Mechanical Engineer

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

About

Foundation Industries is building the supply base for frontier hardware companies: We CNC machine critical components and have built 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 Mechanical Engineer to work on some of the hardest problems in high-mix manufacturing. One of the core constructs of our culture is to get hands dirty first and engineer solutions second. We require no proficiency in CNC machining, but rather a capacity to learn it at lightning speed.

You'll work directly with the founding team and partner closely with our software team. What you identify on the factory floor will directly shape the software and hardware automations you build in the future.

Near Term

• Learn the fundamentals of CNC machining
• Run parts end-to-end: CAM programming, setup, and production
• Surface friction in our current process: programming workflows, tool management, materials, inspection, etc. Work with our software team to turn those frictions into platform features.

Longer-term

• Build workflow automations for CAM generation
• Automate DFM feedback on uploaded customer CAD files
• Contribute to the onboarding curriculum and facility playbooks that turn Foundation's tribal knowledge into systems

Who you are

• A degree in mechanical engineering or equivalent hands-on background
• Proficient in CAD and eager to learn CAM and CNC from the ground up
• Ready to grind on the facility floor

Comp

• $100k annual salary
• Equity grant (early-stage, meaningful)