Senior Manufacturing Engineer (Machining)

Department: Engineering

Location: Torrance, CA

Compensation: $100K – $175K • Offers Equity

Employment Type: FullTime

About Northwood Space:

Northwood is on a mission to build a data highway between earth and space and bring the benefits of space to the masses through innovations in space communications technologies. If you like building quickly and seeing your work deployed in locations around the globe with real impact, we want you at Northwood.

The Role:

Northwood is seeking a Senior Manufacturing Engineer (Machining) to help stand up and scale our in-house machining capability for high-performance hardware used in our satellite communications ground stations.

This role combines hands-on machining/CAM with strategic capability build-out—you’ll own the end-to-end effort from selecting and purchasing CNC equipment to designing the shop layout, building robust fixturing, programming parts, training operators, and driving continuous improvement on quality, cost, and lead time.

Responsibilities:

• Own the roadmap to establish and scale an internal machine shop: capability definition, machine selection, procurement, and commissioning.

• Source, evaluate, and purchase CNC machines and supporting equipment (workholding, tooling, metrology, material handling), balancing floor space, budget, throughput, and scalability.

• Coordinate machine delivery, rigging, utilities, installation, acceptance testing, and ongoing maintenance strategy.

• Design the machine shop layout, workflows, and safety/operational standards (material flow, tool control, inspection flow, chip/coolant management).

• Design and validate machining fixtures and workholding for repeatability, speed, and part quality.

• Create, own, and maintain CAM programs and machining documentation: setups, tool lists, inspection plans, and standardized work.

• Run machines as needed to unblock development/production and to prove out new processes and programs.

• Train operators and establish operator-facing work instructions, troubleshooting guides, and escalation paths.

• Drive continuous improvement (yield, cycle time, scrap reduction, process capability), including root-cause investigations and corrective actions.

• Partner closely with design engineering on DFM, tolerancing strategy, inspection strategy, and make/buy decisions for machined components.

Basic Qualifications:

• 4–6+ years of experience working with machined components in a manufacturing engineering, CNC programming, CNC machining, or closely related role.

• Demonstrated experience with fixture/workholding design and bringing repeatable machining processes into production.

• Strong CAM programming experience (e.g., Fusion, Mastercam, NX CAM, etc.) and practical understanding of feeds/speeds, tooling, and setup strategy.

• Comfortable operating in a hands-on environment: proving out programs on the floor, debugging issues, and iterating quickly.

• Strong communication skills and ability to coordinate vendors/contractors and cross-functional stakeholders.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience selecting and commissioning CNC equipment (mills/lathes; 3/4/5-axis), including acceptance criteria and ramp plans.

• Proficiency in CAD for fixturing and tooling design (e.g., Siemens NX or similar).

• Experience with GD&T, tolerance stack-ups, and inspection/metrology planning (CMM, probing, etc.).

• Experience developing standardized work, work instructions, and training programs.

Additional Information:

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.

Northwood Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Northwood Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.