Application Engineer, Additive Manufacturing

As an Application Engineer in Additive Manufacturing, you're the bridge between what our customers need to make and what xCell can reliably deliver—turning a warfighter's "I need this part, here, now" into a validated, repeatable manufacturing process on a fielded system. You'll live at the intersection of additive and traditional manufacturing, process development, materials, and the customer. One day you're dialing in print or machining parameters and running a part to first article; the next you're on a deployment helping operators produce reliably under real conditions, then feeding what you learned back to engineering to make the next xCell better.

Responsibilities

• Application development — take customer part requirements and turn them into validated, repeatable manufacturing processes on xCell across additive (MJF, FDM, metal) and CNC, from DFM/DFAM through first article
• Process & materials engineering — develop and qualify process parameters, materials, and the part libraries and work instructions that let operators produce to spec without you in the room
• Field & deployment support — support xCell deployments, train and enable operators, and troubleshoot production issues on fielded systems in both CONUS and OCONUS environments
• Customer engagement — work directly with warfighters and program customers to understand the applications they care about and translate mission needs into what xCell can produce
• Sustaining & quality — own first-article inspection and part qualification, and when a fielded system fails to deliver as advertised, drive the process- and application-level fix
• Cross-functional feedback loop — feed real application and field data back to systems, mechanical, and manufacturing engineering to sharpen the next generation of xCell
• Have a high ownership mentality — you close loops, you don't wait to be told, and you hold yourself and others to a high standard

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Manufacturing, Materials, or related field)
• U.S. Citizenship required due to ITAR regulations, with the ability to obtain and maintain a DoD security clearance
• 1+ years of hands-on experience with MJF (Multi-Jet Fusion)
• 3+ years of experience in a manufacturing environment
• Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) fluency — you know how to make a part printable
• Comfortable troubleshooting hardware and process problems in a dynamic environment, where the answer isn't always clear and speed matters
• Proficiency with CAD (SolidWorks preferred)

Preferred Qualifications

• Defense background — you understand the operational context your hardware will live in
• FDM, SLA, SLS, Metal additive or CNC process development and qualification experience
• Materials qualification, GD&T, and first-article / PPAP-style inspection experience
• Experience training or supporting customers on utilizing their fielded manufacturing equipment via remote/hands-on support
• Familiarity with PLM and quality/documentation systems

About the Role

xCell only matters if it makes what the warfighter needs, where they need it—and someone has to own the part that turns a capable machine into a reliable one in the field. That's this role. The engineers who join now will define how we qualify, deploy, and scale what xCell can produce, and they'll do it on a team that takes the work seriously and moves with urgency. If you want real responsibility and near-term impact on a fielded defense platform, let's talk.

About Firestorm

Firestorm is a defense technology company solving one of the hardest logistics problems in modern warfare—how do you manufacture what you need, when you need it, and where you need it without support from traditional supply chains? Our answer is xCell: containerized, deployable manufacturing units built around advanced additive and traditional manufacturing that go where warfighters go. We're roughly 150 people, headquartered in San Diego, and we're past concept—xCell systems are in the field in both OCONUS and CONUS today and our development pipeline is aggressive.

Work Environment

• Based onsite at our San Diego, CA headquarters
• Relocation assistance is available and may be included in the offer package where appropriate
• Travel between 15-25%, including customer and field sites, with some OCONUS travel
• Operates in a standard office setting and manufacturing environment
• May involve exposure to loud noise, heat, cold, dust, or chemicals (with PPE)

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of the job: ability to sit, stand, bend, reach, climb, and move about regularly throughout the day. Must have manual dexterity to operate standard office equipment.

Pay

• Base salary: $100,000 - $130,000, commensurate with experience
• Equity: Meaningful equity grant in a growth-stage defense technology company

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans
• 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan
• Unlimited PTO
• Extremely generous company holiday calendar, including a holiday hiatus in July and December
• Generous Parental Leave
• Lifestyle Spending Account
• FSA, DCFSA, HSA
• Hospital Indemnity insurance
• Critical Illness insurance
• Accident insurance
• Basic Life/AD&D, short-term and long-term disability insurance, 100% covered by Firestorm, with the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your family
• Mental Health Resources: Free mental health resources 24/7 including therapy and more. Additional work-life services, such as free legal and financial support, are available