What are the responsibilities and job description for the Manufacturing Engineer position at USA Tech Recruit?
We've partnered with an early-stage hardware startup building next-generation water generation systems designed to create clean drinking water on demand, independent of traditional infrastructure. The company is working at the intersection of climate resilience and advanced hardware systems, and is now hiring a Manufacturing Engineer to help take their desalination technology from early builds into scalable, high-rate production.
This is a hands-on, high-ownership role for someone who enjoys solving practical manufacturing problems, building production systems from the ground up, and improving hardware reliability and cost efficiency in a fast-moving startup environment.
This is a full time onsite role in Torrance, CA and you must have full right to work in the US at the time of application.
Key Responsibilities:
- Design, develop, and optimise manufacturing processes and production lines for advanced desalination systems.
- Lead design for manufacturability and assembly (DFM/DFA) efforts, including tooling, fixtures, and automation solutions.
- Define and work cross-functionally on production metrics such as cycle time, yield, throughput, and cost per unit.
- Develop work instructions, process flows, and factory layouts for new and evolving production systems.
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives to reduce cost, improve yield, and increase production reliability.
- Support scaling efforts from prototype builds through to high-volume manufacturing.
Key Qualifications:
- 1–8 years of experience in manufacturing engineering, with ownership of production line design or process development for physical hardware products.
- Experience in high-rate manufacturing environments such as automotive, consumer electronics, or satellite production (e.g., Starlink-style systems).
- Proven experience building or scaling manufacturing processes in fast-paced hardware environments.
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, or Industrial Engineering.
- Hands-on engineering project experience (e.g., Formula SAE, Baja, robotics, rocketry, or similar build-focused teams).
- Proficiency in CAD tools such as SolidWorks for designing tooling, fixtures, and production equipment.
- Experience designing custom manufacturing equipment or automation systems (e.g., conveyors, pick-and-place systems, pneumatic systems, operator assist tooling).
- Familiarity with fluid or pressure systems including pumps, valves, tubing, or related hardware is a plus.
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Salary : $125,000 - $145,000