity
• Partner with production, quality, and engineering to implement process improvements on the floor
• Maintain documentation with clear revision control
• Additional task to the assigns as required

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial, Manufacturing, or Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent
• U.S. Citizenship required due to ITAR regulations & the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) security clearance.
• 2+ years of industrial or manufacturing engineering hands‑on‑experience in a production environment
• Experience in AutoCAD for facility and workcell layout
• Experience with time studies and work measurement
• Experience authoring standard work / standardized work combination sheets
• Working knowledge of Lean tools: 5S, visual management, shadow boards, Kaizen
• Strong attention to detail and willingness to spend significant time on the production floor

• Experience with kitting, line‑side replenishment, or vendor‑managed inventory (VMI) / Kanban systems
• Experience with time‑study or standard‑work software tools

Firestorm is a California‑headquartered defense‑tech company building expeditionary advanced manufacturing systems (xCell), Group 1‑3 modular Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (Tempest), and Group 1 quadcopter Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (Squall, produced via the xCell manufacturing platform). We are 150 employees, Series B, and growing the Mission Success function from the ground up to deliver white‑glove fielding, sustainment, and customer success for the operators who decide vendor credibility in the first 72 hours of operational use.

Our Mission Success function is Warfighter First, Led by Warfighters — the team that fields the system is the team that fielded systems like it.

• Position is working On‑site at our San Diego, CA Headquarters
• Requires standing and walking for extended periods, frequently moving across the production floor
• Exposure to moderate noise, temperature variation, and…