CNC Machinist

About the Role

CNC milling and turning jobs are stacking up faster than the floor can clear them, and manual mill and lathe work is right behind it. Takt Engineering is looking for a CNC Machinist, mill and lathe, to provide hands-on contract support: setting up and running large-format work, 5-axis horizontal mill, large lathe, and mill-turn, on parts that don't forgive a bad setup. We work alongside advanced manufacturing teams on their toughest production problems, and this placement supports a client scaling up a Santa Ana shop floor.

This is an onsite role in Santa Ana. The shop is scaling toward round-the-clock operation, so the schedule may include a mix of day and night shifts.

Job Responsibilities

• Set up and run large-format CNC mills and lathes, including 5-axis horizontal and mill-turn work.
• Handle manual mill and lathe jobs when a part calls for it, not just CNC programs.
• Read drawings and GD&T callouts to plan a setup before the first cut.
• Check your own work: in-process and final inspection with calipers, micrometers, and the right gauges for the tolerance.
• Keep both the CNC and manual queues moving without letting one pile up behind the other.
• Flag anything that doesn't match the print or program instead of working around it.

Required Qualifications

• Strong background running large-format CNC equipment: 5-axis horizontal mill, large lathe, mill-turn.
• Comfortable on manual mill and lathe as well, not CNC-only.
• Experience running Fanuc and Siemens controls.
• Experience machining large parts in hard metals, high-strength steels, and exotic alloys.
• Reads and interprets complex drawings and GD&T without hand-holding.
• Inspects and verifies your own work before it moves to the next station.
• A team player who treats a hard setup as something to work through, not hand off.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience holding tight tolerances on large, awkward parts, not just small-envelope work.
• Background supporting both prototype and production runs in the same shop.
• Comfortable training or mentoring less experienced machinists as the team grows.
• Forklift and/or overhead crane certification, or willing to obtain one.
• CMM or portable measurement arm experience (Hexagon, Faro, or similar).
• Builds, welds, or fabricates things outside of work.

Pay: $45.00 - $65.00 per hour

Expected hours: 40.0 – 60.0 per week

Work Location: In person