Staff Supplier Development Engineer - Mechanical (Aerospace)

Location: Seattle, Washington, United States; on-site. Regular travel to domestic and international supplier facilities is required. Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance is required.

Salary: $170,000–$260,000 per year, plus bonus, benefits, and equity for regular employees.

Company

hirify.global is a venture-backed defense-tech company developing intelligent systems, including autonomy software, unmanned aircraft, and simulation technologies.

What you will do

• Lead the technical development and performance improvement of suppliers producing airframe structures, precision-machined components, landing gear, propulsion hardware, and complex mechanical assemblies.
• Assess supplier capabilities, manufacturing processes, capacity, quality systems, tooling, workforce, and production readiness across prototype, qualification, and production programs.
• Lead supplier industrialization, manufacturing planning, tooling readiness, process validation, capacity planning, qualification, and production ramp-up.
• Act as the technical interface between suppliers and Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Program teams.
• Drive design-for-manufacturability and design-for-assembly improvements, supplier recovery plans, corrective actions, and risk-mitigation strategies.
• Resolve manufacturing defects, dimensional nonconformances, process variation, tooling issues, material shortages, and production constraints using structured problem-solving methods.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Aerospace, Industrial Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 7+ years of experience in supplier development, manufacturing engineering, supplier quality engineering, quality engineering, or a related role in aerospace, defense, or another highly regulated manufacturing environment.
• Strong knowledge of CNC machining, structural fabrication, composite manufacturing, casting, forging, welding, heat treatment, plating, coating, finishing, and mechanical assembly.
• Ability to interpret engineering drawings, GD&T, bills of material, material specifications, and manufacturing requirements.
• Experience with supplier capability assessments, process audits, capacity analyses, production readiness reviews, AS9102 First Article Inspection, AS9100, PFMEA, control plans, statistical process control, and corrective-action methods.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance and work on-site in Seattle; domestic and international travel is required.

Nice to have

• Active U.S. government SECRET clearance.
• Experience with aircraft, unmanned aircraft systems, advanced aerospace platforms, or defense programs.
• Experience with airframe structures, landing gear, turbine engines, propulsion systems, complex machining, special processes, and flight-critical mechanical hardware.
• Experience with lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, value-stream mapping, NADCAP-controlled processes, FAR, DFARS, ITAR, export compliance, or government contracting requirements.
• ASQ Certified Quality Engineer, Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt, APICS/ASCM, or another relevant certification.

Culture & Benefits

• Full-time regular employee package includes salary within the stated range, bonus, benefits, and equity.
• hirify.global operates across offices and facilities in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.
• Employment offers are contingent on a cleared background and may include a reference check.
• Equal opportunity workplace with accommodation support for candidates with disabilities or special needs.