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Poseidon Aerospace is building full-size autonomous cargo aircraft capable of carrying two-ton payloads over 1,000+ nautical miles. The company operates from the San Francisco Bay Area with additional locations in Washington DC, Oregon, and Maine, focused on making air freight faster, cheaper, and accessible globally.
As a Manufacturing Engineer, you will own the complete tooling lifecycle—from CAD design through CAM programming to hands-on machining on mills and routers. You'll design and deliver jigs, fixtures, and tooling that enable aircraft assembly and fabrication. This is a role where you think with your hands and rapidly translate design requirements into precision tooling on startup timelines.
Key responsibilities include:
- Design and deliver tooling, jigs, and fixtures for aircraft assembly and fabrication processes
- Program and machine custom tooling components using CAM software and CNC equipment
- Rapidly prototype manufacturing solutions to support evolving aircraft designs and assembly sequences
- Conduct first article inspections and dimensional validation to ensure design intent
- Collaborate with design engineers to provide DFM feedback and influence part designs for manufacturability
- Develop and document assembly procedures, work instructions, and tooling usage guidelines
- Troubleshoot and iterate on tooling designs based on production floor feedback
- Maintain and improve existing tooling as aircraft designs evolve
You'll work in a small, fast-moving team where you balance speed with precision, knowing when "good enough" is appropriate versus when tight tolerances are critical.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Proficiency in CAD software (Fusion, SolidWorks, CATIA, NX, or similar) for designing tooling, fixtures, and jigs
- Hands-on CAM programming experience and ability to machine own parts on vertical mills and multi-axis CNC equipment
- Strong understanding of GD&T and ability to apply proper tolerancing to tooling designs
- Knowledge of composite materials and their unique tooling requirements (layup surfaces, cure tooling, trim fixtures)
- Experience with metrology equipment (calipers, micrometers, height gauges) and inspection techniques
- Understanding of design for manufacturing principles and common composite manufacturing processes (layup, bonding, trimming, drilling)
- Self-directed problem solver comfortable working independently while supporting a small team
NICE TO HAVE:
- Fusion 360 for integrated CAD/CAM workflow
- Hands-on experience with Kitamura machines
- Gantry-style CNC router programming and operation
- Multi-axis (4th/5th axis) CAM programming experience
- Hands-on composite layup or composite trimming experience
- Welding experience for fixture fabrication
- FDM for rapid tooling prototypes
