---
title: 'Lead Manufacturing Engineer at Vital Lyfe'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/lead-manufacturing-engineer-vital-lyfe-los-angeles-qk5mtm0dawsn'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-07'
---

# Lead Manufacturing Engineer at Vital Lyfe

- **Company:** Vital Lyfe
- **Location:** Los Angeles, CA
- **Compensation:** $140k–$150k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-11-04
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-07
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/vital-lyfe/b3ab53ac-63e5-4c0c-8190-a164c7e82194

## Job description

## About Vital Lyfe

Vital Lyfe is a tech company redefining water autonomy through innovation, creating a new category of personal water making technology built to scale where infrastructure can’t.

## What You'll Do

- Design, develop and optimize manufacturing processes and production lines for our desalination systems, from first builds through high rate production.
- Lead DFM/DFA initiatives: tooling, fixtures, robot end-effectors, conveyors, automation programming, control systems.
- Work cross functionally to select equipment, define cycle-times, yield targets, cost-per-unit, quality metrics.
- Develop work instructions, process flows, layout designs; implement and validate manufacturing methods for new systems.
- Own continuous improvement efforts: reduce cost, increase throughput, improve reliability and uptime in a fast-moving hardware startup environment.
- Collaborate with procurement, quality, test, integration teams and external vendors/suppliers to ensure smooth scale up & ramp out of manufacturing.

## What We’re Looking For

Required:

- Bachelor’s in Engineering (Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial or equivalent).
- 2+ years as a project lead
- Strong CAD (SolidWorks / other) experience and familiarity with manufacturing automation, tooling & fixture design.
- Hands on mindset: comfortable designing the process and also working with operators & equipment to validate and refine.
- Strong problem solving skills, ability to operate in ambiguous/higher growth environment, clear communicator across teams.

Preferred:

- Experience in consumer hardware production, or systems with high-volume manufacturing.
- Knowledge of pumps, valves, pressure vessels, fluid systems or broadly mechanical-hardware manufacturing.
- Experience with automation programming, conveyors, robotics, fluid/pressure equipment.
- Familiarity with Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, statistical process control (SPC).
- Experience in a hardware startup or mission-driven organization.

Physical Requirements (with or without reasonable accommodation)

- Hands on work on development hardware.
- Long periods of standing, crouching, walking.
- Lifting up to 50 lbs.
- Wear required PPE (safety glasses, gloves, safety shoes) in production areas. Required personal protective equipment (PPE), including safety shoes, will be provided or reimbursed by Vital Lyfe.

Why Join Vital Lyfe?

- Work on high-impact problems with global relevance
- Help scale breakthrough technology in water security and climate resilience
- Early ownership in a high-growth, engineering-led startup
- Join a tight-knit, mission-driven team in a fast-paced environment
- Build long-term career equity as we grow

Location Requirement: Ability to work 100% onsite in Torrance, CA (remote or hybrid work will not be considered)

Vital Lyfe is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Vital Lyfe 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.

## About Vital Lyfe

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Vital Lyfe is a climate technology company building portable, aerospace-grade water purification systems that turn any naturally occurring water source—including saltwater—into clean drinking water on demand.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage; total funding $42.1M)
- **Headquarters**: Hawthorne, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2024
- **Founders**: Jon C. (CEO) and Andrew Harner (COO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Climate Technology Product Manufacturing, Water Purification
- **Target customers**: B2C (outdoor enthusiasts, emergency preparedness, off-grid living), B2B (disaster relief organizations, military, remote operations), and potentially B2G (government/municipal infrastructure alternatives)
- **Mission or purpose statement**: “Rewriting how the world thinks about water” by creating a platform for water autonomy—personal water-making technology that scales where infrastructure can’t.

## Products & Services
- **[Access]**: A portable, intuitive device that uses a simple three-step process (place hose in water → press start → hydrate) to purify water from any natural source, including ocean water. Type: Hardware (personal water-maker) with an integrated platform for monitoring and reliability.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of **$42.1M** across four rounds (Pre-Seed led by Cantos; Seed rounds led by Interlagos Capital and General Catalyst, including $18M in December 2025 and $6M debt financing)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Cantos, Interlagos Capital, General Catalyst
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew **1000% YoY** to 29 employees; LinkedIn followers up 440% yearly; website traffic surged 747% yearly; currently has 5 active job postings and has opened pre-orders for its first product.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Aerospace-grade engineering** applied to consumer water purification—founders and early team include alumni from SpaceX and other aerospace/defense firms.
- **Field-tested simplicity**: The device requires no complex installation or logistics, enabling water autonomy anywhere.
- **Platform approach**: Not just a single product but a scalable platform designed for solo missions, everyday readiness, and large-scale deployment.
- **First-mover in a new category**: Personal water-making that works with saltwater, addressing the 70% of Earth’s surface previously out of reach for portable purification.

## Strategic Focus
- Scaling manufacturing and reducing unit cost to make water autonomy accessible globally.
- Expanding use cases from individual outdoor/adventure to disaster relief, military operations, and off-grid communities.
- Building a brand around “liberation” and independence from fixed water infrastructure.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Described as “engineering liberation”—a mission-driven environment where employees push boundaries and reimagine essential resources. The team is heavily technical (39% in engineering/technical roles) and includes alumni from SpaceX, L3Harris, and other advanced engineering companies.
- **Remote/Hybrid/Office**: Offices in Hawthorne, CA (HQ) and Long Beach, CA. Likely on-site given the hardware and manufacturing focus, but roles may offer flexibility.
- **Notable Perks**: Competitive salary, equity, 401K, health/vision/dental insurance, paid holidays, cellphone & internet stipend, referral bonus, team outings, meals & snacks, EV charging station, spot bonuses.
- **Growth Opportunity**: With 29 employees and rapid scaling, new hires will have significant impact and ownership from day one.

## Sources
1. [vital-lyfe.com](https://www.vital-lyfe.com/)
2. [vital-lyfe.com/about](https://www.vital-lyfe.com/about)
3. [vital-lyfe.com/careers](https://www.vital-lyfe.com/careers)
4. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/vital-lyfe](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/vital-lyfe)
5. [linkedin.com/company/vital-lyfe](https://www.linkedin.com/company/vital-lyfe)

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