Senior Manufacturing Engineer

Who you are

• You'll bring hands-on experience developing manufacturing processes for complex, high-reliability mechanical or electro-mechanical hardware, and be comfortable owning a build area end to end: process, tooling, inspection strategy, and the people who run it day to day
• B.S. in Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or equivalent practical experience
• 7+ years in manufacturing engineering for complex mechanical or electro-mechanical assemblies (5+ with an advanced degree)
• Demonstrated end-to-end ownership of a mechanical assembly process, not just support of one
• Strong ability to interpret engineering drawings, GD&T, and specifications
• Hands-on experience with mechanical metrology: calipers, micrometers, torque tools, optical systems
• Experience with nonconformance management, root cause analysis, and CAPA
• Direct experience building or validating GNC hardware, solar arrays, or antenna/RF assemblies for spacecraft or other high-reliability platforms
• Experience with space-grade materials and process standards such as NASA-STD-8739.1, AS9100, and AS9102 first article inspection
• Experience with environmental/production acceptance testing — vibration, shock, thermal, or TVAC
• Experience taking a process from green field/NPI through production ramp
• Familiarity with MES/ERP systems and configuration controlled manufacturing records

What the job involves

• Xona's Manufacturing team owns the assembly, integration, and test of every mechanical subsystem that goes into our satellites
• We're looking for a Senior Manufacturing Engineer to take ownership of one or more of these build areas — which may include GNC component validation, solar array assembly, or antenna build, among others as the factory scales and define how they get built, verified, and released to integration
• This is a floor-facing role with real technical ownership over some of the most sensitive builds in the vehicle
• Own the manufacturing and assembly process for your assigned build area(s), covering sequence, standard work, tooling, and continuous improvement — potential areas include GNC component build and validation, solar array assembly (stringing, lamination, panel/wing integration), and antenna assembly (mechanical alignment and verification), among others
• Define validation and verification strategy for your build areas, translating engineering drawings, GD&T, and specifications into practical inspection checkpoints and acceptance criteria tied to critical characteristics
• Plan, specify, and qualify fixtures and tooling: holding, transport, rotary, and point-of-use equipment — and the test/inspection equipment behind them
• Own nonconformance management, root cause corrective action (8D), and MRB disposition for your build areas
• Build and maintain digital work instructions and travelers for your build areas; embedding inspection checkpoints, buy-offs, and data capture directly into the work order flow
• Build measurement confidence through gage selection, method validation, and Gage R&R
• Support environmental and production acceptance testing (vibration, shock, thermal/TVAC) for hardware in your build areas as needed
• Support supplier evaluation, audits, and monitoring for mechanical components and subsystems feeding your builds
• Be a strong voice for DFX/producibility in design reviews for your build areas, partnering with design engineering from early stage gates through production
• Mentor engineers and technicians on assembly and inspection practices as the team scales