Jobs and Careers

Senior Systems Engineer, Metal Manufacturing

San Diego, United Statesfull_timeVerifiedPosted 26 Jun 2026

💰 $160,000/yr($145,000/yr – $160,000/yr)

About the role

Firestorm is looking for a Senior Systems Engineer, Metal Manufacturing who will be part of a team that will building new variants of a fielded platform — including a metal manufacturing capability that doesn't exist anywhere else in this form — and we need an engineer who wants to own hard problems from first principles through production (this is not a maintenance role).You have a senior engineering background with deep hands-on experience in metal additive and subtractive manufacturing, and you've taken complex hardware from concept to fielded product.

You'll work as a senior individual contributor with real autonomy, but you also understand the value of input from your teammates. You'll shape how we approach metal manufacturing engineering challenges at a company that is still early enough for your fingerprints to matter. If you want to spend your time in a large program office working minutiae and moving PowerPoints, this isn't the right place. If you want to build things that matter, that have near term impact, and work with a tight team that acts with both urgency and rigor — we should talk.

What You'll Own

Metal manufacturing development — guide the engineering effort to define, develop, prototype, and productionize xCell's metal manufacturing capability; drive the process from trade studies through fielded solution
Process definition — establish the manufacturing processes, parameters, and quality criteria that will govern metal part production in a deployed environment; you know what good looks like and can define it for others
New product development — define the problem, run trade studies, establish constraints, iterate design, prototype, and drive to production across metal manufacturing variants
Systems-level thinking — xCell is an integrated system and the metal manufacturing capability has to work within it; you see the whole picture across mechanical, electrical, manufacturing, and software interfaces
Post-processing and finishing — own the full part journey from raw feedstock through final part, including CNC machining, finishing operations, and inspection; you understand that additive is only part of the story
Sustaining engineering — when something breaks in the field or fails to deliver as advertised, you help drive solutions with the xCell engineering team
Technical leadership — you'll be a senior anchor on a talented, growing team; you elevate the engineers around you without being asked to

Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing, Mechanical, Industrial Engineering or related field. In lieu of a degree 10+ years of progressive relative experience in the engineering field.
U.S. Citizenship required due to ITAR regulations, with the ability to obtain and maintain a DoD security clearance
7+ years of hands-on hardware development experience — concept through production, not just analysis
Deep experience in metal additive manufacturing —strong powder bed fusion background considered if other attributes are compelling
Hands-on CNC machining experience — you understand the subtractive side of the equation and how it integrates with additive processes to get to a final part
Systems engineering mindset — you can hold requirements, tradeoffs, and interfaces in your head simultaneously
Proficiency with CAD (SolidWorks preferred) and PLM tools

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with directed energy deposition (DED), wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), or cold spray experience
Experience in defense, aerospace, naval, medical, or automotive applications — we care more about the depth of your metal manufacturing experience than the sector it came from
High ownership mentality — you close loops, you don't wait to be told, and you hold yourself and others to a high standard
Additional metal forming, cutting, or finishing process experience beyond CNC
Familiarity with metal part qualification and inspection in regulated or defense environments
Experience defining and documenting manufacturing processes from scratch

About Firestorm

Firestorm is a defense technology company solving one of the hardest logistics problems in modern warfare — how do you manufacture what you need, when you need it, and where you need it without support from traditional supply chains? Our answer is xCell: containerized, deployable manufacturing units built around advanced additive and traditional manufacturing that go where warfighters go. We're roughly 150 people, headquartered in San Diego, and we'r