NPI engineer

Arxlight • Oakland, CA

1d

About The Position

Arxlight is seeking a hands-on NPI Engineer to serve as the technical bridge between Engineering and Manufacturing as drone products move from development into production. The role is part of the Operations organization and collaborates closely with Engineering throughout the product development cycle. The NPI Engineer becomes a subject matter expert on the product and its mechanical design at both system and component levels, ensuring it can be built reliably and efficiently at scale. The focus is on the product and its design rather than on the manufacturing process itself.

The role owns the technical transition of new products from early prototypes through NPI builds and production ramp. It drives design for manufacturing and assembly (DFM/DFA), identifies design issues before they create production problems, and keeps Engineering and Manufacturing aligned as products evolve. The position also develops production tooling and leads product-level manufacturing readiness and technical issue resolution.

Requirements

• At least 5 years of experience in NPI, mechanical engineering, product engineering, manufacturing engineering, or a similar role supporting complex hardware products.
• Strong mechanical engineering fundamentals and hands-on experience with mechanical design, materials, tolerances, GD&T, fastening, adhesives, and electromechanical assemblies.
• Strong understanding of DFM/DFA and experience influencing mechanical designs to improve manufacturability, assembly, quality, cost, and scalability.
• Experience designing or developing tooling, fixtures, jigs, gauges, and other mechanical solutions used to build or inspect production hardware.
• Experience with manufacturing processes such as CNC machining, injection molding, sheet metal, die casting, 3D printing, composites, and production assembly.
• Experience taking complex hardware from prototype through EVT/DVT/PVT, NPI, and production ramp, with strong hands-on troubleshooting and root-cause analysis skills.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with drones, robotics, aerospace, autonomous systems, or other complex electromechanical products.
• Strong CAD experience and ability to create and review mechanical designs, drawings, tolerance stack-ups, GD&T, tooling, and assembly interfaces.
• Experience working directly with machine shops, contract manufacturers, injection molders, and other mechanical suppliers during development and production ramp.
• Experience designing fixtures and tooling for assembly, calibration, inspection, testing, or production processes.
• Experience with PLM systems, BOMs, drawings, specifications, ECOs, deviations, and hardware configuration management.
• Experience in a startup or fast-moving hardware environment, with comfort moving between CAD, the engineering lab, the production floor, and suppliers to solve problems.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical transition of new products from Engineering into Manufacturing, from early prototypes through NPI builds and production ramp.
• Develop deep subject-matter expertise in product mechanical design, assemblies, interfaces, materials, tolerances, BOM, and critical-to-quality features.
• Drive DFM and DFA reviews with Engineering to improve part design, tolerancing, assembly, material selection, manufacturing methods, cost, and scalability.
• Design and develop production tooling, fixtures, jigs, gauges, and other equipment needed to build, inspect, and test products consistently.
• Lead technical issues during NPI builds, collaborating with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, and suppliers to troubleshoot failures, determine root causes, and drive design changes as needed.
• Own product-level manufacturing readiness, including BOM maturity, drawings, GD&T, specifications, assembly requirements, tooling, configuration, and engineering change implementation.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed