Lead Manufacturing Engineer, Harnessing

Castelion Corporation•Torrance, CA

48d

About The Position

Castelion is seeking a Lead Manufacturing Engineer to own the development, qualification, and scaling of manufacturing processes for wiring harnesses, cable assemblies, interconnect systems, and associated test systems. This role will serve as the technical manufacturing lead for harnessing, driving both in-house and supplier capabilities from prototype development through high-rate production in support of next-generation defense systems.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Manufacturing, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
4+ years of manufacturing engineering experience in wiring harnesses, cable assemblies, electrical integration, or electromechanical hardware.
Demonstrated experience owning manufacturing processes and scaling hardware from prototype through production.
Strong hands-on technical capability and ability to lead engineers and technicians through complex manufacturing challenges.
Must be authorized to work in the U.S. and comply with ITAR eligibility requirements.

Nice To Haves

Experience with high-reliability aerospace or defense harness manufacturing.
Familiarity with IPC/WHMA-A-620, NASA-STD-8739.4, or similar workmanship standards.
Experience with continuity, insulation resistance, dielectric withstand/HiPot, and functional electrical testing.
Experience with DFM, manufacturing readiness reviews, root-cause analysis, and process qualification.
Experience developing and qualifying external harness suppliers.
Experience building, mentoring, and technically leading manufacturing engineering and technician teams.

Responsibilities

Own harness manufacturing processes from incoming material through fabrication, inspection, electrical test, and final acceptance. Develop and maintain work instructions, MBOMs, process flows, tooling requirements, and manufacturing specifications.
Serve as the manufacturing technical authority for harness fabrication and test. Mentor engineers and technicians, support hiring and onboarding, establish best practices, develop technical capability across the team, resolve complex manufacturing issues, and drive standardization across harness programs.
Partner with Supply Chain and Quality to qualify and develop external harness suppliers. Lead supplier audits, process reviews, capability assessments, production readiness reviews, and corrective actions.
Partner with design engineering throughout the product lifecycle to improve manufacturability, testability, connector selection, routing, strain relief, serviceability, and assembly robustness. Drive DFM/DFT recommendations before designs are released to production.
Develop and implement harness test strategies and automated test systems for continuity, insulation resistance, dielectric withstand/HiPot, functional verification, and environmental screening when required.
Lead manufacturing readiness reviews, process qualification activities, capability studies, and production risk assessments to ensure designs and processes are ready to scale.
Establish and drive improvements in first-pass yield, defect rates, throughput, labor efficiency, cycle time, and cost. Use production data and Lean methodologies to identify and eliminate manufacturing constraints.