Industrial Engineer – Effectors

Location: Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
Employment Type: Full-Time
Work Arrangement: On-Site
Clearance: U.S. Citizenship and eligibility for a DoD security clearance required

About the Opportunity

An early-stage aerospace and defense technology company is building a manufacturing system capable of supporting high-volume production of cost-optimized kinetic effectors.

The organization is currently transitioning from prototype development toward a production model capable of reaching 100,000+ systems annually. Manufacturing infrastructure, facility strategy, production processes, and supplier relationships are all being developed as the product continues to mature.

We are seeking an Industrial Engineer to help design the production system itself—from capacity models and factory layouts to production cells, throughput optimization, and the strategic balance between internal manufacturing and contract production.

This is an opportunity for an Industrial Engineer to help build a high-rate manufacturing operation from the ground up.

What You'll Do

• Develop capacity models to determine equipment, labor, facility, and production requirements at increasing production volumes.
• Design and optimize production cells, work areas, material flow, and factory layouts.
• Analyze production requirements and translate demand targets into practical manufacturing capacity.
• Evaluate takt time, cycle time, line balance, throughput, staffing, and equipment utilization.
• Develop production system concepts for both low-rate initial production and future high-rate manufacturing.
• Perform trade studies comparing in-house manufacturing, contract manufacturing, and hybrid production strategies.
• Support evaluation and selection of contract manufacturing partners.
• Analyze production processes for opportunities to improve throughput, yield, efficiency, and cost.
• Apply lean manufacturing principles, including value stream mapping, 5S, line balancing, and continuous improvement.
• Develop and maintain production metrics and capacity planning models.
• Identify manufacturing bottlenecks and develop solutions before they constrain production growth.
• Partner with Manufacturing, Mechanical, Electrical, Supply Chain, and other engineering teams to ensure product designs support the intended production system.
• Provide production-system input during design reviews and product development.
• Help establish the manufacturing infrastructure and operating processes required for future scale.
• Serve as a primary industrial engineering point of contact for the effector product line.
• Take ownership of major manufacturing-planning initiatives and provide technical direction as the organization grows.

What We're Looking For

• Mid-career to senior-level experience in industrial engineering, manufacturing engineering, operations engineering, or a closely related discipline.
• Demonstrated experience supporting high-rate or high-volume production environments.
• Experience designing, scaling, or optimizing production systems rather than simply operating within an established factory.
• Strong understanding of:
  • Capacity planning
  • Takt and cycle time
  • Line balancing
  • Throughput optimization
  • Value stream mapping
  • Lean manufacturing
  • OEE and production metrics
  • Production cell design
• Experience building analytical capacity or production models using Excel, Python, VBA, or comparable tools.
• Ability to analyze complex production systems and translate data into practical operational decisions.
• Experience with factory simulation or production modeling software is a plus, including FlexSim, AnyLogic, Arena, Simulink, or comparable platforms.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work independently in an early-stage environment where manufacturing strategy and facility requirements are still evolving.
• Strong communication skills and ability to work cross-functionally with engineering, manufacturing, suppliers, and leadership.
• U.S. citizenship and eligibility for a DoD security clearance.

Particularly Relevant Experience

The strongest candidates may have experience with:

• High-volume aerospace or defense manufacturing.
• Missile, interceptor, or other kinetic defense production.
• Automotive manufacturing and production-system engineering.
• High-volume robotics manufacturing.
• Semiconductor manufacturing.
• Production environments operating at hundreds or thousands of units per day.
• Building production capability from zero through scaled manufacturing.
• Designing production cells and factory layouts.
• Establishing manufacturing capacity at a new facility.
• Evaluating and managing contract manufacturing strategies.
• Cost and margin optimization at high production volumes.

Experience in an established factory is valuable, but candidates who have built, expanded, or fundamentally redesigned production systems will be particularly well aligned.

What Success Looks Like

Within the first year, you will help:

• Establish accurate capacity models for current and future production requirements.
• Define production-cell concepts and factory layouts.
• Identify equipment, labor, space, and process requirements for increasing production rates.
• Establish the analytical foundation for make-versus-buy and contract manufacturing decisions.
• Identify and mitigate production bottlenecks.
• Improve throughput, utilization, and manufacturing efficiency.
• Establish scalable production processes capable of supporting significant volume growth.
• Help create a manufacturing system designed around the company's primary objective: producing capable systems at very low cost and high volume.

Why This Role

This is an opportunity to help architect a manufacturing operation rather than optimize an established one.

The organization is evaluating multiple paths to scale, including internal production facilities, contract manufacturing, and potential expansion into additional manufacturing locations. Your work will directly influence those decisions.

The role is particularly suited to an Industrial Engineer who enjoys capacity modeling, factory design, production optimization, and zero-to-scale manufacturing challenges and wants substantial ownership over the creation of a new production system.

Compensation & Benefits

Target base salary range: $110,000–$160,000, with flexibility based on experience and market conditions.

The company offers a competitive benefits package and a high-ownership engineering environment.

This is a full-time, on-site position in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area.