Job Description

Space Hardware CNC Manufacturing Engineer (5-Axis & Mill/Turn)
Build the factory that builds the parts. At Final Frontier Manufacturing, we're a precision-machining startup serving rockets and satellites. We adopt and deploy new technology to go faster and cut more precisely--turning designs into flight hardware with urgency and rigor.
Since 2022, we've shipped $10M+ of product in three years. We're small, intentional, and high-talent-density. In this role, you'll be our second full-time Manufacturing Engineer and a key driver of how modern space hardware is produced.
Impact areas

• Process architecture: Convert tight-tolerance, complex geometry into stable, repeatable manufacturing strategies for high-value parts and assemblies.
• Documentation that moves the floor: Create process flows, risk-based plans, tooling concepts, setup sheets, and work instructions that accelerate execution.
• Fixtures that work: Collaborate with the toolroom on fixtures that minimize setup and maximize repeatability.
• Cross-functional scale-up: Partner with Production, Quality, Purchasing, and Operations to translate engineering intent into scalable workflows.
• Automation + data: Advance lights-out machining, optimize cycle time and tool life, and close the loop with analytics.
• CAM excellence: Program and refine CAM (Mastercam or equivalent) for 3- to 5-axis and mill/turn parts--balancing precision, efficiency, and consistency.
• Launch and improve: Prove-outs and continuous improvement alongside machinists, QA, and the toolroom.

Strategic initiatives you'll touch

• Cobot machine tending expansion on UR / FANUC CRX: gripper/tooling selection, cell layout, changeover, and safety.
• AI for CAM and process planning: Pilot AI-assisted toolpath strategy selection, template generation, and verification workflows.
• CMMC cybersecurity audit: Implement practical digital traveler, access control, and traceability with engineering input.
• New facility design (larger footprint): Contribute to floor layout, material flow, utilities, metrology labs, tool crib, and automation cells--engineered for high-mix throughput.

What success looks like

• Complex parts move from CAD to chip quickly and repeatedly.
• Fixtures are simple to run and hard to misload.
• Setup sheets are clear; prove-outs go faster each iteration.
• Automation increases spindle utilization and reduces variation.
• Data closes feedback loops and lifts quality and throughput.

Who you are
A builder who doesn't wait for decisions--you make them. You think in systems. You see the fixture, the setup, the toolpath, and the inspection plan the moment you see the drawing. You enjoy solving technical puzzles and hardening them into robust processes. You prize rigor without bureaucracy and love collaborating with people who argue well and then roll up their sleeves.
You'll work across multiple top-tier (confidential) space programs with diverse materials, geometries, and processes--while contributing to the reindustrialization of U.S. manufacturing.
Compensation & benefits

• Top 25% compensation and benefits.
• Medical/dental/vision, 401(k), PTO, holidays.
• Free hot breakfast and lunch provided daily.
• Modern tools, a collaborative culture, and meaningful impact on hardware that flies.

Top-tier customers are confidential; details shared during the process.
We're proudly independent--no VC, no burn, no nonsense.
Required fluency

• GD&T
• CNC Tooling
• CNC Programming
• AS9100
• Industrial Robot Programming
• PLC Programming Experience
• CAD/CAM Software

Core tools

• CAM Software (Mastercam)

Skills Required