Manufacturing Systems Owner

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.  

Manufacturing Systems Owner

Castelion is seeking a hands-on, high-agency Manufacturing Systems Owner to own our Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and the shop-floor systems around it. Reporting to the Director of Enterprise Systems, you will be the technical and functional owner of the platforms that run every build on our floor, including work orders, process plans, nonconformances and CAPA, inventory, and receiving inspection. You will also own the data and integrations that connect the floor to ERP, PLM, purchasing, quality, and test. We are looking for a manufacturing systems domain expert: you understand how MES, ERP, PLM, quality, and supply chain systems fit together on a production floor, and hands-on knowledge of any specific tools we use is a plus. Applied AI is core to this role. We expect you to use LLM agents, automation, and machine learning on shop-floor data to make our factory faster, and to help decide what system capabilities are missing and how to bridge the gaps. This role is ideal for someone who has worked on a production floor, writes code, and wants their systems to directly accelerate flight hardware.

Responsibilities

• Own the MES end to end: configuration, work order and process plan templates, NC/CAPA workflows, inventory, and receiving inspection, so builds flow and the floor never waits on software

• Administer manufacturing systems security and role-based access control (RBAC), including role design, onboarding/offboarding provisioning, and periodic access reviews in an ITAR-controlled environment

• Own and harden the MES <> ERP integrations (REST APIs) for items and units of measure, work orders, transfers, inventory adjustments, purchase orders, and item receipts, including monitoring, error handling, reconciliation and more.

• Partner with PLM and engineering to mature the eBOM to MBOM flow from PLM/CAD into the MES, and support data exchange with CAM and electronics design (ECAD) tools

• Own the shop-floor data model on the MES SQL database backend so that production, quality, and inventory data is accurate, traceable, and trusted by technicians, engineering, and leadership

• Own manufacturing reporting and analytics, from building reports, dashboards, and KPIs yourself (SQL, BI tools) to partnering with data analysts and functional SMEs to architect the best-fit reports, dashboards, and metrics for production, quality, inventory, and supply chain

• Integrate adjacent systems, including quality inspection and supplier portal systems (receiving/FAIR inspection automation and supplier FAIR), procurement/P2P and AP systems, and test data and telemetry platforms. Scope and deliver API integrations with other home-grown systems and utilities.

• Design and ship applied AI solutions, such as LLM agents for work instruction authoring, NC triage, and root cause analysis, AI-assisted integration development, and ML on production and inspection data

• Lead build-vs-buy evaluations and, where it makes sense, prototype and deliver in-house tools for MES, MRP, purchasing, and EHS workflows with the Enterprise Systems team

• Run the bi-weekly MES meeting: collect requests from manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and engineering, prioritize the backlog, and communicate releases and changes

• Support vendor management for the MES and related shop-floor tools, including support escalations, release adoption, contract renewals, and roadmap influence

• Maintain the manufacturing systems roadmap and provide input to the 2027 Enterprise Systems budget (licenses, integrations, headcount, and build initiatives)

• Train and support technicians, manufacturing engineers, and quality inspectors on the floor in Torrance and remotely for New Mexico operations, and create and maintain documentation for configurations, procedures, and known issues

• Support audits and customer requirements for traceability, configuration control, and AS9100-style quality processes

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field, or equivalent experience

• 5+ years of experience in manufacturing engineering, manufacturing systems, or factory data/software in a hardware production environment, including 2+ years hands-on configuring, administering, or programming a commercial or in-house MES

• Working knowledge of how MES, ERP, and PLM interact, including work orders, BOMs/MBOMs, routings, material consumption, receipts, nonconformances, and traceability

• Proficiency in SQL and Python for querying, transforming, and automating manufacturing data, and experience working with REST APIs and JSON

• Hands-on experience building reports and dashboards with SQL and BI tools, and translating stakeholder questions into clear KPIs and metrics

• Applied AI experience (required): you have shipped production use of LLMs/agents, ML models on manufacturing or operational data, or AI-assisted development and automation, and can show the results

• Strong floor presence and communication skills with technicians, engineers, quality, and leadership. You design systems around how work actually gets done

• Ability to work on-site in Torrance, CA 5 days a week, with occasional travel to New Mexico

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with the specific tools in our stack is a strong plus. We are hiring a manufacturing systems domain expert, not a single-application specialist, so nice-to-have experience includes:

• Manufacturo (or other MES) administration, including RBAC, templates, and ERP integration

• NetSuite (SuiteScript/RESTlets) or another ERP integration in a manufacturing environment, and Teamcenter/NX with eBOM to MBOM processes

• Power BI or similar BI tools, data pipelines (Airflow or similar), and MLOps/CI/CD (Docker, Git)

• Jira/Confluence for backlog management, release communication, and documentation

• Quality, supplier, procurement, and test systems such as Magenta, Ground Control, Ramp, Silkline, Sift, or Forge

• Experience with LLM agent frameworks, retrieval over technical documents, or computer vision for inspection and anomaly detection

• Background in high-reliability or high-volume manufacturing (aerospace, defense, semiconductor, or automotive), including SPC, FAIR/AS9102, and NC/CAPA processes

• Experience building internal software products or evaluating build vs. buy for manufacturing systems

• Experience supporting systems in an ITAR, CMMC, or NIST 800-171 controlled environment

• Active security clearance, or eligibility to obtain one

What Success Looks Like

In 6 months:

• You are the recognized owner of the MES. RBAC and onboarding/offboarding are documented and auditable, and the bi-weekly MES meeting runs on a prioritized, visible backlog

• MES <> ERP integrations are monitored, with clear error handling and inventory reconciliation, and integration-driven inventory discrepancies are measurably reduced

• Core production, quality, and inventory reports and dashboards are trusted and used in daily operations

• At least one applied AI or automation use case (for example NC triage, work instruction drafting, or receiving inspection data capture) is live on the floor with measured time savings

• A documented manufacturing systems roadmap and 2027 budget input have been delivered to Enterprise Systems leadership

In 12 months:

• eBOM to MBOM and the receiving and supplier FAIR flows into the MES run with minimal manual re-entry

• The in-house systems to MES integration is delivered or a clear decision has been made, and build-vs-buy decisions for MES/MRP/purchasing/EHS have been made with at least one in-house tool shipped or piloted

• Several AI-enabled workflows are in production across manufacturing and quality, with documented impact on cycle time, NC closure time, or data quality

• Production systems support scaled rate production across California and New Mexico without the floor waiting on software

Benefits And Perks

All full-time employees are granted meaningful long-term equity, sharing in the company's significant growth trajectory. We offer four (4) weeks of paid time off, ten (10) company-paid holidays, and comprehensive health benefits - including 100% employee-covered medical and strong dependent coverage, along with dental and vision plans. We also provide paid parental leave to support growing families, a $100 monthly fitness stipend to promote health and performance, and onsite EV charging for convenience. In addition, employees enjoy perks like catered meals, company-covered food during high-demand periods, and a fully stocked kitchen to stay fueled throughout the day.

This position requires access to information subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR); applicants must be U.S. persons as defined by 22 CFR 120.62. An active security clearance is preferred. Candidates without an active clearance must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government–issued security clearance. U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance.

Affirmative Action/EEO Statement Employment with Castelion is governed on the basis of competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

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.