Build Reliability Engineering Manager

Why Castelion, Why Now 

Castelion is moving incredibly fast to develop and deliver advanced defense systems at a time when execution matters more than ever. We believe focus, ownership, and excellence are decisive advantages - and we're building a world-class team to turn bold ideas into real capability. 

This is a rare opportunity to join at an early stage, where you'll have significant ownership, collaborate with exceptional teammates, and make a direct, measurable impact on our mission and the future of the company - regardless of your function.  

Build Reliability Engineering Manager

The Build Reliability Engineering Manager will lead a team responsible for improving the reliability and quality of products across development and production. This role will oversee Build Reliability Engineering priorities, support the growth and effectiveness of the team, and ensure reliability and quality considerations are integrated into design, manufacturing, inspection, and production processes.

This individual will work closely with Design, Manufacturing Engineering, Operations, Test, Supply Chain, and Quality leadership to drive disciplined and risk-based problem solving, strong process control, effective nonconformance management, and continuous improvement. The role requires both technical judgment and people leadership, with an emphasis on building a high-performing team and establishing practical, scalable reliability and quality practices.

Responsibilities

Team Leadership and Cross-Functional Management

• Lead, develop, and support a team of Build Reliability Engineers across multiple product and production areas.
• Set priorities for the BRE team, align work to company and program needs, and ensure clear ownership of reliability and quality objectives.
• Provide coaching, performance feedback, career development, and day-to-day guidance to BRE team members.
• Partner with Quality and Manufacturing leadership on staffing, workload planning, and organizational development of the BRE function.
• Represent the BRE team in cross-functional planning, program reviews, and production readiness discussions.

Design and Manufacturing

• Work closely with design, manufacturing, and operations teams to ensure reliability and quality considerations are integrated into all phases of the product lifecycle.
• Participate in Design and Build Reviews to ensure design for manufacturability and inspectability.
• Review and approve Process Plans, specifications, and build documentation for completeness, accuracy, regulatory compliance, and quality objectives.
• Support the development and implementation of internal processes and manufacturing software to optimize production efficiency, product quality, and change control.
• Facilitate the engineering change control process (ECR/ECO) with a focus on traceability and impact alignment to maintain clean configuration genealogy.

Inspection and Test Process

• Ensure appropriate test validation methods and inspection techniques have been considered to validate design and manufacturing processes.
• Develop and maintain quality control processes, standards, and planning, ensuring compliance with internal and external standards and regulations.
• Support selection and implementation of measurement equipment and methods required to achieve inspections with maximum efficiency.
• Propose and implement solutions to reduce dependence on inspection where robust process controls or poka-yoke can be applied.

Evaluates and analyzes production quality landscape

• Utilize reliability and quality data to generate reports, identify trends, and recommend improvements to enhance product and process reliability and performance.
• Use data to make the quality landscape transparent and drive project prioritization.
• Ensure issues related to product reliability receive appropriate attention and escalation.
• Drive achievement of quality and reliability targets through regular reviews with engineering, operations, and management.

Corrective Action Preventive Action

• Utilize reliability and quality data to identify recurring issues and opportunities for corrective and preventive action.
• Leverage tools such as FMEA, PFMEA, root cause analysis, and statistical methods to identify and prevent quality and reliability issues.
• Lead, facilitate, and support root cause investigations and ensure appropriate action is taken to prevent recurrence.
• Verify corrective actions are documented, implemented, and effective.

Nonconformance Management

• Support review of nonconformance conditions for adequate resolution and rationale prior to closure.
• Lead containment activities, including impact and risk analysis.
• Oversee control of non-conforming hardware in partnership with inspectors, technicians, engineers, and operations leadership.
• Ensure lessons learned from nonconformances are fed back into process documentation, inspection planning, and design or manufacturing controls.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in aerospace engineering, manufacturing engineering, materials engineering, mechanical engineering or physics.
• Minimum 5+ years in a quality, manufacturing, reliability, or design engineering role.
• Experience leading engineers, technical projects, or cross-functional efforts related to product quality, manufacturability, or reliability.
• Experience supporting production, development, or new product introduction in a fast-paced hardware environment.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience in aerospace or defense/government programs is highly desirable.
• Experience with implementation and enhancement of manufacturing enterprise software or related systems.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to present complex technical information to diverse audiences.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a track record of implementing effective solutions to complex reliability and quality challenges.
• Experience supporting diverse, high-volume production teams during product development, new product introduction, or production ramp-up.
• Functional knowledge of quality tools such as Lean principles, Six Sigma, Root Cause Analysis and Corrective Action, Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP), Metrology, Process Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (PFMEA), Control Plans, and various problem-solving approaches.
• Dedicated to adopting a Lean approach to quality without compromising safety or reliability.

Leadership Qualities

Bias to Action and Creative Problem Solving. Desire and experience questioning assumptions in ways that lead to breakthrough ideas that are ultimately implemented. Successfully bring in applicable processes, concepts, or materials from other industries to achieve efficiency gains.

High Commitment, High Initiative. A successful candidate will have a genuine passion for Castelion's mission and consistently look for ways to contribute to the company's technical goals and prevent hardware blockers. Ability to work in a fast-paced, autonomously driven, and demanding atmosphere. Strong sense of accountability and integrity.

Clear Communicator. Proactively communicates blockers. Trusted in previous roles to represent the company with regulators, suppliers, gatekeepers, and customers. Capable of tactfully managing relationships with stakeholders to achieve company-desired outcomes without compromising relationships. Emails, IMs, and verbal interactions are logical, clear, and detailed enough to eliminate ambiguity.

People Leader and Team Builder. Able to coach engineers at different experience levels, provide clear expectations, support professional growth, and maintain high standards of execution and accountability across the BRE function.

Castelion offers a generous benefits package. Please refer to the bottom of our Careers page for more details.  

Other Duties 

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice. 

Additional Eligibility Requirements 

This position may require access to classified information or restricted U.S. Government sites, systems, or information, as determined by the Company and/or applicable U.S. Government requirements. If the position is so designated, your employment in the role may be contingent upon your ability to obtain and maintain the required U.S. Government security clearance or other government authorization, and to satisfy any citizenship or other eligibility requirements imposed by applicable law, regulation, executive order, or government contract requirements. You will be notified if and when such requirements apply. 

Affirmative Action/EEO Statement 

Castelion is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. 

Castelion is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities throughout the application and hiring process. If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete an application, participate in the interview process, or otherwise participate in the hiring process, please contact [email protected]. Requests for accommodation will be considered on an individual basis and handled in accordance with applicable law. 

Castelion is committed to fostering a workplace where employment decisions are based on qualifications, business needs, and the ability to perform the essential functions of the role, with or without reasonable accommodation. 

EAR/ITAR Requirements 

This position requires access to export-controlled information, and as such, employment (or hiring of a contractor) is contingent upon the candidate’s ability to access all applicable export-controlled information without additional export licensing being required by the Bureau of Industry and Security and/or the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.