Director, Forward Deployed Engineering

Description

The company is building autonomous factories to bring manufacturing back to the United States. It combines AI, advanced software, robotics and full-stack manufacturing so aerospace and defense customers can build rockets, satellites, aircraft, ships and similar critical systems up to 10x faster and at significantly lower cost.

After a $1.37B Series D at a $7.87B valuation, the company is quickly adding manufacturing sites and capabilities in welding, casting, forging, electronics and additive manufacturing, while growing its factory-as-a-service model.

This role sits in Build Engineering and works closely with Customer Programs on the manufacturing side of new customer deals. You turn customer needs into commitments the company can actually deliver.

You will work with customers every day and often act as the face of the company's engineering, so how you conduct yourself in meetings matters as much as the technical answer. Discovery comes first: you and your team watch how work moves on site, map processes and limits, and interview the people closest to the problem, since their real needs often differ from the first request.

The goal is a solution that gives the customer the most value while moving the company's direction forward. The best answers are high impact and low effort, and build on existing strengths rather than creating new obligations.

Build Engineering delivers what your team scopes, so every commitment needs sound engineering judgment and a real understanding of the factory. Evaluate first, then propose or promise.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical relationship with customer engineering, program and leadership contacts. Lead working sessions, present findings and recommendations, answer hard questions, and follow up with precise written updates.
• Leave every customer interaction with more confidence in the company.
• Lead discovery on site: observe operations, map processes, constraints and pain points, and interview people from the shop floor up to program leadership. Build a factual picture of the real need before proposing anything.
• Turn findings into solutions that deliver the most output for the customer and advance the company's roadmap, favoring existing capabilities. Keep an accurate view of current capability and roadmap.
• Work on a dotted line with Customer Programs as their forward deployed engineering arm, bringing technical judgment from first contact through commitment.
• Build, manage and grow a technical team that runs discovery and customer communication in a credible, low-ego way, and set the standards it works to.
• Scope new engagements by reviewing requirements, drawings, specifications, tolerances, materials and volumes, then define a manufacturing approach the company can commit to with confidence.
• Check the problem and its constraints before proposing or committing, so every promise is real and deliverable.
• Hand off scoped work to Build Engineering with a clear product definition, make-vs-buy position, process capability requirements and a manufacturing plan that holds up in execution.
• Spot repeat customer patterns and build reusable scoping methods and solution templates so the function grows without adding headcount in a straight line.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical, aerospace, manufacturing or a related engineering field plus 8+ years of manufacturing or manufacturing engineering experience, or 12+ years of that experience without a degree.
• 3+ years managing technical teams with direct reports.
• Experience in a customer-facing technical role, such as applications, field or sales engineering, program engineering or consulting, including presenting technical recommendations to customer engineering and program leaders.
• Proven track record leading a technical team with customers, translating between customer requirements and what the factory can really do.
• Demonstrated ability to run structured discovery (site visits, process mapping, stakeholder interviews) and turn it into a defined technical solution.
• Strong first-principles judgment to evaluate complex requirements before proposing or committing to solutions.
• Fluent in reading engineering drawings, specifications, GD&T and manufacturing process requirements.
• Experience scoping or defining manufacturing work, including DFM, make-vs-buy, process planning, tooling strategy or production launch.
• Preferred: experience in aerospace, defense, maritime or other high-complexity, high-mix manufacturing.
• Preferred: background spanning both a scaling startup and a mature manufacturing organization.
• Preferred: exposure to precision machining, castings, forgings, sheet metal or additive processes across metals and composites.
• Preferred: experience working alongside sales, program management or commercial teams on new customer engagements.
• Preferred: exposure to manufacturing software and automation (MES/ERP, CAM automation, robotics, factory data systems), with a record of feeding customer learnings into product and automation roadmaps so capabilities get built ahead of demand.
• Preferred: a track record of building repeatable systems and templates rather than solving each problem from scratch.

Conditions

To meet U.S. export regulations under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), you must be a U.S. citizen or national, a lawful permanent resident, a protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

The company uses AI in its hiring process.

The company is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on protected grounds, makes reasonable accommodations for disabled candidates and employees, and considers qualified applicants with criminal histories as applicable law requires.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision and life insurance for employees
• 401k
• Flexible vacation policy
• Equity
• Relocation support may be provided in certain situations, based on business need.