Sr. Principal Manufacturing Engineer (onsite)
About The Position
The Sr. Principal Manufacturing Engineer will lead manufacturing engineering efforts for energetic materials, components, and related processes at Collins Aerospace’s Fairfield, California site, supporting PAD, CAD, and Linear product lines. The role ensures compliance with safety, regulatory, and facility requirements while helping develop and produce high-quality products. The engineer serves as the technical lead for large-scale capital projects and supports new product introduction from design-for-manufacturability and process development through prototype builds and transition to production. The role also develops and validates manufacturing processes, contributes to proposals and production planning, creates process documentation and qualifications, and drives continuous improvement and resolution of significant manufacturing issues. The position includes mentoring other engineers, representing Manufacturing Engineering in audits and technical reviews, and supporting business travel up to 10%.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree and at least 10 years of experience, or an advanced degree and at least 7 years of experience.
- Experience with New Product Introduction, including design-for-manufacturability, process development, and transitioning products through the full lifecycle.
- Experience managing or supporting capital projects, including equipment specification, factory layout, and process qualification.
- Experience in a regulated or complex sector such as aerospace, defense, medical devices, or semiconductor fabrication.
- Must be a U.S. Person.
Nice To Haves
- Experience in high-mix manufacturing environments.
- Experience with energetic materials and related manufacturing processes and regulations.
- Experience presenting technical content and recommendations to executive leadership.
- Experience with advanced automation and robotics, such as FANUC, KUKA, or ABB, and high-speed vision inspection systems.
- Experience with PLCs, SCADA systems, and distributed control architecture.
- Experience implementing Industry 4.0 technologies, including IIoT sensors, predictive maintenance algorithms, and manufacturing execution systems.
- Experience with PFMEA and Material Review Board processes.
Responsibilities
- Lead manufacturing engineering for energetic materials, components, and related processes while ensuring compliance with safety, regulatory, and facility standards.
- Serve as technical lead for complex capital projects, including scope development, equipment specification, process design, factory layout, installation, commissioning, and qualification.
- Support New Product Introduction activities, including design-for-manufacturability, process development, prototype builds, and transition to low-rate and full-rate production.
- Develop and validate manufacturing processes for repeatability, capability, quality, and performance.
- Lead or contribute to bid and proposal efforts, including manufacturing strategy, cost estimation, risk identification, capital planning, and production scheduling.
- Collaborate with design engineering, program management, operations, safety, and quality teams to make technical decisions and resolve manufacturing challenges.
- Develop process documentation, PFMEAs, control plans, and qualifications for new or modified manufacturing systems.
- Mentor junior and mid-level manufacturing engineers and promote engineering excellence and knowledge of energetics manufacturing practices.
- Drive continuous improvement across processes, tooling, workflow, and facility infrastructure.
- Lead failure investigations and root cause analyses, and develop corrective actions for significant manufacturing issues.
- Represent Manufacturing Engineering in internal and external audits, customer technical reviews, and cross-functional program meetings.
- Support business travel up to 10%.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
- Three weeks of vacation for newly hired employees.
- 401(k) plan with employer matching and a separate employer retirement contribution.
- Tuition reimbursement.
- Student loan repayment program.
- Life insurance and disability coverage.
- Optional pet, home and auto, additional life and accident, critical illness, group legal, and identity theft coverage.
- Birth, adoption, and parental leave benefits.
- Fertility and family planning benefits.
- Adoption assistance.
- Autism benefit.
- Employee assistance plan, including up to 10 free counseling sessions.
- Wellness rewards program.
- Virtual doctor visits.
- Child and elder care services.
- Medical second-opinion program.
- Relocation may be offered.
- Flexible spending accounts.
- Paid time off and holidays.
- Potential eligibility for annual short-term and/or long-term incentive compensation.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
