Paint Engineer

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

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen or national, lawful permanent resident, protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.