Full-Time

Manufacturing Engineering Technician 1

Updated on 9/8/2026

Trust Automation

Trust Automation

Motion control and power management systems maker

Compensation Overview

$24.90 - $44.35/hr

San Luis Obispo, CA, USA

In Person

Category
Manufacturing & Production Operations (2)
,
Required Skills
Altium
ERP
OrCAD
Assembly
SolidWorks
Requirements
  • High school diploma and 5-10 years of experience in a related manufacturing engineering technician role.
  • Ability to create electrical schematics and/or mechanical drawings.
  • Proficiency with basic hand tools and machining or shop equipment.
  • Proficiency with Microsoft applications.
  • Experience with SolidWorks for mechanical work.
  • Experience with Altium or OrCAD for electrical work.
  • Strong component-level troubleshooting skills in analog and digital circuits and cabling for electrical work.
  • Hardware-level programming skills for electrical work.
  • Knowledge of automated test equipment software and solutions for electrical work.
  • Professional written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills.
  • Ability to participate in and facilitate group meetings.
  • Experience with manufacturing resource planning or enterprise resource planning systems.
  • Good arithmetic and logic ability.
  • J-STD-001 training for soldering workmanship for electrical work.
  • Ability to work toward understanding the AS9100C standards.
  • Ability to participate in identity verification for access to secure client or government portals.
  • Ability to hear and speak to exchange information in person, by telephone, or virtually.
  • Manual dexterity to operate computer equipment and assemble or manufacture intricate items.
  • Ability to see and read a variety of materials.
  • Ability to sit or stand for extended periods.
  • Physical agility to lift up to 50 pounds to shoulder height and to lift, carry, push, or pull objects.
Responsibilities
  • Serve as a technician resource for engineering teams and engineering program management during prototype and low-rate initial production phases, as assigned by the MFGE Manager.
  • Assemble electromechanical assemblies with minimal or no supervision.
  • Validate product assembly designs and materials used for assembly and test steps in collaboration with engineering and manufacturing engineering personnel.
  • Assist in designing and building assembly and test fixtures, and develop and sustain preventative maintenance plans and schedules for those fixtures.
  • Support the MFGE Manager and other manufacturing engineering personnel by performing assembly, disassembly, and testing tasks to identify improvements and incorporate lean principles.
  • Troubleshoot mechanical or electrical issues during prototype and low-rate initial production phases and work with manufacturing to solve production-related assembly or testing problems.
  • Serve as a technician backup for manufacturing during labor shortages.
  • Build, test, and document production and test cables according to internal and external customer requirements.
  • Train manufacturing and manufacturing engineering personnel on mechanical assembly or electrical test techniques for specific products and subassemblies.
  • Evaluate manufacturing processes using knowledge of product design, fabrication, assembly, tooling, and materials; confer with suppliers and solicit operator observations.
  • Offer initial solutions and support improvement plans with manufacturing engineering and departments such as Quality and Document Control.
  • Apply configuration management principles, including revision-control rules.
  • Perform tasks under ISS tool control, including NCR, IRO, Continuous Improvement, Deviation, and Document Change Order processes.
  • Record work performed to support formalized, repeatable, and reliable work and test instructions.
  • Participate in interdepartmental processes such as drawing release, work-instruction release, and firmware release.
  • Create data for enterprise resource planning and manufacturing resource planning implementation for work-order planning, and collaborate with configuration specialists and planners on production lists and part-master records.
  • Create or edit mechanical part and assembly drawings in SolidWorks.
  • Create or edit electrical component and assembly drawings and schematics in Altium or OrCAD.

Trust Automation designs and manufactures motors, motor drives, motion control, and power management systems for demanding industrial and defense applications, using a systems-engineering approach that integrates each component within its broader context. Its products span motion and motor control solutions, power management systems, and complex electromechanical assemblies, built through tightly integrated design and manufacturing under one roof. The company serves four primary sectors: defense systems, counter-unmanned aircraft systems (cUAS), semiconductor manufacturing, and industrial automation. What sets Trust Automation apart is this single-source model, which reduces supply-chain complexity and speeds time-to-market, backed by AS9100D/ISO 9001:2015 certification, ITAR registration, and Woman-Owned Small Business status. The goal is to solve complex motion, motor control, and power management problems with technical excellence.

Company Size

N/A

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

San Luis Obispo, California

Founded

N/A

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Trust Automation posted open roles on September 4, 2026, signaling continued hiring.
  • Workforce jumped from 35 to about 170 by February 2026, with 70 more planned.
  • The REACH apprenticeship program and Wish for Wheels event strengthen local recruiting and reputation.

What critics are saying

  • Juan Flores v. Trust Automation alleges California wage-and-hour violations from 2024.
  • PAGA tracker shows 40 impacted employees and settlement pending as of November 2025.
  • Defense concentration is extreme; losing the Air Force IDIQ would crush 2026 growth.

What makes Trust Automation unique

  • Trust Automation won $490 million Air Force C-UAS work through August 2030.
  • Its SUADS and GAT jammer combine fixed-site defense and warfighter-mounted counter-drone capability.
  • The company spans motion control, power management, and defense electronics from San Luis Obispo.

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Benefits

Flexible Work Hours

Company News

KSBY
Mar 19th, 2026
San Luis Obispo engineering company partners with Wish for Wheels to build bikes for local kids.

San Luis Obispo engineering company partners with Wish for Wheels to build bikes for local kids. Posted 5:34 PM, Mar 18, 2026 and last updated 7:13 PM, Mar 18, 2026 Trust Automation in San Luis Obispo partnered with Wish for Wheels to build and distribute 54 bikes to local children. On Wednesday morning, Trust Automation employees assembled all of the bikes. The bikes, along with helmets, were then distributed to kids at Hawthorne Elementary. Wish for Wheels has organized many similar events to fulfill its mission of providing 2nd graders in Title I schools across the nation with bicycles. Team Lead at Wish for Wheels, Jerry Farmer, said, "A bike can be the one thing that changes kids' trajectory in life, gets them in school more, gets them riding bikes with friends more, developing friendships and starting a healthy lifestyle." Together with Trust Automation, they were able to highlight the power of teamwork and giving back to the community Trust Automation is a locally owned and operated engineering company in San Luis Obispo. The founders, Ty and Trudie Safreno, are known for their philanthropy in the community.

Robotics Tomorrow
Oct 13th, 2025
Trust Automation to Showcase Counter-UAS Solutions at AUSA Annual Meeting

Trust Automation to showcase counter-uas solutions at AUSA Annual Meeting. At the core of Trust's C-UAS offering is the Government collaborated Small-Unmanned Air Defense System (SUADS), which provides both fixed-site protection - such as Air Force base defense operations - and rapidly deployable defense for key assets and units in combat zones. Trust Automation Inc., a leader in motion control, power management and electronic systems for defense and commercial applications, will showcase its advanced counter unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) capabilities at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting & Exposition, October 13-15, 2025, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. At the core of Trust's C-UAS offering is the Government collaborated Small-Unmanned Air Defense System (SUADS), which provides both fixed-site protection - such as Air Force base defense operations - and rapidly deployable defense for key assets and units in combat zones. SUADS delivers layered, adaptable protection designed to detect, track and defeat Group 1, 2 and 2+ UAS threats through scalable, modular, upgradable architecture. Complementing SUADS is Trust's weapons-mountable GAT(TM) UAS Jammer, which empowers individual warfighters to directly counter local hostile UAS activity across C2 and GNSS bands. Combined with Trust's broader suite of radio frequency countermeasures, these solutions provide military forces with flexible, mission-tailored options to neutralize evolving aerial threats. Trust invites defense professionals, military leaders and industry partners to visit Booth 1939 at AUSA 2025 to explore its C-UAS technologies and discuss mission-specific requirements. With more than 40,000 attendees and representation from over 90 countries, the event is an ideal venue to discover how Trust is advancing the defense against unmanned threats.

REACH Central Coast
May 20th, 2025
Industry steps up to build next-gen workforce

Trust Automation, a longtime REACH supporter and leader in precision manufacturing, is partnering with the San Luis Coastal Education Foundation and school district to launch a new student apprenticeship program.