Tooling Manager

Tooling Manager

Southern California (On-site) | Up to 30% travel to New Mexico | Full-time

$200K – $230K + equity

Loud Solutions is partnering with a well-funded, fast-scaling aerospace & defense company to hire a hands-on leader to own manufacturing tooling, automation, and controls as we move from product development into high-rate production.

You’ll decide what tooling gets built, how complex it needs to be, and how to deploy it safely across production programs, including solid rocket motor operations involving energetic materials. This is a builder’s role: we want someone who has designed and delivered real, complex hardware and can lead a team doing the same.

What you’ll do

• Set the direction for all production tooling: fixtures, automated work cells, and robotic systems
• Solve safety-critical handling challenges for energetic materials, including large-volume propellant transfer
• Lead and mentor a growing team of tooling engineers, focusing them on the work that unblocks production
• Partner with facilities, manufacturing, and engineering on floor layout, loading, safety, and scalability
• Drive projects from concept through commissioning, including vendors, capital equipment, and controls (PLC, HMI, SCADA, safety PLC)

What you bring

• 8–15 years in tooling design, automation, and controls for complex manufacturing
• 2–3+ years leading a tooling or automation team
• Hands-on experience designing large structural tooling, fixtures, and robotic work cells
• Experience with safety-critical tooling for heavy loads, hazardous materials, or energetics
• The judgment to make strategic calls on what to build, how complex, and in what order
• BS or MS in Mechanical, Electrical, Mechatronics, or related engineering field

Nice to have

• Greenfield or major production scale-up experience
• Rockwell, Siemens, or Beckhoff automation platforms; Fanuc, ABB, or KUKA robotics

Tools: SolidWorks, NX, AutoCAD Electrical, EPLAN, EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP, Machine Vision

Requirements: This position requires ITAR compliance (U.S. citizen, permanent resident, refugee, or asylee). Visa sponsorship is not available.