Senior Manufacturing Engineer, Igniters and Pyrotechnic Torrance, CA Manufacturing – Propulsion

Senior Manufacturing Engineer, Igniters and Pyrotechnics

• Manufacturing - Propulsion

Why Castelion, Why Now

Castelion is moving incredibly fast to develop and deliver advanced defense systems at a time when execution matters more than ever. We believe focus, ownership, and excellence are decisive advantages - and we're building a world-class team to turn bold ideas into real capability.

This is a rare opportunity to join at an early stage, where you'll have significant ownership, collaborate with exceptional teammates, and make a direct, measurable impact on our mission and the future of the company - regardless of your function.

Senior Manufacturing Engineer

Igniters and Pyrotechnic Devices – Aerospace & Defense

About Castelion

Castelion is building affordable, rapidly producible hypersonic strike weapons for the U.S. military. We move quickly from design to flight test to production, and we are standing up high-rate manufacturing at our facility in Midland, Texas and our Project Ranger campus in New Mexico.

Position Overview

We are seeking a Senior Manufacturing Engineer to own manufacturing processes for igniters and pyrotechnic devices supporting Castelion’s hypersonic strike weapons, including the Blackbeard program. This role focuses on developing, optimizing, qualifying, and executing production processes for solid rocket motor igniters, initiators, gas generators, and other pyrotechnic devices. You will drive process improvements, lead the transition from prototype and research builds to scalable high-rate production, and ensure products are high quality and manufactured safely and efficiently.

You will work closely with Design, Automation & Controls, Quality, Test, and fellow Manufacturing Engineers to ensure your products integrate with the larger system, and you will contribute to new product introduction, continuous improvement, and facility ramp-up at our manufacturing sites.

What You’ll Accomplish in Your First 12 Months

• Establish safe, repeatable manufacturing processes for igniters and pyrotechnic devices, with process specifications, work instructions, and explosives SOPs in place.
• Define and qualify the tooling and equipment needed for both R&D and production-scale manufacturing.
• Deliver, and begin executing, a plan to scale from low-rate initial production to full-rate production of thousands of units per year.

Key Responsibilities

• Own development and optimization of igniter and pyrotechnic manufacturing processes, including piece part manufacturing, pyrotechnic composition weighing, blending, and pressing/consolidation, device assembly, and sealing (including hermetic sealing).
• Drive Design for Manufacturability (DFM), Design for Assembly (DFA), PFMEA, control plans, and statistical process control (SPC) to improve yield, reduce cycle time, and lower cost.
• Author explosives operating procedures (SOPs) and support process hazard analyses, hazard classification, and explosives site planning for new and modified operations.
• Implement electrostatic discharge (ESD) controls and safe handling practices for initiators, bridge wire devices, and other electrically sensitive components.
• Define and execute inspection and acceptance strategies in partnership with Quality and Test, including radiographic inspection (X-ray/N-ray), bridge wire resistance testing, lot acceptance testing, and closed-bomb testing.
• Support new product introduction (NPI) and design change implementation by providing manufacturing input and executing first article inspections and process qualifications.
• Perform root-cause analysis and lead corrective/preventive actions for process issues and defects.
• Collaborate with Automation & Controls to implement robotics, vision systems, and digital tools (MES, data analytics) for…