Process Development Engineer

Responsibilities

• Own day-to-day production: Perform the full manual workflow for ceramics processing today including material prep, fixturing, joining, high-temperature thermal processing, and in-process quality control.
• Hitting build schedules while the process matures
• In-house the process: Lead the transition of critical processes from external vendors to internal production. Map current vendor and manual workflows, identify what to bring in-house first, and stand up the equipment, fixtures, and procedures to run them reliably
• Design test stands & fixtures: Design, build, and validate mechanical test stands, fixtures, and tooling for part and assembly characterization, taking them from CAD models and 2D drawings through hands-on fabrication and commissioning
• Automate & instrument: Design and implement automation and automated data collection for the process, including upgrading measurement systems and building programmatic interfaces to test and process equipment
• Define the long-term process: Translate what you learn on the floor into a scalable in-house process. Defining process parameters, work instructions, tooling, and in-process quality checks that make builds repeatable and yield predictable
• Characterize & troubleshoot: Characterize sub-components and assemblies, run root-cause analysis on defects and yield loss, and drive measurable process improvements
• Document & standardize: Write and maintain SOPs, calibrate measurement equipment, and manage inventory (stock, ordering, incoming QC, non-conformity) for the assemblies you produce
• Build-Test-Learn: Foster a culture where every failure is documented and results in a concrete improvement to the process, tooling, or design

Qualifications

• B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical, Materials, Chemical, or a related engineering field
• 3+ years of hands-on experience in a manufacturing, process development, or hardware build environment
• Demonstrated ability to take mechanical hardware (test stands, fixtures, or tooling) from concept and CAD through fabrication, assembly, and commissioning. You have personally designed and built working setups, not just specified them
• Experience transferring a process from an external vendor or R&D setting into repeatable internal production
• Proficiency in 3D CAD and the creation of clear 2D production drawings
• Comfort doing hands-on production work in a lab or shop environment, including high-temperature processing, and a genuine willingness to run the manual process for the first 6–12 months to learn it deeply
• Attention to detail in experimental design, execution, and documentation, including lab notebooks, data analysis, and technical reporting
• Curiosity, proactiveness, being a team player, eagerness to learn, and a focus on quickly finding a path to results