Operations Engineer

About Castelion

Castelion is bringing a new approach to defense development and production: one that focuses on short, iterative design cycles, rapid testing in development, and modern commercial manufacturing strategies for production at scale. We're designing, building, and testing next generation long range strike weapons systems to give America and its Allies a definitive edge and deter future conflicts.

Operations Engineer

As an Operations Engineer, you will be the heartbeat of schedule execution for Castelion's hypersonic weapons development. You will architect and maintain integrated master schedules that span concept design, engineering development, hardware production, flight test, and operational deployment. Working across engineering, manufacturing, and government-program stakeholders, you will keep aggressive timelines on track and ensure that every milestone is grounded in technical reality.

This role demands a strategic thinker who is equally comfortable with hands-on execution and thrives in a dynamic startup environment. This person can bring order to complexity while supporting multiple high-stakes government programs.

Responsibilities

• Integrated Master Scheduling: Build and maintain end-to-end schedules from early design through full-rate production and fielding of hypersonic weapon systems.
• Critical Path Management: Identify dependencies, risks, and recovery options to keep programs aligned with contractual commitments and customer milestones.
• Cross-Functional Coordination: Partner with engineering leads, program managers, and operations teams to ensure schedule accuracy and timely updates.
• Data-Driven Insights: Develop tools, dashboards, and reports that provide real-time visibility to leadership and government customers.
• Process Improvement: Gain deep understanding of Castelion's engineering and manufacturing workflows to drive schedule fidelity and continuous improvement.
• Rapid Response: Lead high-tempo reviews, update schedules in response to evolving priorities, and escalate risks before they become blockers.
• Customer Interface: Provide schedule briefings and status updates to U.S. Government stakeholders, supporting formal reviews and contractual reporting

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in engineering, operations management, business, or a related technical field.
• 3+ years of experience in project planning, integrated master scheduling, or operations engineering.
• Proficiency with Smartsheet, Microsoft Project, Primavera, or comparable scheduling tools.
• Strong grasp of critical-path analysis, risk assessment, and work breakdown structures.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex projects in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment.
• Exceptional attention to detail and clear written and verbal communication skills.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience with first-of-a-kind engineering projects or defense hardware production.
• Familiarity with hypersonic or missile-system development life cycles.
• Background in government acquisition programs and contractual reporting (e.g., CDRLs, IMS).
• Experience integrating third-party schedules and external supplier data into a master plan.
• Active Top Secret/SCI clearance.

All employees are granted long-term stock incentives as part of their employment at Castelion. All employees receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental insurance, and the company offers four weeks of paid time off per year.

Leadership Qualities

Bias to Action and Creative Problem Solving. Desire and experience questioning assumptions in ways that lead to break through ideas that are ultimately implemented. Successfully bring in applicable processes/concepts/materials from other industries to achieve efficiency gains. Ability to personally resolve minor issues in development without requiring significant support.

High Commitment, High Initiative. A successful candidate will have a genuine passion for Castelion's mission and consistently look for ways to contribute to the company's technical goals and prevent hardware blockers. Ability to work in a fast paced, autonomously driven, and demanding atmosphere. Strong sense of accountability and integrity.

Clear Communicator. Proactively communicates blockers. Trusted in previous roles to be voice of company with regulators, suppliers, gate keepers and customers. Capable of tactfully managing relationships with stakeholders to achieve company-desired outcomes without compromising relationships. Emails, IMs and verbal interactions are logical, drive clarity, and detailed enough to eliminate ambiguity.

ITAR Requirements:

• To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Employment with Castelion is governed on the basis of competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.