---
title: 'Manufacturing Operations Engineer at NOX METALS'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/manufacturing-operations-engineer-nox-metals-ferndale-k6xnfqczjpry'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-26'
---

# Manufacturing Operations Engineer at NOX METALS

- **Company:** NOX METALS
- **Location:** Ferndale
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Posted:** 2026-09-20
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-26
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/nox-metals/2ab5afb8-164e-4d2b-908f-bc65997feadb

## Job description

Manufacturing Operations Engineer American factories deserve a supply chain that moves as fast as they do. The next generation of American manufacturing is being built right now. Nox Metals is the supply chain behind it. We use software and automation to supply metal to American factories faster than the industry thought possible. Our mission is to reindustrialize America. We're hiring a Manufacturing Operations Engineer to live on the floor of our Ferndale facility and attack bottlenecks one by one until throughput, quality, and safety climb every week. This role comes with company equity. You will:

- Walk the floor daily and find the next constraint: a saw, a material move, a changeover, a handoff
- Attack bottlenecks one at a time and measure the gain in throughput, quality, or safety
- Fix problems at the root so they stay fixed, not just for today's order
- Solve problems for extreme scale
- Instrument the floor: cycle times, changeover times, scrap, downtime
- Design fixtures, layouts, and workflows that cut wasted motion and wait time
- Work with our software team to turn floor data into decisions
- Document what you change so training keeps up with the process

You should be:

- Experienced in high-throughput, high-mix production, not years-long contracts
- Fluent in a short lead time frame of reference. Most of the industry thinks in months. We think in days.
- Organized and urgent, someone who moves fast and hates waiting
- High agency, able to handle big items alone and ask for help when needed
- Hands-on: comfortable with saws, material handling, and getting dirty
- Data-driven, someone who measures before and after every change
- Good with AI tools
- Low ego
- Awesome attitude
- Mission-driven, someone who wants to rebuild American manufacturing for decades

This role is full time, in person in Detroit.

## About NOX METALS

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: NOX METALS is an AI-powered metals supplier that provides instant quotes and rapid delivery of cut-to-size aluminum plate to American manufacturers through vertically integrated, software-driven factories.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage; raised $11.5M seed round per company website, plus $4.6M pre-seed from Y Combinator per LinkedIn – conflicting reports)
- **Headquarters**: Detroit, Michigan, United States (2703 23rd Street, Detroit, MI 48216)
- **Founded**: 2025
- **Founders**: Zane Hengsperger (Founder & CEO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Manufacturing, metals processing, industrial supply chain
- **Target customers**: Job shops, OEMs, Tier 1/2/3 suppliers, aerospace, defense, and industrial manufacturers (B2B)
- **Mission**: To reindustrialize America by supplying manufacturers at warp speeds and lower prices, with the goal of enabling 100x more parts made in the USA.

## Products & Services
- **Gondor (Ordering Platform)**: An AI-powered system where customers upload material lists or paste part specs, and the AI parses, prices, and returns a quote in under 60 seconds. Offers real-time order tracking, mill certs, and one-click reordering.
- **Nox Nest (AI Nesting Engine)**: An ML-trained bin-packing solver that evaluates hundreds of thousands of cut combinations to find the optimal path, reducing scrap and creating predictive inventory based on likely future orders.
- **Predictive Inventory**: AI that anticipates what American manufacturers need and stocks material before customers even place an order.
- **AI Schedule**: Machine-learning trained scheduling and job timing to lower lead times.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company)
- **Key Metrics**:
  - Total funding: $11.5M seed round (per company website) plus a $4.6M pre-seed round led by Y Combinator (per LinkedIn/Tracxn)
  - Team size: ~22 (per Y Combinator profile; LinkedIn shows 8 employees but 24 active job postings, suggesting rapid growth)
  - Headcount growth: +27.3% monthly (LinkedIn)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Y Combinator (led pre-seed; Summer 2025 batch), Jared Friedman (Primary Partner at YC)
- **Growth Signals**: Raised $11.5M seed round in 2026; 24 open positions; expanding from aluminum plate/block into steel, tube, and sheet; LinkedIn followers 4,148 with +8.3% monthly growth.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Vertically integrated factories**: NOX builds and operates its own automated cutting facilities, removing middlemen, brokers, and manual scheduling layers.
- **AI-first operations**: ML-driven nesting, scheduling, and inventory prediction deliver quotes in seconds and lead times in days rather than weeks.
- **Lower overhead**: Automation (robots pick, cut, package, label) reduces human bottlenecks, enabling better pricing and faster throughput.
- **Real-time visibility**: Every order tracked from quote to delivery, with mill certifications attached.

## Strategic Focus
- **Current priorities**: Scale the Detroit factory, expand product offerings into steel, tube, and sheet, and continue building out the software platform (Gondor, Nest, AI Schedule).
- **Direction**: Become the fastest and lowest-cost supplier to America’s industrial base by treating the factory as a software product.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Early-stage startup backed by Y Combinator; mission-driven to reindustrialize America; fast-paced environment where software and hardware meet.
- **Work environment**: On-site in Detroit, MI (2703 23rd Street). Roles span software engineering (perception, full-stack), factory operations, shift leads, sales, and IT/SecOps.
- **Perks & highlights**: Opportunity to work with advanced manufacturing technology (AI, robotics, automated cutting lines); competitive salaries ($80K–$150K for engineering roles); direct impact on the supply chain of American manufacturing.
- **Engineering culture**: Emphasis on building automated factories that are “the product” – software engineers work alongside factory operators to optimize real-time production.

## Sources
1. [NOX METALS Website](https://noxmetals.co/)
2. [Y Combinator Company Profile](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/nox-metals)
3. [LinkedIn Company Page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/noxmetals)
4. [Careers Page (Ashby)](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/nox-metals)

## Other roles at NOX METALS

- [Material Handler](https://feeny.ai/job/material-handler-nox-metals-detroit-0bc084szap5h) — Detroit, MI
- [EHS Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/ehs-manager-nox-metals-detroit-pg55z9e8xp5p) — Detroit, MI
- [Quality Coordinator](https://feeny.ai/job/quality-coordinator-nox-metals-detroit-prnhx6mrpatp) — Detroit, MI
- [Factory Technician - Weekend 2nd Shift](https://feeny.ai/job/factory-technician-weekend-2nd-shift-nox-metals-detroit-sp6kqzpddsns) — Detroit, MI
- [Factory Technician - Weekend 1st Shift](https://feeny.ai/job/factory-technician-weekend-1st-shift-nox-metals-detroit-zgyy118cdkne) — Detroit, MI
- [Factory Technician - Weekday 2nd Shift](https://feeny.ai/job/factory-technician-weekday-2nd-shift-nox-metals-detroit-s2xa0wn8m1j9) — Detroit, MI
- [Factory Shift Lead - Weekend 2nd Shift](https://feeny.ai/job/factory-shift-lead-weekend-2nd-shift-nox-metals-detroit-y2a6h6madeab) — Detroit, MI
- [Factory Shift Lead - Weekend 1st Shift](https://feeny.ai/job/factory-shift-lead-weekend-1st-shift-nox-metals-detroit-g1mtfdrqx0t7) — Detroit, MI
- [Plant Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/plant-manager-nox-metals-detroit-aej91byz7aq1) — Detroit, MI
- [Factory Shift Lead - Weekday 2nd Shift](https://feeny.ai/job/factory-shift-lead-weekday-2nd-shift-nox-metals-detroit-j86xqatxnd50) — Detroit, MI