Manufacturing Engineer
WET Design · Sun Valley, CA
- Level
- Engineer
- Team
- Manufacturing
- Experience asked
- 7+ years
- Industry
- Industrial
- Posted
- 15 days ago
The role in 30 seconds
An engineer-level manufacturing role at WET Design (industrial) in Sun Valley, CA. Design, specify, develop, and validate assembly fixtures, locating devices, holding tools, gauges, test aids, and other production tooling.
- They ask for
- 7+ years
- Tools it names
- Root cause, Control plans, Automation, Assembly lines, Tooling
Read from the posting. The full description is below.
From the plant jobs report · week of November 2, 2026
Manufacturing Engineer roles in California: typical posted base $115k–$169k.
Median of the low and high ends of 150 live postings that list pay, out of 398 manufacturing engineer openings in California, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.
California plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →
How this role compares
Against 397 other live manufacturing postings in California.
- Base pay
- Not listed in this posting
- Experience asked
- More than usual (7+ vs 5+)
Typical $110k–$159k, from 130 postings that list pay.
Similar roles usually ask 5+ years.
Skills these teams ask for most
- ✓ Tooling 52%
- New product launch 47%
- ✓ Root cause 38%
- ✓ Automation 34%
- Machining 27%
- CATIA / NX 27%
✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.
Stands out: this posting asks for Control plans, Assembly lines, which few similar roles mention. If you have it, lead with it.
At a glance
Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.
How to get in at this plant
Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.
- 1
Pick 2–3 people on the Manufacturing team at WET Design
Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. Use the team search on this page to find them.
- 2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
- 3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- Is the work mostly new product launches or sustaining existing lines?
- How much time do you spend on the floor versus at a desk?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
- 4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
- 5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.
Full description from WET DesignAs posted on their careers site.ShowHide
requirements
into clear shop-floor execution
- ✓Support prototype builds, first builds, and production introductions; capture lessons learned and incorporate them into released processes
- ✓Evaluate design and process changes for their effects on tooling, work in process, inspection requirements, cost, and schedule
requirements
such as deburring, part washing and cleanliness, handling, surface protection, fit-up, torque application, soldering, cable routing, and final assembly
- ✓Define process parameters, acceptance criteria, and verification steps in partnership with Design and Quality Engineering
- ✓Plan and conduct trials to establish workable process windows, demonstrate repeatability, and confirm production readiness
- ✓Identify where fixtures, mistake-proofing, standardized methods, or targeted automation can improve safety, consistency, and throughput
Design Tooling That Makes Better Work Possible
- ✓Design, specify, develop, and validate assembly fixtures, locating devices, holding tools, gauges, test aids, and other production tooling
- ✓Use CAD to communicate tooling concepts and produce the drawings needed for fabrication and implementation
- ✓Work directly with toolmakers, machinists, suppliers, and production teams to build, refine, and deploy practical solutions
- ✓Improve workstation layout, tool access, ergonomics, material presentation, and part protection
- ✓Ensure tooling is usable, maintainable, and appropriate for the product mix—not more complicated than the problem requires
requirements
and that important characteristics can be verified effectively
- ✓Support first-article evaluations, nonconformance investigations, and authorized disposition processes
- ✓Use inspection findings, production feedback, and test results to reduce defects, scrap, and rework
- ✓Apply tools such as process failure mode and effects analysis, control plans, measurement-system analysis, and process capability studies where appropriate
- ✓Clarify ownership and handoffs so Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, and Inspection work as complementary disciplines
Show full description ↓Show less ↑
Manufacturing Engineer
Build the systems behind extraordinary experiences.
Location: Burbank, California
Work environment: On-site | Hands-on manufacturing engineering
What We Do at WET
WET reimagines the elements. We bring artists, physicists, architects, choreographers, and technical minds together to create experiences where water, movement, light, and emotion transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. Our work creates places where people pause, connect, and experience wonder.
Behind that experience is the work of people who know how to build it.
A machined component must fit. A seal must hold. A lighting assembly must perform. A mechanism must move as intended. And the process behind each one must be safe, repeatable, documented, and ready for production.
We are seeking a highly skilled, hands-on Manufacturing Engineer who wants to own that challenge—not from a distance, but on the production floor, alongside the people making it happen.
The Opportunity
You will turn complex designs into practical, reliable manufacturing processes for WET’s custom mechanical, electrical, lighting, and water-system assemblies.
Working within a highly skilled team of Manufacturing Engineers, Quality Engineers, and Inspectors, you will connect design intent with production reality. You will partner directly with machinists, fabricators, assemblers, technicians, and engineering teams to solve build challenges, improve tooling, establish process controls, and deliver hardware that meets demanding requirements.
This is a role for an engineer who is equally comfortable reviewing a drawing, developing a fixture, measuring a part, troubleshooting an assembly, and documenting a better way to build it.
You will not simply identify problems and hand them off. You will help resolve them at the source—and make sure the solution works at the bench, on the machine, and in the next build.
What You’ll Own
Translate Design into Production
- •Review mechanical drawings, electrical documentation, bills of materials, and specifications for manufacturability, assembly, inspection, and serviceability
- •Partner with Design Engineering to resolve tolerance, material, access, fastening, sealing, routing, and assembly-sequence challenges before they become production problems
- •Develop manufacturing plans, process flows, routings, work instructions, and assembly sequences that translate design
Engineer the Process—and Prove It Works
- •Develop and improve processes for machined components, mechanical assemblies, LED lighting hardware, cable assemblies, and integrated electromechanical products
- •Address practical production
Solve Problems on the Floor
- •Provide responsive engineering support when production encounters fit, function, assembly, process, or equipment issues
- •Examine the actual hardware, observe the process, review the data, and distinguish symptoms from root causes
- •Troubleshoot dimensional variation, tolerance stack-ups, damaged components, leakage, assembly interference, inconsistent workmanship, and test failures
- •Coordinate containment and corrective actions with Quality Engineering, Inspection, Design Engineering, and production leadership
- •Verify that corrective actions eliminate the issue without creating new risks elsewhere in the process.
- •Balance urgency with engineering discipline: restore progress without bypassing safety, quality, or change-control requirements.
Build Quality into the Process
- •Partner with Quality Engineers and Inspectors to establish practical inspection points, critical characteristics, measurement methods, and in-process checks
- •Ensure manufacturing methods support drawing
Improve Performance With Evidence
- •Establish and track meaningful measures such as first-pass yield, cycle time, rework hours, scrap, and throughput
- •Identify bottlenecks and recurring sources of variation; prioritize improvements bas