Paint Engineer

About the Role:

The Role
As Paint Engineer, you will own the end-to-end industrialization of Hadrian's coating line in Los Angeles — from prep, blasting, wet paint, and powder through cure, specialty coatings, inspection, and buy-off. You are the accountable owner of the facility's fire and life-safety compliance posture, lead equipment specification and vendor selection for the turnkey coating process, and select and train the cross-functional team that will run the line after launch. This role is on-site in Los Angeles throughout specification and design, and full-time on the floor through installation, commissioning, and launch.

What You’ll Do

• Own facility fire and life-safety compliance for the coating line under NFPA 33, 86, 70 (NEC), 30/30B and OSHA 29 CFR 1910.107, .94, .146, and .134, and drive AHJ (fire marshal) coordination, permitting, and fire-protection system acceptance

• Lead functional specification, vendor RFQ/evaluation, and Site/Factory Acceptance Testing for coating, cure, ventilation, and fire-suppression/detection equipment, making build-vs-buy calls with the integrator and OEMs

• Define process windows, qualify equipment, and write and validate work instructions across prep, blasting, wet paint, powder, cure, and specialty coating steps

• Select and stand up the coating line's support team, define the operator training and certification matrix, and execute train-the-trainer so production and maintenance fully own the line post-launch

• Solve yield and throughput issues during process maturation and formally hand the line to production

What We're Looking For

• Hands-on aerospace/defense MRO coatings experience: MIL-SPEC/CARC and AMS-spec coatings, corrosion control, surface prep and stripping, masking, first-article inspection, and full documentation/traceability

• Proven, applied experience with NFPA 33/86/70/30/409 and OSHA 1910 as they apply to paint operations — hazard classification, ventilation and interlock design review, and AHJ coordination and permitting

• Track record writing equipment specifications, managing vendor selection, and running factory/customer acceptance programs

• Experience standing up teams via train-the-trainer, with the ability to operate autonomously across code compliance, equipment engineering, and cross-functional coordination

• Comfort working on the shop floor daily alongside equipment engineering, commissioning, troubleshooting, and inspection activities

What Will Set You Apart

• Experience launching a paint, powder, or mixed-coatings line from facility bring-up through steady-state production in a defense, aerospace, or advanced manufacturing environment

• NADCAP and/or AS9100 quality-system exposure

• PLC/controls fluency sufficient to review interlock and SCADA logic directly with controls engineers

• Direct experience negotiating fire-protection or insurance-carrier acceptance requirements with an AHJ

• History of building and certifying trainers who went on to independently run the line

Benefits for Full-time Employees

• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans for employees
  401k

• Relocation support may be provided for certain situations, based on business need.

• Flexible vacation policy

• Equity