Tooling Engineer Los Angeles, CA      Onsite            

Industry – Defense, Hardware, Manufacturing

Compensation: $140K–$230K + equity.

About This Role

We are looking for a Tooling Engineer with 3-5+ years of experience to design and develop large-scale, safety-critical tooling for solid rocket motor production at a fast-growing hypersonic company. You'll be responsible for figuring out how to safely move, handle, and process thousands of pounds of energetic materials, designing fixtures, assemblies, and environmental systems that keep explosive precursor chemicals at the right temperature and in motion.

This is a high-stakes, hands-on role where your engineering fundamentals and ability to work at scale with dangerous materials will directly enable delivery of the first 50 units to the U.S. Navy.

What will you be doing?

• Designing and developing large-scale tooling (jigs, fixtures, molds, and handling assemblies) for safely moving and processing 600+ gallon, 2,000+ lb batches of ammonium perchlorate and aluminum oxidizer precursor chemicals
• Engineering solutions for temperature control, material movement between buildings, and safe breakdown of explosive materials into smaller quantities for solid rocket motor casting
• Collaborating cross-functionally with manufacturing, design, and production teams to architect tooling that meets aggressive cost, quality, and delivery targets for first-build production
• Leading tooling projects end-to-end from concept through production floor implementation, including FEA validation, tolerance stack-ups, and DFM principles
• Mentoring junior tooling engineers and technicians while ensuring compliance with aerospace and defense industry standards

·         Tech stack

·         CAD (SolidWorks/NX/CATIA), FEA, GD&T, Tolerance Stack-Up Analysis

        ·         Why Work Here?

·         Strong Backing & Funding

·         This is a modern defense production company building long-range hypersonic strike systems. They've secured a large Navy order for 50 units and are scaling fast with $469M+ in funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed, and General Catalyst. Join a company that's moved beyond concepts to actual production deliverables.

·         Exceptional Team & Culture

·         You'll work alongside elite engineers in a SpaceX-inspired ownership culture where you drive meaningful outcomes on real hardware. Senior Tooling Engineer role in Los Angeles, CA. 

·         Rapid Growth

·         You'll own end-to-end tooling development for solid rocket motor production, large-scale, high-consequence, first-of-its-kind work.

·         Seniority

·         3 -​ 10 years of experience in tooling design for large-​scale,​ heavy,​ or hazardous hardware

·         Work experience

·         Experience designing large-​scale fixtures/tooling for heavy or dangerous components (e.​g.​,​ 1000+ lb parts,​ explosives,​ molten metal,​ fuselage sections)

·         Worked at a high-​velocity environment (e.​g.​,​ SpaceX,​ startup,​ NPI/pilot build setting) , not solely at a legacy prime

·         Experience with energetics,​ propellants,​ foundry,​ or chemical handling tooling

·         Education

·         Bachelor’s degree in mechanical,​ Manufacturing,​ or related engineering field

·         Hard skills

·         CAD proficiency for detailed tooling design (jigs,​ fixtures,​ molds)

·         Strong grasp of engineering fundamentals , FEA,​ tolerance stack-​ups,​ structural math

·         Knowledge of DFM principles and aerospace standards (AS9100)

·         Soft skills

·         Safety-​focused mindset, proactively identifies hazards in handling/moving dangerous materials

·         Miscellaneous

·         Must be ITAR-​compliant (U.​S.​ citizen,​ permanent resident,​ or eligible)

·        Based in or willing to relocate to Los Angeles,​ CA area (on-​site)

·     Send your resume to Denise@ClientGrowthResources.com Absolutely no cost to you ever for our recruiting services.