Manufacturing Engineer - Motors, Lead

About the role

Why Castelion, Why Now Castelion is moving incredibly fast to develop and deliver advanced defense systems at a time when execution matters more than ever. We believe focus, ownership, and excellence are decisive advantages - and we're building a world-class team to turn bold ideas into real capability. This is a rare opportunity to join at an early stage, where you'll have significant ownership, collaborate with exceptional teammates, and make a direct, measurable impact on our mission and the future of the company - regardless of your function.

Lead Manufacturing Engineer - Motors Castelion is seeking a Lead Manufacturing Engineer to own all aspects of solid rocket motor production. In this role, you will lead a cross-functional team responsible for the safe, repeatable, and rate-capable manufacture of solid propellant motors, from propellant mixing through final acceptance. You will drive aggressive cost, quality, schedule, and safety targets in an energetics manufacturing environment while scaling production for mission-critical programs.

Responsibilities

• Manufacturing Leadership and Execution. Lead a team of manufacturing engineers in the daily execution of solid rocket motor production, including propellant mixing, casting, case bonding, and proof/acceptance testing. Ensure on-time delivery of flight hardware while maintaining zero safety incidents and full compliance with DoD regulations.
• Process Ownership and Continuous Improvement. Own the entire solid motor manufacturing value stream. Develop, qualify, and continuously improve processes, tooling, and facilities to increase throughput, reduce labor hours, and achieve first-pass yield targets. Implement automation, digital thread/MES, and advanced inspection techniques to support rapid production scaling.
• Technical Authority and Customer Interface. Serve as the primary technical interface to Design Engineering, Program Management, Quality, EHS, and the customer on producibility, non-conformances, and anomaly resolution. Lead root-cause and drive robust corrective actions for defects or process escapes.
• New Product Introduction and Capacity Expansion. Lead manufacturing readiness for new solid motor designs, including process development, PFMEA, control plans, and qualification builds. Plan and execute capital projects for the installation of mixers, casting facilities, and automated insulation/liner application.
• Safety and Regulatory Compliance. Enforce strict adherence to energetic materials safety standards (NFPA 495, DOD 4145.26M). Author and maintain explosive safety submissions, hazard analyses, and operating procedures. Champion a strong safety culture across the team.