---
title: 'CMM Operator - Quality Inspection at Salient Motion'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/cmm-operator-quality-inspection-salient-motion-saginaw-3zqnv0237amp'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-13'
---

# CMM Operator - Quality Inspection at Salient Motion

- **Company:** Salient Motion
- **Location:** Saginaw, MI
- **Posted:** 2026-10-12
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-13
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/salientmotion/jobs/5450303008

## Job description

**Applicants must be U.S. Citizens or U.S. Permanent Residents (Green Card holders) to meet customer and regulatory requirements**

Who We Are

Saginaw Precision (A Salient Motion Company) manufactures close-tolerance machined components for aerospace and defense customers. We’re hiring a CMM Operator to join our quality team and verify that what leaves our floor meets print, every time. You’ll work in a climate-controlled inspection lab alongside machinists, quality engineers, and program managers, inspecting first articles, in-process parts, and final shipments on tight-tolerance aerospace work.

What you'll do:

- Set up and run coordinate measuring machines to inspect machined components against engineering drawings and 3D models
- Execute existing CMM programs; edit and fine-tune routines as parts and fixturing change
- Build and validate part fixturing and alignment strategies for repeatable measurement
- Interpret blueprints, GD&T callouts per ASME Y14.5, and model-based definition data
- Produce First Article Inspection reports to AS9102 and complete ballooned drawings
- Document and communicate nonconformances; support root cause investigations with dimensional data
- Use hand gauging:  micrometers, calipers, height gauges, bore gauges, optical comparator, where CMM isn’t the right tool
- Maintain machine calibration schedules, artifact verification, and inspection records to AS9100 / NADCAP requirements
- Provide dimensional feedback to machinists and programmers to correct process drift before it becomes scrap

What you need:

- 2+ years operating CMMs in a machining or precision manufacturing environment
- Working knowledge of PC-DMIS / Calypso / CAMIO / MODUS / MCOSMOS
- Strong GD&T interpretation: datum structures, position, profile, runout
- Comfort reading complex machined-part prints and revision-controlled documentation
- Attention to detail and the discipline to hold a documented process
- High school diploma or GED

Nice to have:

- CMM programming experience (offline programming from CAD a plus)
- Aerospace or defense manufacturing background; familiarity with AS9100 and AS9102
- Experience with SPC, capability studies, and gage R&R
- CMM vision systems, scanning probes, or CT/laser scanning exposure
- ASQ CQI or similar certification

What we have to offer:

We are not just building components. We are reshaping the future of the Aerospace and Defense component industry, which is a $300B+ market! Come join us and help build next generation systems that will make a massive impact at global scale.

- We offer competitive compensation + equity
- Exceptional healthcare benefits, Medical is 100% covered by the company
- Flexible PTO
- 401K
- More to come!

## About Salient Motion

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Salient Motion designs and manufactures critical electromechanical actuation systems for commercial aviation and defense, replacing legacy supply chains with modular, software-defined motion control.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage)
- **Headquarters**: Torrance, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Vishaal Mali (CEO)

## Core Business
- **Primary Industry**: Aviation and Aerospace Component Manufacturing, Defense
- **Target Customers**: OEMs (e.g., Boeing), MROs, and defense contractors for commercial airliners and military platforms (B2B, Enterprise)
- **Mission**: To change the paradigm of legacy aerospace and defense supply chains, unlocking a new era of speed, innovation, and possibility.

## Products & Services
- **Critical Actuation Systems**: Advanced electromechanical actuators (linear and rotary) for flight control, landing gear, and other mission-critical functions on commercial and military aircraft.
- **Software-First Architecture**: A modular, software-defined actuation platform that decouples control logic from hardware. Core motor control software is certified to DO-178C standards as a reusable library, enabling rapid configuration and validation across platforms.
- **Certification Services**: Certification-centric engineering built from day one, aiming for up to 10x reductions in cost and lead time for certifiable products.
- **Support & Sustainment**: Direct, fast, and personal support for integration, troubleshooting, and sustainment of actuation systems.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding of **$4.0M** (Seed round led by Cantos VC in October 2024, with participation from AE Ventures and Ian Rountree; a Pre-Seed round occurred in November 2022)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Cantos (Lead), AE Ventures, Ian Rountree. Key customer/partner: **Boeing** (collaborating on certifying modular actuators for commercial airliners).
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount of ~30 employees with +15.2% monthly growth; talent sourced from Anduril Industries, Boeing, Virgin Galactic, and other top aerospace/defense firms; active job postings increasing +200% month-over-month; expansion to a second office in Irvine, CA.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Software-First Modularity**: Their core differentiator is a software-defined architecture that is certified as a reusable library (DO-178C). This allows for rapid, low-cost configuration for different aircraft platforms, offering a 10x improvement in lead time and cost over legacy suppliers.
- **Vertically Integrated Supply Chain**: Streamlined engineering workflows and vertically integrated partnerships enable delivery of actuator systems in weeks, not quarters.
- **Certification-First Approach**: All systems are designed with certification in mind from day one, drastically reducing the time and cost to achieve airworthiness.
- **Legacy Disruption**: They offer a direct alternative to high-cost, slow-moving legacy OEM suppliers, providing certified solutions without overhead markup.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale Production**: Moving from design and prototyping to manufacturing and delivery at scale, as evidenced by hiring for Senior Manufacturing Engineer and Quality Manager roles.
- **Expand Customer Base**: Deepening the partnership with Boeing while expanding to other commercial and defense OEMs.
- **Domestic Supply Chain**: Developing motors and inverters using domestic resources to meet national security imperatives.
- **Platform Development**: Refining their core "electric motion operating system," including standalone inverters, web-based configuration platforms, and performant motors.

## Why Work Here
- **High-Impact Work**: Employees solve some of the hardest motion control challenges in aerospace and defense, with work that directly impacts millions of daily passengers.
- **Culture**: Described as a high-velocity environment emphasizing "Extreme Entrepreneurship," "Execution Over Excuses," and "Mastery Over Ego." The culture values ownership, creativity, and a relentless focus on execution.
- **Strong Talent Pool**: Team includes veterans from Anduril, Boeing, Virgin Galactic, and SpaceX, providing a steep learning curve and high-performance peer group.
- **Work Policy**: **In-Office** (Torrance, CA and Irvine, CA). The company explicitly values in-person collaboration.
- **Growth Trajectory**: Early-stage (Seed) with rapid headcount growth, offering significant upside and career acceleration for early employees.

## Sources
1. [salientmotion.com](https://salientmotion.com/)
2. [salientmotion.com](https://salientmotion.com/careers)
3. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/salient-motion)
4. [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/salient-motion)

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