Composites Engineering Specialist

Department: Capabilties

Location: Los Angeles, CA, San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Employment Type: FullTime

Hadrian - Manufacturing the Future

Hadrian is building autonomous factories that help aerospace and defense companies manufacture rockets, satellites, jets, and ships up to 10x faster and up to 2x cheaper. By combining advanced software, robotics, and full-stack manufacturing, we are reinventing how America produces its most critical parts.

We’re accelerating our mission with the launch of Factory 3 in Mesa, Arizona, a 290,000-square-foot facility creating 350 new jobs. We are expanding rapidly to support thousands of future hires, launching Hadrian Maritime to expand into naval production, and introducing a Factory-as-a-Service model that delivers complete systems instead of individual parts.

Hadrian is backed by leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Lux Capital, Founders Fund, and Andreessen Horowitz, our fast-growing team is united around reindustrializing American manufacturing for the 21st century and beyond.

Join Us in Advancing Composite Manufacturing

We are pushing the limits of composite manufacturing by integrating material science, process control, and production scalability across the full lifecycle—from fiber placement and resin systems through cure, inspection, and validation. By treating composites as a tightly coupled system of materials and processes, we achieve high-performance structures with repeatable quality.

We are solving complex challenges in layup, resin behavior, cure kinetics, and non-destructive inspection. This requires engineers with deep expertise in composite systems who can operate across both materials and manufacturing domains.

This is a general opportunity to engage composites engineers with specialized experience across key process areas.

Core Specialty Areas

• Fiber Placement & Layup: Carbon fiber layup (hand layup, automated layup, fiber orientation control)

• Resin Systems & Impregnation: Resin impregnation, prepreg handling, resin transfer processes

• Thermal Processing: Curing (autoclave, oven, out-of-autoclave processes, cure cycle development)

• Inspection & Validation: Non-destructive inspection (X-ray, CT scanning), defect characterization

What You’ll Do

• Apply composite process expertise to develop, qualify, and optimize manufacturing processes

• Control critical variables (fiber orientation, resin content, void fraction, cure profiles) to ensure structural performance

• Partner with manufacturing, quality, and design teams to scale reliable composite production

• Develop process specifications, work instructions, and acceptance criteria

• Lead root cause analysis for defects such as delamination, porosity, voids, and fiber misalignment

What We’re Looking For

• Degree in Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent hands-on experience

• Demonstrated expertise in at least one composite manufacturing process (layup, curing, impregnation, or inspection)

• Strong understanding of composite material behavior, anisotropy, and failure modes

• Ability to interpret engineering drawings and composite specifications (ply schedules, stack-ups)

• Experience in production or prototyping environments with a focus on process control

What Will Set You Apart

• Experience across the full composite lifecycle (layup → cure → inspection → validation)

• Familiarity with advanced NDI/CT analysis and defect quantification

• Experience with aerospace-grade composites or other high-performance applications

• Background in process modeling, cure kinetics, or materials characterization

Benefits for Full-time Employees

• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans for employees

• 401k

• Relocation support may be provided for certain situations, based on business need.

• Flexible vacation policy

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.

Hadrian Is An Equal Opportunity Employer

It is the Company’s policy to provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. The Company does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race inclusive of traits historically associated with race (including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles, such as braids, locks and twists), color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, national origin (including, in California, possession of a drivers license), ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, height or weight, medical condition, family care status, military or veteran status, marital status, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, genetic information, exercise of reproductive rights, any other basis protected by local, state, or federal laws, or any combination of the above characteristics. When necessary, the Company also makes reasonable accommodations for disabled candidates and employees, including for candidates or employees who are disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.