Manufacturing Engineer - Effectors

Founded in 2022 and backed by $1 billion in funding from 8VC, Accel, and Valor Equity Partners, CHAOS operates at the intersection of defense and deep tech. The mission is direct: give operators time to detect, decide, and act before threats evolve.

The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Washington D.C., San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and London.

The Opportunity

CHAOS is looking for a Manufacturing Engineer to lead Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA), producibility engineering, and transition-to-production execution for low-cost interceptor systems. You will be embedded directly within the product development lifecycle, partnering with design engineering from early concept through full-rate production.

This role has real authority. You will drive design trades, quantify cost impacts, build bottoms-up cost models, and own manufacturing planning from prototype through rate production. The goal is interceptor hardware that is producible at scale, cost-optimized for high-rate builds, and robust to supply chain variability. If you want to shape how a defense product gets built, not just document it after the fact, this is that role.

What You'll Do

• •      Lead structured DFMA reviews at concept, PDR, CDR, and pre-production phases; quantify cost, cycle time, yield, and tooling impacts of design decisions
• •      Drive simplification of part counts, fastener strategy, interfaces, tolerances, and assembly flow
• •      Evaluate tolerance stack-ups and GD&T schemes for manufacturability and yield
• •      Develop assembly sequencing strategies optimized for rate production and takt time
• •      Perform producibility assessments including MRL evaluations, process capability analysis, and yield and defect risk modeling
• •      Develop bottoms-up cost models and conduct make vs. buy analyses in collaboration with supply chain
• •      Own manufacturing planning from prototype through LRIP and FRP, including MBOM structures, work instructions, factory routing, tooling concepts, and test process definitions
• •      Support pilot builds, process validation, first article inspection, and production qualification
• •      Lead root cause analysis of build escapes and yield losses; drive closure of production readiness action items
• •      Travel to suppliers to resolve producibility issues and validate readiness
• •      Develop production rate models, capacity plans, and automation and error-proofing strategies

You Should Have

• •      5+ years of experience in aerospace, defense, automotive, or high-rate electromechanical production
• •      Demonstrated experience implementing DFMA on hardware programs
• •      Experience transitioning hardware from development into production
• •      Working knowledge of GD&T per ASME Y14.5, tolerance stack-up analysis, and process capability concepts including Cp and Cpk
• •      Familiarity with root cause methodologies such as 8D, RCCA, and Fishbone analysis
• •      Experience developing manufacturing documentation including MBOMs, work instructions, and process flows
• •      U.S. Citizenship required; ability to obtain and maintain a DoD clearance

Nice to Have

• •      Experience with missile, interceptor, UAV, or guided munition systems
• •      Experience scaling hardware to high-rate or high-volume production
• •      Familiarity with automated assembly systems, robotic integration, composites fabrication, or harness and PCBA integration
• •      Experience with SolidWorks or similar CAD tools and PLM systems such as SolidWorks PDM or Windchill
• •      Familiarity with MES and ERP systems
• •      Experience conducting formal MRL assessments

Compensation and Benefits

Base Salary: $110,000 - $160,000, depending on experience