About Castelion

Castelion is bringing a new approach to defense development and production: one that focuses on short, iterative design cycles, rapid testing in development, and modern commercial manufacturing strategies for production at scale. We're designing, building, and testing next-generation long-range strike weapons systems to give America and its Allies a definitive edge and deter future conflicts.

Director of Machining

At Castelion were looking for a seasoned leader to own every facet of machining-everything from establishing a rapid-prototype capability to defining and executing strategy for scaled production. In this role you'll be central to building the foundation of our manufacturing operations.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end machining operations-spanning prototype through scaled volume production
• Design and refine processes that allow rapid iteration in early development, and manage the transition of parts and assemblies into scaled production
• Establish robust quality control systems to consistently meet aerospace-level tolerances
• Integrate design-for-manufacturability (DFM) and design-for-simplicity principles into engineering and manufacturing workflows, collaborating closely with design, manufacturing engineering, supply-chain and quality teams.
• Define and execute equipment and tooling strategy-including in-house vs. outsourced production decisions, capacity planning, asset utilization, shift structure, and future-rate ramp-up.
• Recruit, develop and lead a high-performing team of machinists, technicians, manufacturing and production engineers; foster ownership, collaboration and continuous improvement across the organization.
• Drive adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies to enhance efficiency, traceability and scalability of the machining operation.
• Actively diagnose and resolve production issues, process bottlenecks, and non-conformance events, working directly with manufacturing and quality engineering to restore performance and reliability.

Basic Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in machining or precision manufacturing, with a minimum of 5 years in a leadership role overseeing multiple teams or machining centers.
• Proven background in aerospace, automotive or related manufacturing and advanced machining operations, including multi-axis CNC setups, high-precision part fabrication and full ownership of machining workflows.
• Direct experience managing the transition from short-run prototype fabrication to scaled production in a high-mix, fast-paced environment.
• Deep knowledge of GD&T, inspection tooling, QA systems, and broad experience with aerospace-grade materials (e.g., Inconel, titanium, aluminum) and fabrication methods (CNC machining, composites, additive manufacturing).
• Solid working knowledge of ERP/MRP systems, manufacturing engineering principles, tooling strategy and machining best practices.
• Familiarity with DFM methodologies, lean production philosophies and rapid hardware iteration under tight time constraints.

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Experience working in aerospace, defense or space-flight hardware manufacturing
• Demonstrated success implementing digital machine-monitoring systems, MES platforms or tool-life management solutions that support traceability, predictive maintenance and production efficiency.
• Expertise in lean manufacturing, Six Sigma methodologies or other continuous-improvement frameworks with proven results in cycle-time reduction and machine-utilization optimization.
• Experience selecting, commissioning and scaling new machining equipment or work-centers in a startup manufacturing environment.
• A track-record of influencing design feedback loops (DFM) to reduce part-count, simplify assemblies and accelerate time-to-production without compromising on quality.

Leadership Qualities

• Bias to Action and Creative Problem Solving. Desire and experience questioning assumptions in ways that lead to break through ideas that are ultimately implemented. Successfully bring in applicable processes/concepts/materials from other industries to achieve efficiency gains. Ability to work independently and resolve minor issues in development with minimal oversight and support.
• High Commitment, High Initiative. A successful candidate will have a genuine passion for Castelion's mission and consistently look for ways to contribute to the company's technical goals and prevent hardware blockers. Ability to work in a fast paced, autonomously driven, and demanding atmosphere. Strong sense of accountability and integrity.
• Clear Communicator. Proactively communicates blockers. Trusted in previous roles to be voice of company with regulators, suppliers, gate keepers and customers. Capable of tactfully managing relationships with stakeholders to achieve company-desired outcomes without compromising relationships. Emails, IMs and verbal interactions are logical, drive clarity, and detailed enough to eliminate ambiguity.

ITAR Requirements

• To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Employment with Castelion is governed on the basis of competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by 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.

All employees are granted long-term stock incentives as part of their employment at Castelion. All employees receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental insurance, and the company offers four weeks of paid time off per year.