Production Machinist

We are a team of veterans from SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, ArianeGroup, Pangea Propulsion, Tesla, MDA, and more, bringing over a century of combined launch and space systems experience back to Canada. Our mission is to provide reliable, independent access to space for Canada and its allies in a rapidly expanding global market. Our approach is defined by pragmatic engineering: We lean on simple, proven technologies to reach orbit faster, avoiding the pitfalls of complex or novel designs. Backed by over $20M in funding secured within our first four months, including the largest all-Canadian seed round in the sector and an $8.3M Department of National Defence grant, we are moving with the speed and institutional backing required to meet Canada’s orbital launch needs. Canada Rocket Company is building a sovereign launch capability for Canada, and precision machining is on the critical path of our E-1 engine. We’re looking for a Principal Machinist to set up and run CRC’s machine shop at our head office in Etobicoke. You will machine propulsion and vehicle hardware in materials from aluminum and copper through to Inconel, and your work will complement our in-house additive manufacturing capability. We want one person who can do the lot: set up the shop, program and run the parts, and help the designers get to parts that can be made well and made fast. You will report to the Head of Propulsion, work closely with propulsion, structures, and test teams, and supervise the test engineers and shop technicians who build our tooling. Commission CRC’s machine tools, including CNC mills and lathes, manual machines, and supporting equipment such as EDM, grinding, and saws, as the budget and workload require. Establish shop practices for safety, housekeeping, tool management, job tracking, and handling of Controlled Goods. Program and operate CNC machines to produce propulsion and vehicle parts in aluminum, copper alloys, stainless steels, Inconel, and other materials. Finish-machine interfaces, sealing surfaces, and critical features on additively manufactured parts. Inspect your work and deliver parts to drawing, with the quality that flight and hot-fire hardware demands. Troubleshoot machining, tooling, and process problems quickly, and keep hardware moving at the pace our test campaign demands. Suggest design changes that reduce cost, lead time, and risk, and say so plainly when a feature will be a problem to make. Review drawings and tolerances for producibility, and help the team build a shared understanding of the shop’s capabilities and limits. Supervise the test engineers and shop technicians who manufacture tooling and work in the shop. Train team members in safe machine operation and good machining practice, and set the standard for quality and care. Hands-on CNC programming and operation, from setup through to finished part. Experience machining a range of materials, including difficult alloys, and holding tight tolerances. Ability to work with Controlled Goods and to obtain a Controlled Goods Program security assessment. Comfort operating with ambiguity and limited infrastructure, in a test-early, iterate-fast program. Experience with NX CAM, Master CAM, or equivalent. Machinist or Tool and Die certification (for example Red Seal), or an equivalent trade qualification. Experience with aerospace, propulsion, defense, or other high-reliability hardware. Experience selecting machines and setting up or improving a machine shop. Experience with wire or sinker EDM, CMM inspection, or finish machining of additively manufactured parts. #