---
title: 'Manufacturing Engineer, Solid Rocket Motors at Furientis'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/manufacturing-engineer-solid-rocket-motors-furientis-los-angeles-hhk2xn8a7caw'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-10'
---

# Manufacturing Engineer, Solid Rocket Motors at Furientis

- **Company:** Furientis
- **Location:** Los Angeles, CA
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-05-14
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/furientis/78c1f57f-b8f0-4817-a25a-f919304ce347

## Job description

America is critically deficient in production of defensive munitions- we currently produce shipborne interceptors in the few hundreds per year while our adversaries are producing offensive threats in the tens of thousands per year. Furientis was started to help solve this problem- introducing a new class of cost-effective, high production rate, interceptor missiles. We're seeking motivated individuals who internalize this problem and are eager to apply their past experience in similar industries (aerospace, defense, automotive/racing, robotics) and out of the box thinking to solve this problem for the US and its allies.

## About the Team

The Propulsion Team designs, builds, and flies the solid rocket motors that power our interceptor. We own the chemistry, the motor and grain design, the ground test campaigns, and the range operations.

## About the Role

We are looking for a manufacturing engineer who will own how every solid rocket motor we ship actually gets built. That covers process design, tooling and fixtures, work instructions, inspection and NDE, the energetics line layout, and the path from R&D builds to production. You will report to the Head of Propulsion.

This is a hands-on role for an engineer who can design a safe, efficient energetics production line from a clean sheet and then run it day to day in the early phase. When a decision needs to be made, bring real process options, tooling concepts, and the cost analysis to back them up, then move quickly.

LEAN is not a buzzword here. Every step we add to the build today we pay for sixty times over at qualification and again at production. The line you design has to be safe first, lean second, and capable of holding production cadence without redesign.

## What You'll Do

- Capture the current 6-inch build process (already flying motors) into travelers, work instructions, and control plans.
- Lay out the Mojave build line. Safety first, throughput second.
- Design and procure the tooling and fixtures for both motor sizes.
- Build the inspection plan. Perform NDE on early articles; transition routine NDE to an external Level III provider as build rate scales.
- Run the energetic-materials build line: handle the propellant ingredient set, the energetic and hazardous precursor chemistry, and the mix-and-cure operations safely day to day. The Energetic Materials Engineer owns formulation and characterization; you own the line that builds with it. The safety culture on the line is yours to set and defend.
- Build and own the technical side of the motor-hardware supplier base. The Head of Supply Chain owns commercial terms. Feed DFM lessons back into the development engineer's design package.

## Skills We're Hiring For

- B.S. in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Chemical, or Aerospace Engineering.
- 5+ years hands-on manufacturing engineering on solid rocket motors or analogous hazardous-process manufacturing.
- Hands-on LEAN, 5S, and value-stream mapping with cost or throughput outcomes you can defend with numbers.
- Hands-on inspection and NDE experience.
- Hands-on safety record working with energetic and hazardous materials.
- Track record of taking a hand-built first article to a repeatable production article without losing performance margin.
- AI-native working style: daily use of agentic coding tools (Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, or similar) for traveler authoring, process-data analysis, and supplier-comparison work.

Bonus Points For

- Direct solids build-floor experience.
- Stood up a remote or rural test and build site.
- Compliance experience for energetic operations (ATF, EPA, OSHA PSM, local AHJ).
- Volume transition: moved a tactical motor from prototype to production rate.
- Familiarity with insensitive munitions (IM) protocols.
- Out-of-domain background that gives you practical, first-principles intuition (automotive, motorsports, robotics, hobbyist high-power rocketry). We actively want people who can solve solid motor manufacturing problems without dragging legacy-prime habits with them.

Eligibility & Logistics Location: On-site at our Los Angeles, CA HQ; remote work is not available. Monthly weekend travel for test events and supplier engagements. Clearance: A clearance is not required for this position. Must be a U.S. Person. Equal Opportunity & Export Compliance Furientis is an equal-opportunity employer. To comply with U.S. export control laws, employment is contingent on eligibility to access export-controlled information.

## About Furientis

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Furientis is a defense technology startup building low-cost, production-scalable interceptor missile systems for the U.S. military.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Pre-seed)
- **Headquarters**: El Segundo, California, USA (operates out of a facility in Playa Vista, Los Angeles)
- **Founded**: 2025
- **Founders**: Brody Franzen (CEO) and Aris Simsarian

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Aerospace & Defense / Defense Technology
- **Target customers**: U.S. military and defense organizations, particularly naval and ship-based interceptor procurement buyers
- **Mission or purpose statement**: "We believe the future of warfare is dictated by production capacity, and our current system of manufacturing critical defensive munitions cannot meet demand." The company aims to build cost-effective defensive munitions at scale.

## Products & Services
- **F 1.0 Interceptor Missile System**: A low-cost interceptor missile architected for an annual production volume of 1,000 units per factory. Designed to counter low-cost threats (drones, cruise missiles) that are expensive to stop with legacy systems. Uses automotive-style materials and assembly processes, commercial off-the-shelf components, and in-house solid rocket motors to achieve a cost of ~$250,000 per missile versus the $1–$5 million normally spent per interceptor.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (Private, early-stage)
- **Key Metric**: $5M total funding raised (Pre-Seed round, announced May 2026)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Silent Ventures (lead), Bessemer Venture Partners, Multiball Capital, SV Angel, Humba Ventures, BVVC, Liquid 2 Ventures, MVP Ventures, Channel 39 Ventures, Vanderbilt University, Gaingels. Angel investors include founders of Anduril, Armada, and Erebor.
- **Growth Signals**: Emerging from stealth with $5M pre-seed; completed six flight tests and ten static-fire tests within its first six months; named a finalist in the Office of Naval Research Tactical Missile Innovation Challenge; actively hiring with 4+ open roles; projected "significant demonstrations" later in 2026.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Design for manufacturing from day one**: Unlike legacy primes that spend a year on modeling before building hardware, Furientis runs four-week design cycles with monthly flight tests—a "build fast, test often" approach.
- **In-house solid rocket motor production**: Most primes outsource this critical component, creating supply chain bottlenecks. Furientis makes its own, giving it control over the most constrained piece of the supply chain.
- **Cost advantage**: Target price is ~$250,000 per missile vs. $1M–$5M for incumbent systems from primes like Lockheed Martin, enabled by automotive-style materials, off-the-shelf components, and simplified assembly.
- **Production scalability**: Designed from scratch for a throughput of 1,000 units per year per factory, addressing the core national security bottleneck of ammunition production capacity.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale production**: Move from prototype flight testing to initial production tooling and build-out of a 9,000-square-foot Los Angeles factory.
- **Team expansion**: Actively hiring elite engineers across opto-mechanical, perception hardware, and finance roles to accelerate development.
- **Demonstrate to the Navy**: Use ongoing flight tests and the ONR challenge to secure a production contract with the U.S. Navy.
- **Prove the thesis**: Continue monthly flight tests to validate the cost and performance of its interceptor system.

## Why Work Here
- **High-impact mission**: Work directly on solving a critical U.S. national security shortage—the ability to produce defensive munitions at the volumes needed to counter modern threats.
- **Fast-paced engineering culture**: Four-week design cycles, monthly flight tests, and a "build and break things" mentality that contrasts with slow, traditional defense primes.
- **Elite team and mentorship**: Leadership includes veterans of Virgin Galactic, Virgin Orbit, and Castelion (a hypersonics startup that raised $350M). Advisors/investors include founders of Anduril and Armada—among the most successful modern defense startups.
- **On-site in Los Angeles**: Roles are on-site in the Playa Vista / El Segundo area. The office is notably located in Lenny Kravitz’s former studio.
- **Early-stage equity**: Joining at pre-seed stage ($5M raised) provides significant ownership potential for early engineers alongside a small, tight-knit team (11-50 employees).
- **Active hiring**: As of mid-2026, open roles include Senior Opto-Mechanical Engineer, Perception Hardware Integration Engineer, and Finance Manager.

## Sources
1. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/furientis)
2. [Fortune (Exclusive launch article)](https://fortune.com/2026/05/14/furientis-missiles-defense-anduril-military-drone-interceptors/)
3. [PitchBook](https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/894465-28)
4. [Fusion42 Profile](https://scout.fusion-42.com/startups/ff72fe16-9489-4f67-ae18-a3c6dd66edd4)
5. [Clera](https://www.getclera.com/companies/furientis)

## Other roles at Furientis

- [Senior Opto-Mechanical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-opto-mechanical-engineer-furientis-los-angeles-aq7cpd95622r) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Perception Hardware Integration Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/perception-hardware-integration-engineer-furientis-los-angeles-j7g9rbpyp56v) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Finance Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/finance-manager-furientis-los-angeles-93mrf55rgnyx) — Los Angeles, CA
- [IT Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/it-manager-furientis-los-angeles-jbv66mmvh1te) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Senior Mechanical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-mechanical-engineer-furientis-los-angeles-1wqvvbmfqdga) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Mechanical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/mechanical-engineer-furientis-los-angeles-nvkmgg037m5j) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Control Actuation System Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/control-actuation-system-engineer-furientis-los-angeles-8hkyxe5tvmwr) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Technician, Vehicle and Factory](https://feeny.ai/job/technician-vehicle-and-factory-furientis-los-angeles-311g0qba7mj7) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Navigation Engineer, GNC](https://feeny.ai/job/navigation-engineer-gnc-furientis-los-angeles-92ks7pqn8vh5) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Aerodynamics Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/aerodynamics-engineer-furientis-los-angeles-h01ddrnn6p9m) — Los Angeles, CA