Staff Manufacturing Engineer, E-Motor

Karman Industries

Karman Industries is a Torrance-based thermal technology company building the backbone for giga-scale AI infrastructure. Founded by a team from SpaceX, Rocket Lab, and GE, Karman is moving beyond legacy cooling with the launch of the HPU (Heat Processing Unit) —a new category of thermal architecture designed for the 100kW+ rack era.

The HPU shrinks the exterior mechanical yard by up to 80% while reducing peak energy consumption by 10%+. Unlike traditional systems, the Karman HPU provides zero-water (WUE 0) cooling that ensures high-TDP GPUs and HBM4 memory stay at optimal thermal setpoints without throttling.

Founded in 2024, we’re a fast-growing team of passionate professionals dedicated to making a tangible impact on the future of humanity. We design, build, and test real hardware, and we lead with ownership: you’ll own your work from concept to hardware and help shape how we scale. Our values are Ownership, Performance Excellence, Radical Transparency, and Customer-Centricity.

Join us in our mission to transform the industry and contribute to a more sustainable world.

Staff Manufacturing Engineer, E-Motor

We are seeking a skilled and hands-on Manufacturing Engineer – E-Motor to lead the manufacturing and assembly of Karman's internal motor line, standing up the equipment, processes, and workflows to bring motor manufacturing in-house alongside our existing supplier program. This role is critical to establishing robust manufacturing capabilities from the ground up, including equipment layout, process development, vendor selection, tooling selection, and workflow design. We are a team that values first-principles thinking, hands-on problem solving, and close cross-functional collaboration to deliver cohesive, high-performance systems.

Responsibilities

Join the effort to stand up Karman's first internal e-motor manufacturing line — from concept through equipment commissioning and production handover

Lead rotor and stator manufacturing process and equipment engineering from initial concepting through full-scale production

Collaborate across manufacturing engineering, facilities, and program teams to ensure seamless coordination and execution as the line is built out

Work with product design and Karman's existing motor suppliers to validate supplier capabilities, cross-reference outsourced vs. in-house process specs, and inform the buy-vs-build roadmap as internal capability comes online

Own equipment and process specification development, vendor capability assessment, and data-driven supplier sourcing for capital equipment and tooling

Provide in-depth design-for-manufacturability (DFM) feedback to the product engineering team so motor assembly processes are cost-efficient, robust, and high-quality — including GD&T alignment for fabrication, metrology, and assembly

Lead feasibility studies and research into manufacturing technologies and equipment approaches suited to Karman's motor volumes and specs

Develop process documentation, control plans, and work instructions for new motor manufacturing processes

Drive process validation and production readiness activities; troubleshoot issues affecting safety, quality, cost, or schedule as the line comes online

Provide technical support to production/operations as the line transitions to steady-state, including training and documentation

Own project execution against cost, safety, performance, and delivery schedule for the buildout

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Mechanical Engineering or a related technical field, or equivalent work experience

5+ years of manufacturing engineering experience

Experience with magnet feeding and insertion, rotor balancing systems, or motor/stator manufacturing preferred; drive unit, e-axle, or electric machine manufacturing engineering experience a plus

Demonstrated ability to scope, design, and commission a manufacturing line from scratch — this is a from-zero build, not a scale-up of an existing line

Proficient in 2D/3D CAD (SolidWorks, AutoCAD, or similar)

Experience transitioning systems from prototype to production

Preferred Qualifications

Deep experience in manufacturing engineering for early-stage or greenfield production environments

Knowledgeable in low-volume and early-ramp manufacturing practices (prototyping, GD&T, equipment and supplier selection, DFM, process capability, CAD/PLM systems)

Proficient in complex electro-mechanical system design, motors in particular

Experience creating technical specifications for manufacturing equipment and process documentation

Comfortable working with significant ownership and limited existing infrastructure — this is a startup, ground-floor build

Strong cross-functional collaboration skills across product design, quality, supply chain, and external vendors

Critical problem-solving and structured, documentation-driven approach to organizing ambiguous, early-stage work

Role level to be determined during interview process

Karman Industries is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Karman Industries is governed on the basis of merit, 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.

Direct applicants only — we are not working with outside recruiters or agencies for this role.

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