Manufacturing Engineer – Rubber/Elastomers
Location: Brea, CA (On-site, Monday–Friday)
Salary: Competitive salary depending on experience
Type: Full-time, Direct Hire
About the Company
Our client is a well-established aerospace and defense manufacturer with more than 100 years of history, specializing in high-performance elastomer and polymer components. Their products fly on commercial, military and business aircraft worldwide, as well as on missiles, space launchers and satellites, including sole-source components on major Boeing, Airbus and F-35 programs. As part of a large global aerospace group, they offer the stability of a major organization with the hands-on impact of a focused manufacturing team.
About the Role
We’re looking for a hands-on Manufacturing Engineer with rubber and elastomer experience to support and improve production. You’ll troubleshoot processes on the floor, design tooling, and drive continuous improvement across molding, extrusion and composite/plastics operations.
What You’ll Do
- Support daily production of rubber and elastomer components, troubleshooting process, mold and quality issues on the shop floor
- Design and improve tooling, molds, fixtures and workholding to raise quality and efficiency
- Lead root cause analysis and corrective action (RCCA) for production and quality issues
- Drive continuous improvement projects using lean principles to reduce scrap, cycle time and cost
- Support compression molding, extrusion, and composite and plastics processes
- Create and maintain work instructions, process documentation and manufacturing aids
- Work cross-functionally with production, quality, tooling and operations leadership
- Support new product introduction and process changes from trial through full production
What You’ll Bring
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Chemical, Materials or Manufacturing Engineering, or equivalent experience
- 3+ years of manufacturing or process engineering experience
- Hands-on experience with rubber or elastomer manufacturing (required)
- Experience with composites, plastics, compression molding and/or extrusion (strongly preferred)
- Proven troubleshooting, tooling design and continuous improvement experience
- Strong problem-solving skills using RCCA, 8D or similar methods
- Ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced production environment
- Aerospace, defense or AS9100 experience is a plus
- Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident (ITAR)
Why Join
- Competitive salary and benefits
- Hands-on ownership of processes with real impact on production
- Stability with a growing aerospace manufacturer
- Room to grow into senior engineering roles
You should be proficient in:
- GD&T
- Equipment Troubleshooting
- Troubleshooting Skills
- Design for Manufacturability (DFM)
- Aerospace Manufacturing
- Fluorosilicone / EPDM / Neoprene
- Polymer & Composite Materials
- Rubber / Elastomer Manufacturing
- Rubber Compounding & Mixing
- Silicone Processing
- Prepreg / Composite Layup & Cure
Machines & technologies you'll use:
- Compression Molding Press