Senior Tooling Engineer

Senior Tooling Engineer

Albuquerque, NM Area – Relocation Assistance Provided

The Company

Our client is a rapidly growing startup defense company that brings a new and innovative approach to the development and production of defense systems. They focus on short, iterative design cycles, with rapid developmental testing and modern commercial manufacturing strategies for production at scale.

The Job

Our client is seeking a Senior Tooling Engineer to join their Tooling team. In this role, you will own the end-to-end development of tooling for our client’s products, from concept until implementation on the production floor. You will architect and implement innovative tooling solutions to achieve aggressive production cost, quality, and delivery targets.

Functions

• Tooling Design and Development: Design and develop complex tooling systems, including jigs, fixtures, molds, dies, and assembly tools, for aerospace manufacturing processes. Utilize CAD software to create detailed tool designs and ensure compatibility with production requirements. Perform tolerance stack-up analysis and finite element analysis (FEA) to validate tool designs for durability and precision.
• Process Optimization: Collaborate with manufacturing and production teams to identify opportunities for improving tooling efficiency, reducing cycle times, and enhancing product quality.
• Project Leadership: Lead tooling projects from concept through to production, including requirements gathering, design reviews, prototyping, and validation. Manage project timelines, budgets, and resources to ensure on-time delivery of tooling solutions. Mentor and provide technical guidance to junior tooling engineers and technicians.
• Quality and Compliance: Ensure all tooling designs comply with aerospace industry standards (e.g., AS9100, NADCAP) and customer specifications. Conduct risk assessments and implement design for manufacturability (DFM) principles to minimize defects and ensure repeatability. Support quality assurance teams in developing inspection criteria and validating tooling performance.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with design engineers to ensure tooling new product designs. Partner with supply chain teams to select appropriate materials, coatings, and manufacturing methods for tooling. Coordinate with production teams to troubleshoot tooling issues and implement corrective actions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Manufacturing Engineering (or related field).
• Minimum of 5+ years of experience in tooling design and development.

Preferred Skills

• Proven record in supporting NPI, pilot runs, and transition to production; delivering robust and scalable manufacturing systems.
• Demonstrated success in troubleshooting complex build issues and driving corrective actions.
• Skilled at interfacing with design, systems, test, and supplier teams to close the loop on manufacturability and production readiness.
• Experience in regulated or defense environments
• Aptitude for mentoring and influencing cross-functional teams without direct reporting relationships.