Senior Prototype Build Engineer

Senior Prototype Build Engineer

Amca is building airplanes for the 21st century, starting by designing new hardware that flies on today’s planes. Aviation was once humanity’s boldest ambition, but the industry hasn’t successfully built a clean-sheet aircraft in decades. We don’t think it has to be this way.

Overview

Across much of aerospace, product development is fragmented across design, build, test, and qualification, slowing iteration and locking in bad decisions early. At Amca, we bring design, development, build, test, and qualification under one roof so better hardware ships faster.

As a Senior Prototype Build Engineer, you will own the physical realization of new hardware from early concept through first builds and test-ready prototypes. You sit at the center of design, manufacturing, and test, turning ideas into working hardware while shaping designs for manufacturability, integration, and performance from day one.

This is a hands-on, high-ownership role for someone who wants to build real things, fast.

Responsibilities

• Own prototyping and first builds of new hardware from concept through test-ready assemblies

• Work closely with Product Design and Test Engineering to translate requirements into buildable hardware

• Apply deep Materials & Processes judgment to prototype designs with manufacturability, integration, and performance as core constraints

• Challenge and simplify design requirements using first-principles engineering and real-world build feedback

• Develop and own prototype build processes, tooling, fixtures, and shop workflows

• Lead equipment selection and manage onboarding and commissioning of new prototype equipment

• Provide continuous feedback to design teams to improve safety, reliability, and producibility

• Partner with production facilities and Amca subsidiaries to ensure smooth transition from prototype to production

• Serve as the manufacturing subject-matter expert in the prototype development shop

Qualifications

• Exceptionally curious, fast-learning engineer who thrives in ambiguous problem spaces

• Strong hands-on experience with mechanical hardware, fabrication, and assembly

• Comfortable contributing across diverse component types, materials, and manufacturing processes

• Proven ability to reason from first principles and simplify over-constrained requirements

• Practical, build-oriented mindset with a bias toward action and iteration

• Comfortable working in an environment of continuous building, testing, and troubleshooting

• High ownership mentality with the ability to operate independently while collaborating closely

What Will Set You Apart

• Strong working knowledge of CAD, PDM/PLM systems, GD&T, and Materials & Processing

• Experience standing up or significantly evolving a prototype development environment

• Deep intuition for how design decisions affect manufacturability and downstream production

• Strong troubleshooting and root-cause analysis skills

• Clear, structured communicator who can rapidly turn build learnings into design improvements

• Interest in mentoring and raising the bar for engineers around you

This position requires the use of information which is subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). All applicants must be U.S. persons within the meaning of ITAR. ITAR defines a US person as: any individual who is granted U.S. citizenship; or. any individual who is granted U.S. permanent residence ("Green Card" holder); or. any individual who is granted status as a "protected person" under 8 U.S.C 1324b(a)(3).

The Advanced Manufacturing Company of America prohibits discrimination or harassment based on the following categories: race, color, religion, religious creed (including religious dress and grooming practices), national origin, ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition (including cancer and genetic characteristics), genetic information, marital status, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), gender, gender identity, gender expression, age (40 years and over), sexual orientation, veteran and/or military status, protected medical leaves (requesting or approved for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act or the California Family Rights Act), domestic violence victim status, political affiliation, and any other status protected by state or federal law.