Senior Manufacturing Engineering

At Antares, our long-term mission is to make clean energy abundant from Earth to the Asteroid Belt. We’re fueled by the belief that advanced nuclear energy can strengthen our military, solve the climate crisis, elevate global living standards, and expand humanity's presence in outer space. To achieve our mission, we’re building mass‑producible, inherently safe, deployable microreactors that can be used terrestrially, underwater, and in space.

Formed in 2023, the Antares team hails from SpaceX, The White House, MIT, Rigetti Computing, The Air Force, General Atomics, Relativity Space, Ursa Major, and National Laboratories like Los Alamos, Idaho, and Oak Ridge. Antares has raised over $130M in venture capital from top‑tier investors and has over $13M in government funding.

As a member of the Antares R&D team, you will be an expert on manufacturing and assembly of cutting edge nuclear reactors. You will be an instrumental member developing Antares’ first R&D facility, inclusive of layout, special processes, hazardous material handling, and machine procurement and commissioning. You will help develop and document key special processes, requirements, and workflow that enable rapid product iteration.

On the design side, you will be responsible for working with all teams regularly to ensure parts and assemblies are manufacturable and integrable, focusing on the system architecture level. As the product matures from concept to prototype and beyond, you will be responsible for leading the manufacturing planning process and will assist with in‑house manufacturing vs. outsourcing trades and vendor selection.

The ideal candidate will have experience with special processes such as welding, brazing, heat treatment, hazardous materials, non‑destructive inspections, coatings, or other typical processes used with super‑alloys. They should be able to confidently identify (or know how to research) appropriate manufacturing methods and establish a process control plan to monitor process health. Additionally, they will have design for manufacturing experience, with a proven track record of improving both design and processes. You will ultimately be responsible for growing our production capabilities from the prototype phase through serialized production of multiple nuclear reactor sub‑systems.

Own and develop manufacturing processes for critical sub-systems with the Antares reactor that require both conventional manufacturing and special processes

Mature processes from prototype to production by establishing standard processes, workflows, and qualification plans

Participate in design reviews and analyze parts/assemblies to assess and influence their form/fit to make them more manufacturable, based on achievable process tolerances and inspection capabilities

Collaborate with design, materials, and manufacturing team members to ensure designs are compatible with process capabilities and to drive DFM improvements

Analyze and disposition manufacturing discrepancies and lead multi-disciplinary teams on root cause analysis and corrective actions

Develop new and evaluate existing manufacturing processes and equipment to reduce non‑conformance frequency/severity and reduce operating costs

Communicate daily with supporting departments such as production, machining, maintenance, quality, and design engineering to ensure that product is delivered on time and to specifications

Train technicians, engineers, and leaders on best‑in‑class operations practices by driving process improvement workshops; providing training and information briefs on key topics; Participate in root cause investigations that arise in development, production, test, integration, and field operation to implement corrective actions to prevent repeat failures.

Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline or physics

3+ years of experience in one or more of the following areas: special process manufacturing, process qualification, aerospace/nuclear super alloys, handling hazardous materials (i.e. acids, alkali metals), manufacturing/production engineering, reliability engineering, work instruction creation, project/research-based student experience

Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot and find solutions to challenges faced during a hardware manufacturing based project

Experience defining requirements for or designing tools and assembly fixtures using CAD systems. Knowledge of PLM, ERP, MES, and other related manufacturing planning and management systems.

Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills, enthusiasm for problem solving, and desire to optimize modern nuclear design and operation

Master's degree or 5+ years of professional experience in mechanical or aerospace engineering

Demonstrable experience developing, testing, qualifying, and maintaining manufacturing processes; especially systems containing complex special processes (i.e. welding, brazing, heat treatments, additive manufacturing, coatings, hydroforming, NDT)

Experience creating factory layouts based on production demand and process requirements

General knowledge of GD&T as it relates to assembly and fabrication processes

Experience using CAD software (NX) as it relates to creating work instructions

Strong project management skills and effective communication of technical concepts across multi‑disciplinary teams

Hands‑on experience with fluid, gas, or high voltage systems

Leadership experience on a project or research team

Experience using test instrumentation and control components (e.g. pressure transducers, thermocouples, strain gages, relays, solenoid valves, etc.)

Experience with various part inspection methods and technologies (micrometers, CMM, white light, etc.)

We are located in Torrance, CA in a 322,000 square foot, brand new facility featuring large open spaces for team collaboration, R&D, and production, as well as easy access to the 405, 105, and 110 freeways. Our facility is in the heart of Los Angeles' vibrant emerging tech ecosystem alongside many other high growth startups and enterprises.

Think in Systems - Energy and Defense are complex ecosystems with numerous stakeholders with competing priorities, conflicting policies, perverse incentives, and emergent and path‑dependent properties. Obsess over the End User - The customer and end user are often not the same. We will never build globally competitive commercial products if we lose sight of our end users and their entire interaction with the product life cycle

Go Where the Work I's - Never miss a chance to meet a customer, user, or stakeholder face to face, even if that means hopping on a plane. Employment decisions are based solely on merit, competence, and qualifications, without regard to 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.

S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.