Freelance Additive Manufacturing Engineer Jobs in Tennessee

Beehive Industries is dedicated to Powering American Defense by revolutionizing the design, development, and delivery of jet propulsion systems to support the warfighter. Through the integration of additive manufacturing, the company aims to meet the growing and urgent needs for unmanned aerial defense by dramatically improving a jet engine’s speed to market, fuel efficiency, and cost.

Founded in 2020, the company is headquartered in Centennial, Colorado, with additional facilities in Knoxville, Tennessee, Loveland Ohio, and Mount Vernon, Ohio. Beehive is committed to grow and advance the defense industrial base while manufacturing exclusively in the USA. This role will be located at our Knoxville, Tennessee facility.

Role Overview

The Lifecycle Manufacturing Engineer (Lifecycle ME) is responsible for end-to-end manufacturing ownership across the product lifecycle, from new product introduction (NPI) through full-rate production. This role serves as the manufacturing engineering technical authority for assigned systems, modules, or components and partners closely with Design Engineering, Plant Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, and Program teams to ensure manufacturability, scalability, quality, and production readiness.

The Lifecycle ME drives manufacturing strategy, defines process intent, influences product design through DFM/DFA engagement, and leads manufacturing risk reduction efforts to support successful product development and production execution.

What You’ll Do...

• Own manufacturing engineering strategy and execution readiness for assigned products, modules, or components
• Drive Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA) collaboration with Design Engineering teams
• Define manufacturing processes, tolerances, tooling concepts, workflows, and production requirements
• Lead manufacturing planning and readiness activities from NPI through production transition
• Partner with Plant Manufacturing Engineering teams to support process implementation and production scale-up
• Identify and resolve manufacturing risks, technical issues, and production constraints
• Drive trade studies and manufacturing decisions related to cost, yield, throughput, quality, and producibility
• Support root cause investigations and corrective actions for manufacturing and quality issues
• Coordinate across engineering, operations, supply chain, quality, and program management teams
• Improve manufacturing performance through yield improvement, cycle time reduction, and continuous improvement initiatives
• Develop and maintain manufacturing documentation, work instructions, process flows, and technical standards
• Serve as the manufacturing representative on Integrated Product Teams (IPTs) and support program reviews and milestone activities
• Support capacity planning and manufacturing scalability initiatives for production growth

You have...

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related technical field
• 5+ years of manufacturing engineering experience in aerospace, defense, propulsion, turbomachinery, additive manufacturing, or complex mechanical systems environments
• Experience supporting products through NPI and production environments
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes such as machining, assembly, additive manufacturing, welding, or related processes
• Experience working cross-functionally with design engineering, operations, quality, and supply chain teams
• Demonstrated experience driving DFM/DFA and manufacturing readiness activities
• Strong problem-solving, technical communication, and organizational skills
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced development and production environment
• The ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government-issued security clearance is required. U.S. Citizenship is required, as only U.S. Citizens are eligible for a security clearance.

Nice to have...

• Experience with aerospace propulsion systems or rotating machinery
• Experience in additive manufacturing environments
• Familiarity with APQP, PFMEA, control plans, SPC, or lean manufacturing methodologies
• Experience scaling products from prototype to production
• Knowledge of GD&T and advanced manufacturing methods
• Experience supporting low-rate initial production and production ramp activities
• Prior experience in a high-growth or fast-paced engineering organization

Beehive Industries offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes group Medical, Dental, Life,and Short and Long-Term disability coverage from day one. We also offer a generous 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan with a Company match.Every role at Beehive Industries is bonus eligible and will also receive equity in the company.

Beehive Industries is committed to full compliance with applicable anti-discrimination laws.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company.

We strive to create an inclusive work environment and will not discriminateon the basis ofrace, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.