Stellant Systems

Stellant Systems

Manufactures spectrum and power amplification systems

Continuous Improvement Manager

Full-TimeDeadline 9/17/27
$120k - $166k/yr
Expert
Bachelor's, Master's
Torrance, CA, USA
In Person
No H1B Sponsorship
US Citizenship Required

About the job

Requirements
  • An undergraduate degree is required; Engineering, Operations Management, or Business is preferred.
  • At least 9 years of progressive experience in continuous improvement and operations management.
  • Strong business acumen and understanding of the profit and loss statement and balance sheet.
  • Experience with high-reliability assembly processes for highly engineered products.
  • Working knowledge of cultural issues impacting lean implementation and demonstrated success overcoming those issues.
  • Experience deploying new production lines, ramping up production, and establishing product line-based flow lines.
  • Experience applying best-practice Failure Mode and Effects Analysis, Design for Manufacture and Assembly, and Design to Cost methodologies.
  • Experience implementing lean manufacturing; Six Sigma Green or Black Belt certification is a plus.
  • Demonstrated computer skills with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Project.
  • Knowledge of International Traffic in Arms Regulations eligibility requirements as a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual.
Responsibilities
  • Create and execute the site continuous improvement roadmap, monitor and report project progress, identify new projects, collect performance data, set key performance indicators, and lead cross-functional teams through project execution.
  • Implement Lean Six Sigma methodologies to reduce bottlenecks, eliminate waste, and improve workflows using key performance indicators and visual management.
  • Create and analyze metrics and drive root-cause and corrective actions to address performance gaps.
  • Review process workflows, operations, and systems to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies.
  • Develop and execute productivity improvement plans.
  • Foster a culture of continuous improvement throughout the organization.
  • Translate business goals into actionable continuous improvement plans and long-term roadmaps, including capital planning.
  • Identify and prioritize improvement projects based on business goals.
  • Meet continuous improvement annual operating plan targets.
  • Lead the continuous improvement team to align tools, processes, and staff with business needs.
  • Communicate strategies to expedite adoption and institutionalization of best practices.
  • Collaborate with executive leadership to develop and meet goals, providing expertise and guidance on continuous improvement projects and systems.
  • Coach employees and provide guidance on problem-solving tools and continuous improvement principles.
  • Manage and mentor the team while building a culture supporting workforce engagement, retention, and efficiency improvements.
  • Develop cross-functional and team relationships supporting a one-team approach to execution.
  • Provide team leadership, strategy, and execution.
  • Deliver progress reports and presentations to executive team members routinely and as requested.
  • Support creation of reports and standards for achieving program labor budgets.
  • Develop and execute cost improvement plans.
  • Support quality-metric improvement plans that result in cost savings for affected programs.
  • Ensure a healthy and safe working environment and compliance with federal and state regulations in collaboration with environmental, health, and safety staff.
  • Support the RCCA process to maintain high-quality standards.
Desired Qualifications
  • A master's degree in a similar field.
  • A background in IPC and Military Standard requirements for passive and active devices.
  • Experience with direct-current, radio-frequency, and environmental test processes.
  • Background in development and low-rate initial production manufacturing efforts.
  • Proficiency in enterprise resource planning systems, data visualization tools such as Power BI, and project management software.
  • Ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously while maintaining high quality and attention to detail.
  • Ability to work in a fast-moving environment under tight schedules and coordinate multiple tasks effectively.

About the company

Stellant Systems provides specialized hardware that amplifies radio frequency (RF) signals. Its products are critical spectrum and power amplification systems used by defense, space, medical/scientific, and industrial customers around the world to transmit and strengthen signals for communication, navigation, sensing, and control. The systems work by taking an input RF signal and boosting its power with carefully designed amplifiers and electronics, ensuring stable performance in demanding environments. The company differentiates itself by focusing on high-reliability, mission-critical amplification solutions across civil, military, and commercial sectors and by serving a global customer base. Its goal is to help create a safe, aware, and connected world by providing dependable amplification technology that supports vital operations worldwide.

Company Size

201-500

Company Stage

Acquired

Total Funding

$960M

Headquarters

Torrance, California

Founded

2021

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • On September 1, 2026, DoD granted Stellant $11.4 million for W-band TWTA production.
  • March 26, 2026 Navy awarded $20.1 million for 58 electron tubes through December 2027.
  • Space Force plans thousands of satellites, expanding demand for Stellant's amplifier stack.

What critics are saying

  • DOJ blocked TransDigm's July 2026 purchase, exposing antitrust scrutiny around Stellant's mission-critical parts.
  • Aerospace customers can redesign around tube amplifiers, shrinking Stellant's moat as solid-state radios improve.
  • If DoD modernizes to alternate suppliers, Stellant's single-source legacy programs lose volume fast.

What makes Stellant Systems unique

  • Stellant remains one of few U.S. sources for space-qualified traveling-wave tube amplifiers.
  • Its proprietary microwave components create sole-source positions on Aegis, F-16, and F/A-18 programs.
  • Torrance manufacturing and dual-use defense-space portfolio make replacement costly for buyers.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Paid Sick Leave

Paid Holidays

Professional Development Budget

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

↑ 11%

1 year growth

↑ 11%

2 year growth

↑ 11%
Stellant Systems
Sep 8th, 2026
Stellant Systems secures US Defense Production Act funding for W-band space communications

Stellant Systems has received funding from the US Department of Defense under Title III of the Defense Production Act to develop next-generation traveling wave tube amplifiers and digital amplifier power supplies for military space applications. The Torrance, California-based company will expand capabilities into the W-band frequency spectrum to increase bandwidth for secure, high-capacity space communications. The technology aims to enable higher throughput for satellite networks and strengthen resilient space architectures. Stellant manufactures RF and microwave power amplification products for space, defence, medical, science, and industrial markets, serving both domestic and international customers. The funding builds on Stellant's position as a strategic domestic source for space-qualified traveling wave tubes.

Binary Systems, Inc.
Sep 2nd, 2026
Pentagon issues contracts to boost manufacturing capacity for Space Systems.

Pentagon issues contracts to boost manufacturing capacity for Space Systems. The Pentagon is moving forward with plans to invest in manufacturing capacity for the space industrial base, awarding multiple contracts in recent weeks to companies who supply key space components and subsystems as well as firms with innovative manufacturing technology that's ready to scale. The Defense Innovation Unit, a Pentagon technology hub designed to help funnel promising commercial capabilities to the military at scale, awarded other transaction agreements in July and August to two companies through its Adaptive Space Manufacturing and Integration Scale project. The effort aims to leverage commercially available tools and adaptive manufacturing processes to kick-start higher production rates across the space industrial base. ALL.SPACE, a firm owned by York Space Systems, was one of those recipients. The company said in an Aug. 31 statement that it will demonstrate on-demand production of its Hydra satellite communications terminal with the goal of producing hundreds of units per month and potentially thousands per year. "This award reflects a fundamental shift in how defense capabilities are being fielded," ALL.SPACE Chief Operating Officer Rod McCurdy said in a statement. "Hydra was designed to deliver resilient connectivity across multiple networks and orbits, and this effort provides an opportunity to demonstrate how those capabilities can be delivered at the pace required by next-generation space and defense architectures." A second company, Freeform Future Corp., received a contract in July to scale its production of key propulsion and structural hardware. Earlier this year, the company unveiled a laser-based additive manufacturing platform called Skyfall, which it says will significantly expand its production. Separate from the DIU awards, the Pentagon announced Sept. 1 it would invest $11.4 million in Stellant Systems, a company that makes vacuum tubes that can amplify certain radio frequency signals. In a statement, the Pentagon said it would use Defense Production Act funds to support qualification of the company's space-based amplifier and to boost production rates, which it says "will greatly reduce schedule, cost, and performance risks to U.S. government satellite programs." The Space Force is preparing for a sizable increase in the number of satellites it operates. Deputy Chief of Space Operations for strategy, plans, programs, and requirements Gen. David N. Miller Jr. said in May that the service's five-year budget projection includes "thousands" of satellites. Those will fall across a number of mission areas, including space-based moving target indication, data transport, missile warning, and space domain awareness. In May, the Space Force awarded more than $4 billion to SpaceX to build out a new Space-Based Air Moving Target Indicator constellation and another $2.3 billion contract to field satellites as part of its Space Data Network program. It's also planning to launch new fleets of surveillance and reconnaissance satellites starting in 2029. The service hasn't said how many spacecraft these constellations will include, but officials have said hitting these numbers will require significant expansion of current production capacity. "If a company is nominally making 10, we want you to be prepared to make 40," Space Systems Command Commander Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant said in April. "We want industry to make the investments in capitalization and facilitization, and in return you're going to get these large production contracts." Air Force Secretary Troy Meink has said he's interested in awarding multiyear procurement contracts for both aircraft and satellites. He told Air & Space Forces Magazine in July the goal is to give industry the demand signal it needs to make investments in its manufacturing capacity. "When the future is uncertain, it's hard for industry to make those investments to either modernize their facilities or do what they need to do to get to the production capacity we need," Meink said. "So those long-term deals are a huge part of that." Space, ALL.SPACE, Defense Innovation Unit, Defense Production Act, DIU, Freeform Future Corp., space industrial base, York Space Systems Air & Space Forces Magazine [crypto-donation-box type="tabular" show-coin="all"]

AIJourn
Dec 31st, 2025
TransDigm Announces Acquisition of Stellant Systems, Inc.

TransDigm announces acquisition of Stellant Systems, Inc. CLEVELAND, Dec. 31, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - TransDigm Group Incorporated (NYSE: TDG) today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Stellant Systems, Inc. ("Stellant" or "the Company"), a portfolio company of Arlington Capital Partners, for approximately $960 million in cash, including certain tax benefits. Stellant, headquartered in Torrance, California, is a leading global designer and manufacturer of high-power electronic components and subsystems serving the aerospace and defense end market. The Company's products are highly engineered, proprietary components with substantial aftermarket content and a strong presence across major aerospace and defense platforms. Approximately 50% of Stellant's revenue is derived from the aftermarket, and nearly all its revenue is generated from proprietary products. Stellant is expected to generate approximately $300 million in revenue for the calendar year ending December 31, 2025. The Company has manufacturing locations in Torrance, California; Williamsport, Pennsylvania; Melville, New York; and Topsfield, Massachusetts. The Company employs approximately 950 people. Mike Lisman, TransDigm's Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are excited to have an agreement to acquire Stellant. The Company's highly engineered, proprietary products generate significant aftermarket revenue and fit well with our long-standing business strategy. The Company has established positions across a diverse range of both commercial and defense platforms, adding new products and services to TransDigm's portfolio. As with all TransDigm acquisitions, we expect this acquisition to create equity value in-line with our long-term private equity-like return objectives." The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals in the United States and customary closing conditions. About TransDigm Group TransDigm Group, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, is a leading global designer, producer and supplier of highly engineered aircraft components for use on nearly all commercial and military aircraft in service today. Major product offerings, substantially all of which are ultimately provided to end-users in the aerospace industry, include mechanical/electro-mechanical actuators and controls, ignition systems and engine technology, specialized pumps and valves, power conditioning devices, specialized AC/DC electric motors and generators, batteries and chargers, engineered latching and locking devices, engineered rods, engineered connectors and elastomer sealing solutions, databus and power controls, cockpit security components and systems, specialized and advanced cockpit displays, engineered audio, radio and antenna systems, specialized lavatory components, seat belts and safety restraints, engineered and customized interior surfaces and related components, advanced sensor products, switches and relay panels, thermal protection and insulation, lighting and control technology, parachutes, high performance hoists, winches and lifting devices, and cargo loading, handling and delivery systems, specialized flight, wind tunnel and jet engine testing services and equipment, electronic components used in the generation, amplification, transmission and reception of microwave signals, and complex testing and instrumentation solutions. All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause TransDigm Group's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, TransDigm Group. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: the sensitivity of its business to the number of flight hours that its customers' planes spend aloft and its customers' profitability, both of which are affected by general economic conditions; supply chain constraints; increases in raw material costs, taxes and labor costs that cannot be recovered in product pricing; failure to complete or successfully integrate acquisitions; its indebtedness; current and future geopolitical or other worldwide events, including, without limitation, wars or conflicts and public health crises; cybersecurity threats; risks related to the transition or physical impacts of climate change and other natural disasters or meeting regulatory requirements; its reliance on certain customers; the United States ("U.S.") defense budget and risks associated with being a government supplier including government audits and investigations; failure to maintain government or industry approvals; risks related to changes in laws and regulations, including increases in compliance costs and potential changes in trade policies and tariffs; potential environmental liabilities; liabilities arising in connection with litigation; risks and costs associated with its international sales and operations; and other factors. Further information regarding the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from projected results can be found in TransDigm Group's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other reports that TransDigm Group or its subsidiaries have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, TransDigm Group undertakes no obligation to revise or update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/transdigm-announces-acquisition-of-stellant-systems-inc-302651037.html

PR Newswire
Dec 31st, 2025
TransDigm acquires Stellant Systems for $960M to expand aerospace and defense portfolio

TransDigm Group has agreed to acquire Stellant Systems for approximately $960 million in cash, including certain tax benefits. The deal involves buying the aerospace components manufacturer from private equity firm Arlington Capital Partners. Stellant, headquartered in Torrance, California, designs and manufactures high-power electronic components and subsystems for the aerospace and defence market. The company generates approximately 50% of its revenue from the aftermarket, with nearly all revenue coming from proprietary products. Stellant is expected to post approximately $300 million in revenue for 2025. The acquisition strengthens TransDigm's portfolio of highly engineered aerospace components with substantial aftermarket content across major aerospace and defence platforms.

Port Arthur News
Dec 31st, 2025
TransDigm Announces Acquisition of Stellant Systems, Inc.

TransDigm announces acquisition of Stellant Systems, Inc. CLEVELAND, Dec. 31, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - TransDigm Group Incorporated (NYSE: TDG) today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Stellant Systems, Inc. ("Stellant" or "the Company"), a portfolio company of Arlington Capital Partners, for approximately $960 million in cash, including certain tax benefits. Stellant, headquartered in Torrance, California, is a leading global designer and manufacturer of high-power electronic components and subsystems serving the aerospace and defense end market. The Company's products are highly engineered, proprietary components with substantial aftermarket content and a strong presence across major aerospace and defense platforms. Approximately 50% of Stellant's revenue is derived from the aftermarket, and nearly all its revenue is generated from proprietary products. Stellant is expected to generate approximately $300 million in revenue for the calendar year ending December 31, 2025. The Company has manufacturing locations in Torrance, California; Williamsport, Pennsylvania; Melville, New York; and Topsfield, Massachusetts. The Company employs approximately 950 people. Mike Lisman, TransDigm's Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are excited to have an agreement to acquire Stellant. The Company's highly engineered, proprietary products generate significant aftermarket revenue and fit well with our long-standing business strategy. The Company has established positions across a diverse range of both commercial and defense platforms, adding new products and services to TransDigm's portfolio. As with all TransDigm acquisitions, we expect this acquisition to create equity value in-line with our long-term private equity-like return objectives." The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals in the United States and customary closing conditions. About TransDigm Group TransDigm Group, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, is a leading global designer, producer and supplier of highly engineered aircraft components for use on nearly all commercial and military aircraft in service today. Major product offerings, substantially all of which are ultimately provided to end-users in the aerospace industry, include mechanical/electro-mechanical actuators and controls, ignition systems and engine technology, specialized pumps and valves, power conditioning devices, specialized AC/DC electric motors and generators, batteries and chargers, engineered latching and locking devices, engineered rods, engineered connectors and elastomer sealing solutions, databus and power controls, cockpit security components and systems, specialized and advanced cockpit displays, engineered audio, radio and antenna systems, specialized lavatory components, seat belts and safety restraints, engineered and customized interior surfaces and related components, advanced sensor products, switches and relay panels, thermal protection and insulation, lighting and control technology, parachutes, high performance hoists, winches and lifting devices, and cargo loading, handling and delivery systems, specialized flight, wind tunnel and jet engine testing services and equipment, electronic components used in the generation, amplification, transmission and reception of microwave signals, and complex testing and instrumentation solutions. All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause TransDigm Group's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, TransDigm Group. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: the sensitivity of its business to the number of flight hours that its customers' planes spend aloft and its customers' profitability, both of which are affected by general economic conditions; supply chain constraints; increases in raw material costs, taxes and labor costs that cannot be recovered in product pricing; failure to complete or successfully integrate acquisitions; its indebtedness; current and future geopolitical or other worldwide events, including, without limitation, wars or conflicts and public health crises; cybersecurity threats; risks related to the transition or physical impacts of climate change and other natural disasters or meeting regulatory requirements; its reliance on certain customers; the United States ("U.S.") defense budget and risks associated with being a government supplier including government audits and investigations; failure to maintain government or industry approvals; risks related to changes in laws and regulations, including increases in compliance costs and potential changes in trade policies and tariffs; potential environmental liabilities; liabilities arising in connection with litigation; risks and costs associated with its international sales and operations; and other factors. Further information regarding the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from projected results can be found in TransDigm Group's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other reports that TransDigm Group or its subsidiaries have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, TransDigm Group undertakes no obligation to revise or update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/transdigm-announces-acquisition-of-stellant-systems-inc-302651037.html