Manufacturing Engineer I

Galvion • Newport, VT

9d

About The Position

The Manufacturing Engineer is responsible for leading and optimizing production of ballistic helmets and advanced protective systems in a regulated defense manufacturing environment. The role focuses on improving processes for advanced composite materials, ensuring consistent ballistic performance, increasing production efficiency, and maintaining strict quality and compliance standards. It supports production scaling, continuous improvement, cross-functional collaboration, and delivery of mission-critical protective equipment for military and law enforcement applications.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Materials, Industrial Engineering, or a related field.
• 3–5+ years of manufacturing engineering experience in composites, defense, aerospace, or protective equipment.
• Hands-on experience with molding, pressing, or composite fabrication processes.
• Strong understanding of process control in safety-critical manufacturing.
• Experience with root cause analysis and continuous improvement methods.
• CAD experience is preferred.
• Understanding of PLC logic.
• Deep process-ownership mindset in a safety-critical environment.
• Ability to balance throughput, cost, and uncompromising quality.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capability, especially with materials and process interactions.
• Leadership and influence across production teams.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with ballistic materials such as aramids, UHMWPE, and hybrid composites.
• Familiarity with defense contracting requirements and documentation.
• Lean or Six Sigma certification (Green or Black Belt).
• CAD experience.

Responsibilities

• Develop, refine, and standardize ballistic helmet manufacturing processes, including layup, molding or pressing, trimming, finishing, and coating.
• Optimize cycle times, material utilization, and yield while maintaining ballistic integrity.
• Lead root cause analysis for defects such as delamination, voids, dimensional non-conformance, and coating failures.
• Define and control critical process parameters, including temperature, pressure, cure time, and consolidation.
• Partner with R&D on material selection, qualification, and process transfer.
• Support new product introduction and transition from prototype to full-rate production.
• Design and implement tooling, fixtures, and work instructions for repeatable manufacturing.
• Balance throughput with compliance to ballistic performance standards.
• Implement statistical process control and process controls for safety-critical features.
• Support ballistic testing, lot acceptance, and failure investigations.
• Specify and improve presses, ovens, automation equipment, and final assembly lines.
• Evaluate automation opportunities in material handling, cutting, painting, and finishing operations.
• Improve equipment uptime and preventive maintenance strategies.
• Mentor technicians and junior engineers in manufacturing best practices.
• Contribute to capacity planning, cost reduction strategies, and the long-term manufacturing roadmap.

Benefits

• Challenging work.
• Opportunities for professional growth.
• Opportunity to contribute to products that make a real-world difference.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level