Manufacturing Engineer
Neros Technologies · Torrance, CA
- Level
- Engineer
- Team
- Manufacturing
- Degree
- Required
- Experience asked
- 2+ years
- Industry
- Aerospace & defense
- Posted
- 30+ days ago
The role in 30 seconds
An engineer-level manufacturing role at Neros Technologies (aerospace & defense) in Torrance, CA. Design, build, and iterate fixtures and tooling to improve repeatability and speed.
- They ask for
- 2+ years · degree required
- Tools it names
- Lean, 5S, Root cause, FMEA, Robotics, Automation
Read from the posting. The full description is below.
How this role compares
Against 277 other live manufacturing postings in California.
- Base pay
- Not listed in this posting
- Experience asked
- Less than usual (2+ vs 5+)
Typical $109k–$153k, from 101 postings that list pay.
Similar roles usually ask 5+ years.
Skills these teams ask for most
- ✓ Tooling 59%
- ✓ New product launch 54%
- ✓ Root cause 45%
- ✓ Automation 35%
- CATIA / NX 34%
- Machining 33%
✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.
Stands out: this posting asks for 5S, Time studies, 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 Neros Technologies
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.
This plant: Neros Technologies in Torrance
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Full description from Neros TechnologiesAs posted on their careers site.ShowHide
What you will be doing
We build drones at scale. We're looking for a Manufacturing Engineer to own how they actually get made. You will decide how each assembly is built: the fixture, the joint, the torque spec, the test that proves it good. Then you'll prove those decisions out with data before they carry production volume.
This is a floor-first role. You'll spend your days next to the line, not above it. When a station goes down, you're the first call. When a defect keeps coming back, you root-cause it and kill it for good. When the design fights the build, you push manufacturability back upstream into the design until it doesn't fight back. You are the first point of contact for engineering decisions on hardware moving through your processes, and the last line of defense between a bad process and a thousand bad units.
If you'd rather solve problems at the station with a caliper and a laptop than watch them from a conference room, this is your role.
Show full description ↓Show less ↑
Who we are
Neros is a defense technology company rebuilding America’s drone industrial base. We design and manufacture high-performance unmanned systems that are tested in combat, iterated at startup speed, and built at massive scale. Our team culture is fast, hands-on, and obsessed with closing the gap between design and deployment.
As drones transform the character of warfare, Neros is delivering the systems the West needs to compete on the modern battlefield and deter the adversaries of democracy. We’re hiring engineers, operators, and builders who want to move fast, take on extreme ownership, and get capability into the hands of warfighters in months, not years.
Line Support & Triage
- •First technical responder for line-down and slowdown events; diagnose, contain, restore
- •Troubleshoot tooling, fixtures, jigs, and station equipment issues
- •Distinguish process problems from training problems from design problems, and drive fixes accordingly
- •Support production supervisors with real-time technical calls during the shift
Process Ownership
- •Own work instructions and standard work for assigned stations; keep them accurate and current
- •Drive cycle time reduction, line balancing, and station-level improvements with production
- •Design, build, and iterate fixtures and tooling to improve repeatability and speed
- •Validate and release process changes through proper change control (ECR/ECO)
- •Qualify new and changed processes against clear acceptance criteria: first article, capability studies
Root Cause Analysis
- •Lead root cause analysis on recurring defects and escapes; drive corrective actions to verified closure
- •Partner with quality on FPY improvement, defect containment, and disposition
- •Translate failure data into process or tooling fixes, not just retraining
New Product & Scaling
- •Support NPI builds: process planning, station setup, first article support
- •Feed producibility and DFM input back to design engineering before release
Data & KPIs
- •Define and own station-level KPIs (yield, cycle time, downtime, scrap); use them to prioritize and drive measurable improvement
You should have the following
- •Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial, or a related engineering field
- •2+ years as a manufacturing, process, or industrial engineer in a hardware production environment
- •Hands-on line support experience; comfortable being the first call when things break
- •Proven root cause skills with examples of corrective actions driven to verified closure
- •Strong floor presence; communicates clearly with technicians, executives, and product engineers
Nice to Have
- +Fixture and tooling design experience, with CAD proficiency (SolidWorks or similar)
- +Electronics or electromechanical assembly experience
- +Experience taking a product from NPI through DVT/PVT into sustained production
- +High-mix, high-cadence manufacturing where the design changes regularly
- +Familiarity with factory automation, machine vision, robotics, or custom equipment
- +Working knowledge of lean fundamentals: cycle & takt time, line balancing, 5S
- +Experience creating and maintaining work orders, process plans, and mBOMs in MES/ERP
- +Understanding of how to create a PFMEA and turn it into a quality verification plan
- +Startup or high-growth background; experience scaling output or standing up new lines
$123,500-$215,00 USD