R&D CNC Machinist / Prototype Machinist

*Position is on-site and located in Irvine, CA*

Position Summary: We are seeking a hands-on CNC machinist to run our in-house machine shop and support R&D and manufacturing with prototype parts, fixtures, tooling, and quick-turn machining. The role is primarily focused on machining, setup, shop organization, and practical manufacturability support, with opportunities to assist with external machine shops, simple prototype molds, 3D printing, and metrology/CT inspection.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

• Set up, operate, and maintain the CNC mill, lathe, band saw, and supporting shop equipment.

• Machine prototype parts, fixtures, tooling, assembly aids, test components, and manufacturing support equipment.

• Work from drawings, CAD models, sketches, or verbal direction in a fast-moving R&D environment.

• Select materials, tooling, workholding, cutting strategies, feeds, speeds, and machining methods for low-volume parts.

• Inspect machined parts using calipers, micrometers, indicators, height gauges, and other standard inspection tools.

• Provide manufacturability feedback to engineers on tolerances, materials, geometry, finishes, and fixture concepts.

• Maintain a clean, safe, organized, and well-controlled machine shop, including tooling, raw material, and maintenance records.

• Coordinate with outside machine shops for parts that require specialized processes, tighter tolerances, higher volume, or faster capacity.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 5 years of hands-on machining experience in a prototype shop, R&D shop, toolroom, medical device, aerospace, or precision manufacturing environment.

• Strong CNC milling experience; manual lathe and general shop equipment experience required.

• Ability to read mechanical drawings, understand tolerances/GD&T, and machine from CAD-derived dimensions.

• Experience machining aluminum, stainless steel, engineering plastics, and small precision components.

• Strong mechanical problem-solving skills and ability to manage multiple short-turn jobs with shifting priorities.

• Good communication skills and willingness to collaborate directly with engineers and manufacturing personnel.

NICE-TO-HAVE SKILLS

• CAM programming experience such as Fusion 360, Mastercam, SolidWorks CAM, or similar.

• Simple mold making for benchtop injection molding, including aluminum mold inserts, gates, vents, draft, and part release.

• Basic injection molding support for small plastic parts and prototype molding trials.

• 3D printing experience for rapid prototypes, fixture concepts, and hybrid printed/machined tooling.

• Metrology experience, including optical inspection, CMM, CT scanning, first article inspection, or CAD-to-scan comparison.

• Experience in medical device, diagnostics, wearable devices, microfluidics, pumps, cartridges, or precision plastic assemblies.

IDEAL CANDIDATE

The ideal candidate is a practical, detail-oriented machinist who enjoys supporting engineers, moving quickly, solving real hardware problems, and building reliable fixtures and prototype parts. This is not a repetitive production role; it is a hands-on R&D support role for someone who can machine parts, improve designs, and help decide what should be made in-house versus outsourced.

Salary will be based on experience and education.