Manufacturing Engineer

Manufacturing Engineer 

Location: Playa Vista, California (in-person, five days per week) 

Outpost is pioneering Earth return logistics for space. We're building vehicles that can return payloads from orbit safely and precisely—enabling faster space-based manufacturing, global delivery, and entirely new capabilities in the space economy. Our spacecraft is already backed by the U.S. government with multiple missions ahead. We’re a mission-focused team, building with urgency, grit, and care for the work we do and the people we do it with. 

 

The Role 

 

As a Manufacturing Engineer, you’ll work at the intersection of design, fabrication, and test—owning the processes and tooling that enable rapid, reliable hardware development. This is a hands-on role for an engineer who thrives in a build-heavy environment and can move seamlessly between the machine shop, vendors, and the engineering floor. 

 

Qualifications:  

• 4–8+ years of experience in aerospace or aviation manufacturing. 

• Strong foundation in machining, fabrication, materials, and tolerance control. 

• Hands-on experience with machining centers, manual machines, welding, and mechanical integration. 

• Demonstrated ability to work closely with design engineering and technicians in a fast-moving environment. 

• High attention to detail and a quality-first mindset. 

• Clear communication, documentation discipline, and the ability to train technicians on new processes. 

 

Responsibilities: 

• Design, develop, and manufacture ground support equipment that interfaces directly with spaceflight hardware. 

• Bring a deep understanding of aerospace/aviation part manufacturing, precision assemblies, and production methods to support prototypes, test units, and flight-adjacent hardware. 

• Support engineers and technicians through hardware development, prototype builds, test campaigns, and high-precision part fabrication across multiple materials and processes. 

• Partner with supply chain to procure engineered hardware, manage vendors, and contribute to program cost optimization. 

• Apply hands-on fabrication experience—including machining (lathe, mill, etc), welding, sheet metal work, and mechanical assembly—to build and modify prototype hardware. 
  Personal fabrication projects or shop experience are a strong plus. 

• Develop, implement, and refine manufacturing processes that improve efficiency, quality, repeatability, and safety in a fast-paced R&D environment. 

• Interpret engineering drawings and apply strong GD&T per ASME Y14.5 and tolerance analysis to guide builds and ensure manufacturability. 

• Perform or oversee CNC milling and turning operations, ensuring best practices across materials including aluminum, steels, titanium, and composites. 

• Write clear work instructions, build plans, and process documentation to enable repeatable builds and support technicians. 

• Execute in-process quality checks, verify tolerances, and ensure parts meet aerospace and government standards. 

• Coordinate with machine shop personnel and operate machine shop equipment (lathe, drill, CNC) to support rapid development and iteration. 

Compensation: 

• $120k - $165k, Salary may vary with experience 

• Incentive Equity 

• Annual Performance-Based Bonus 

• Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance 

• Short- and Long-Term Disability Insurance 

• Life Insurance 

• PTO 

• 401k with Company match 

• Subsidized daily catered lunch, snacks and coffee 

You must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15 ,or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State