Application Engineer, Additive Manufacturing at Firestorm in San Diego, CA

Job description

A manufacturing system is only as good as the parts it actually produces. This role owns that promise. As an Application Engineer , Additive Manufacturing you're the bridge between what our customers need to make and what xCell can reliably deliver — turning a warfighter's "I need this part, here, now" into a validated, repeatable manufacturing process on a fielded system. You'll live at the intersection of additive and traditional manufacturing, process development, materials, and the customer. One day you're dialing in print or machining parameters and running a part to first article; the next you're on a deployment helping operators produce reliably under real conditions, then feeding what you learned back to engineering to make the next xCell better. If you want to own hard, hands-on problems that have near-term impact in the field — not spend your days moving PowerPoints — this is the right place. What You'll Do Application development — take customer part requirements and turn them into validated, repeatable manufacturing processes on xCell across additive (MJF, FDM, metal) and CNC, from DFM/DFAM through first article Process & materials engineering — develop and qualify process parameters, materials, and the part libraries and work instructions that let operators produce to spec without you in the room Field & deployment support — support xCell deployments, train and enable operators, and troubleshoot production issues on fielded systems in both CONUS and OCONUS environments Customer engagement — work directly with warfighters and program customers to understand the applications they care about and translate mission needs into what xCell can produce Sustaining & quality — own first-article inspection and part qualification, and when a fielded system fails to deliver as advertised, drive the process- and application-level fix Cross-functional feedback loop — feed real application and field data back to systems, mechanical, and manufacturing engineering to sharpen the next generation of xCell Have a high ownership mentality — you close loops, you don't wait to be told, and you hold yourself and others to a high standard Required Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Manufacturing, Materials, or related field) U.S. Citizenship required due to ITAR regulations, with the ability to obtain and maintain a DoD security clearance 1+ years of hands-on experience with MJF (Multi-Jet Fusion) 3+ years of experience in a manufacturing environment Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) fluency — you know how to make a part printable Comfortable troubleshooting hardware and process problems in a dynamic environment, where the answer isn't always clear and speed matters Proficiency with CAD (SolidWorks preferred) Preferred Qualifications Defense background — you understand the operational context your hardware will live in FDM, SLA, SLS, Metal additive or CNC process development and qualification experience Materials qualification, GD&T, and first-article / PPAP-style inspection experience Experience training or supporting customers on utilizing their fielded manufacturing equipment via remote/hands-on support. Familiarity with PLM and quality/documentation systems Why This Role, Why Now xCell only matters if it makes what the warfighter needs, where they need it — and someone has to own the part that turns a capable machine into a reliable one in the field. That's this role. The engineers who join now will define how we qualify, deploy, and scale what xCell can produce, and they'll do it on a team that takes the work seriously and moves with urgency. If you want real responsibility and near-term impact on a fielded defense platform, let's talk. About Firestorm Firestorm is a defense technology company solving one of the hardest logistics problems in modern warfare — how do you manufacture what you need, when you need it, and where you need it without support from traditional supply chains? Our answer is xCell: