About the role

About

Foundation Industries is building a physical API for the frontier: manufacturing infrastructure that turns designs into real hardware near the speed of development. We believe the future science fiction promised will only arrive if manufacturing infrastructure matches the pace of development.

We’re starting with CNC machining critical components and building a manufacturing platform that connects every step of the process into one continuously improving, software-defined system.

We’re backed by Y Combinator and other awesome investors and have shipped parts to customers like Skydio, Westmag, and Askari Defense.

Role Description

We’re hiring a Manufacturing Engineer who combines exceptional CAM programming and hands-on machining ability with a strong mechanical engineering background. You’ll own complex parts from drawing and CAD through machining strategy, 5-axis toolpath development, setup, prove-out, inspection, and production.

Deep CAM proficiency is central to this role. You should be able to develop efficient, reliable machining strategies for challenging geometry and prove them out at the machine. You’ll work directly with the founders and our software and engineering teams to turn your programming expertise into repeatable processes, manufacturing standards, and automation.

Near-term

• Own CAM programming for complex 5-axis parts, including operation sequencing, tool selection, cutting strategies, and toolpath optimization
• Develop and validate simultaneous 5-axis programs, using simulation to evaluate tool engagement, clearances, collisions, and machine motion
• Independently set up, prove out, troubleshoot, and run the programs you create
• Solve machining challenges involving tight tolerances, thin walls, complex geometry, tool access, and part stability
• Build reusable CAM templates, tool libraries, cutting parameters, and setup documentation
• Select and develop workholding that supports reliable machining and inspection
• Work with our software team to identify opportunities for CAM automation and improvements to programming workflows

Long-term

• Define standards for CAM programming, machining strategy, and program validation
• Build reusable programming methods that reduce programming time, prove-out time, and cycle time while maintaining quality
• Partner with our software team to turn expert programming decisions into increasingly automated CAM workflows
• Help qualify new machines, CAM capabilities, post-processors, tooling, and automation
• Mentor Manufacturing Engineers and operators in programming, troubleshooting, and machining practices
• Partner with customers and engineering on DFM and complex technical requirements

What we’re looking for

• Deep CAM proficiency, with demonstrated experience programming demanding 3+2 and simultaneous 5-axis parts
• Strong judgment in toolpath strategy, tool orientation, cutting parameters, operation sequencing, and balancing machining efficiency with process reliability
• Substantial hands-on CNC experience, with the ability to independently set up, prove out, troubleshoot, and run your own programs
• A mechanical engineering background, through formal education or equivalent practical depth, applied directly to manufacturing problems
• Strong understanding of cutting forces, tool deflection, material behavior, and workholding, and how they inform programming decisions
• Ability to interpret demanding drawings and GD&T, plan inspection, and verify finished parts against requirements
• Enjoyment of complex part making and difficult machining challenges, including unfamiliar geometry, demanding tolerances, and problems that require experimentation

Comp

• $150k–$175k annual salary
• Equity grant (early-stage, meaningful)
• Health benefits

About Foundation Industries

America once turned breakthroughs into abundant products with unmatched speed. Our edge wasn’t just invention; it was the ability to prototype, iterate, and scale production faster than anyone else.

Over time, we kept inventing but lost production velocity. High-volume manufacturing moved offshore, and low-volume, high-mix production became slow, fragmented, and burdened by overhead, quoting, programming, scheduling, and coordination. For decades, fixing this wasn’t economical. The indirect workaround costs more than the production itself.

That constraint is no longer.

New tools now automate the cognitive layers that once slowed everything down, collapsing weeks into days and turning overhead into code.

For the first time in decades, fast, flexible domestic production can be economically superior. We’re rebuilding America’s productive edge by accelerating high-tech, low-volume, high-mix manufacturing, helping hard-tech teams prototype faster, launch sooner, and build more here.

If you want to restore American productive power and ship real hardware, reach out.

jakob@foundation-industries.com