Position Overview:

Responsibilities

Provide technical leadership for end-to-end additive manufacturing execution, from build completion through final shipment, ensuring complex customer hardware meets quality, dimensional, and delivery requirements.

Establish and improve production strategies for metal additive manufacturing workflows, including post-processing, heat treatment, depowdering, EDM, scaling, and inspection processes.

Serve as a recognized technical authority for additive manufacturing process development, troubleshooting, and optimization across production programs.

Lead advanced post-build quality assessments by evaluating printed hardware, reviewing process data, identifying risks, and driving corrective actions to improve first-pass yield and process capability.

Develop and optimize post-processing strategies, including furnace thermal cycles (stress relief, Sol-Age), Solukon depowdering processes, and wire EDM operations.

Own the technical strategy for wire EDM processing of additive builds by developing advanced cutting approaches based on geometry, material behavior, surface area, and production requirements. Lead structured experimentation to establish capability and drive continuous improvement.

Provide technical leadership for Solukon and furnace operations by developing, validating, and standardizing production recipes that maximize safety, consistency, and process performance.

Define and advance metrology and dimensional control strategies by developing scan-based inspection methodologies, analyzing deviation trends, and translating dimensional data into actionable process improvements.

Create and maintain material- and condition-specific shrink-rate databases to improve scaling strategies, dimensional accuracy, and first-build success rates.

Develop advanced compensation methodologies, including asymmetric scaling approaches based on geometry, build height, distortion behavior, and historical manufacturing data.

Provide Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) leadership by influencing part design, support strategies, build orientation, and process routes for high-risk and first-article hardware.

Lead investigations into complex additive manufacturing failure modes, including cracking, distortion, dimensional variation, and process instability. Translate findings into design guidelines, manufacturing standards, and process improvements.

Drive cross-functional alignment between engineering, operations, quality, EDM technicians, furnace operators, depowdering personnel, and other manufacturing stakeholders to improve production flow and eliminate process gaps.

Lead strategic continuous improvement initiatives focused on manufacturing scalability, yield improvement, cycle time reduction, and process robustness using structured problem-solving methodologies and data-driven experimentation.

Provide technical leadership for NCR investigations, root cause analyses, and corrective/preventive actions while ensuring lessons learned are incorporated into designs, build files, specifications, and production standards.

Mentor and provide technical guidance to engineers and technicians, helping build organizational capability in additive manufacturing processes and production excellence.

Partner with manufacturing leadership to identify and prioritize high-impact improvement opportunities aligned with plant and business objectives.

Support customer-facing technical discussions, program reviews, and demonstrations that showcase Velo3D’s advanced additive manufacturing capabilities.

Qualifications

U.S. Citizenship required due to the nature of government contract work and associated security requirements.

12+ years of hands-on experience in metal additive manufacturing, advanced manufacturing, production engineering, or related technical fields.

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Science, or a related technical discipline.

Deep technical expertise in metal additive manufacturing processes, including production-scale powder bed fusion and downstream manufacturing operations.

Strong understanding of GD&T, dimensional inspection methods, scan-based metrology, and translating measurement data into process improvements and compensation strategies.

Demonstrated experience leading complex continuous improvement initiatives in a production environment, including problem definition, experimentation, data analysis, implementation, and standardization.

Proven ability to solve complex manufacturing challenges through engineering analysis, experimentation, and cross-functional collaboration.

Experience developing and scaling manufacturing processes for high-value, low-volume, or mission-critical hardware.

Ability to operate effectively on the manufacturing floor while also influencing long-term technical strategy and operational improvements.

Excellent communication, leadership, and collaboration skills with the ability to align engineering, operations, quality, program management, and executive leadership.

Experience supporting aerospace, defense, space, or other highly regulated industries is preferred.

Experience with government contract environments, export-controlled hardware, or regulated manufacturing standards is preferred.

About the Company:   Velo, Velo3D, Sapphire and Intelligent Fusion are registered trademarks of Velo3D, Inc. Without Compromise, Flow, Flow Developer, and Assure are trademarks of Velo3D, Inc.   With the only SupportFree laser powder bed fusion capability, we enable on-demand manufacturing of production quality Titanium, Inconel, and Aluminum parts with an unprecedented degree of design freedom and quality control. The VELO3D award-winning solution includes an integrated offering of hardware and software: Sapphire® metal AM production printer, Flow™ print preparation software, Assure™ quality assurance and control system, and an integrated manufacturing process that runs throughout the printing operation.   Our team enjoys excellent benefits including healthcare coverage and 401(K) employer contributions. We believe in transparency and recognizing exceptional efforts through our monthly all-hands meetings and team member appreciation awards.   Our job titles may span more than one career level. The starting base salary for this full-time position is between $165,000 and $188,000. This salary range reflects the minimum and maximum target for this position in the U.S. The actual base pay is dependent upon many factors, such as work experience, job-related skills, related education, work location, and market demands. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. In addition to a competitive base salary and a comprehensive benefits package, this position may be eligible for other forms of compensation such as participation in a bonus and equity program, as applicable.   Velo3D provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to, and prohibits discrimination and harassment based on, race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.   This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training. We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.