Senior-Staff Manufacturing Engineer, Assembly & Integration

Antares • Los Angeles, CA

3d • $140,000 - $225,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Antares is seeking a Manufacturing Engineer to lead on-site assembly of its full-scale, full-power reactor at Antares Prime. The role works across design, quality, supply chain, and other teams to provide design for manufacturability (DFM) input, define build processes, procure capital equipment and tooling, execute development builds, and launch production of the R1 nuclear reactor.

The engineer owns manufacturing process development for major reactor assemblies and subsystems, from engineering release through build, inspection, testing, and final integration. The role develops assembly processes, layouts, tooling, fixtures, and manufacturing documentation; partners with technical teams to ensure designs can be manufactured, inspected, and tested; and works directly with production personnel to resolve issues and improve processes. It also includes participating in readiness and design reviews, mentoring other engineers, and helping establish a culture of technical rigor, ownership, and continuous improvement.

Antares describes its mission as making clean energy abundant, including through mass-producible, inherently safe, deployable microreactors for terrestrial, underwater, and space applications. The company emphasizes systems thinking, end-user focus, challenging convention, in-person collaboration where the work requires it, and engaging with nuance. Applicants must meet applicable U.S. export-control eligibility requirements under ITAR or be eligible to obtain required authorizations.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial, Aerospace, Nuclear, or a related engineering discipline.
• At least 2 years of experience developing and implementing manufacturing processes for complex hardware.
• Demonstrated experience taking hardware from engineering design through prototype, development, qualification, and production.
• Extensive experience creating manufacturing documentation, including work instructions, process specifications, assembly procedures, inspection plans, and test procedures.
• Strong understanding of GD&T, tolerance analysis, engineering drawings, and configuration management.
• Experience working directly with technicians, machinists, fabricators, inspectors, and production personnel.
• Ability to troubleshoot manufacturing problems on the floor and drive them through root cause, corrective action, and process improvement.
• Strong understanding of DFM/DFA principles and ability to influence design decisions effectively.
• Experience developing or implementing manufacturing tooling, fixtures, and specialized equipment.
• Ability to work effectively across engineering, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, test, and operations organizations.
• Strong technical communication skills and ability to clearly document complex processes.
• Ability to operate independently in a fast-paced, highly technical, and ambiguous environment while maintaining exceptional attention to detail.
• Demonstrated ownership of large, technically complex projects with significant cross-functional impact.
• Must be a U.S. citizen or national, lawful permanent resident, qualifying refugee or asylee, or eligible to obtain the required U.S. Department of State authorizations, to conform to U.S. Government export regulations.

Nice To Haves

• At least 5 years of experience developing and implementing manufacturing processes for complex hardware.
• Experience with aerospace or nuclear reactor components, pressure vessels, primary or secondary systems, fuel systems, thermal systems, or reactor instrumentation and controls.
• Experience developing manufacturing processes subject to nuclear quality assurance requirements or other rigorous quality or regulatory frameworks.
• Working knowledge of ASME Section III, NQA-1, or comparable nuclear quality requirements.
• Experience with process qualification and validation for special processes.
• Experience with PFMEA, process capability studies, statistical process control, value-stream mapping, and capacity analysis.
• Experience developing manufacturing processes for safety-significant or safety-critical hardware.
• Experience transitioning low-volume prototype hardware into repeatable production.
• Familiarity with manufacturing execution systems, ERP/MRP systems, PLM systems, and digital work-instruction platforms.
• Experience in environments where configuration control, traceability, material control, and process documentation are critical to product acceptance.

Responsibilities

• Own manufacturing process development for major reactor assemblies and subsystems from engineering release through build, inspection, test, and final integration.
• Develop detailed assembly and manufacturing process flows, including shop-floor layouts.
• Partner with mechanical, electrical, nuclear, systems, materials, quality, and test engineers to ensure designs are manufacturable, inspectable, and testable.
• Develop and mature tooling, fixtures, handling equipment, and specialized manufacturing equipment for reactor hardware.
• Establish robust processes for first-of-a-kind hardware that address prototype needs and the requirements of scalable production.
• Work directly with manufacturing technicians and operators to troubleshoot build issues, improve processes, and incorporate lessons learned.
• Develop and maintain manufacturing bills of material (mBOMs), process plans, and configuration-controlled manufacturing documentation.
• Participate in manufacturing readiness reviews, design reviews, production readiness reviews, and hardware build reviews.
• Mentor junior and mid-level manufacturing engineers and help establish a culture of technical rigor, ownership, and continuous improvement.

What This Job Offers

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