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Job Description

Overview

Salient Motion is building a modular motion and actuation platform for aerospace, defense, and industrial systems. The Engineering Co-op role offers students the opportunity to engage in hands-on engineering work, contributing to real projects and gaining valuable experience.

Responsibilities

  • Own a scoped engineering workstream from design through test and release, with support from a senior engineer.
  • Design, build, and test electro-mechanical systems and subassemblies on active customer programs.
  • Build, maintain and improve test fixtures and data collection infrastructures.
  • Conduct firmware bring-up and design validation tests for electronics boards.
  • Lead prototyping, assembly, and hands-on lab and shop work.
  • Plan and execute engineering tests, collect data, and present results to the team.
  • Drive manufacturing and supplier activities including part preparation and first-article inspection.
  • Build and improve engineering and documentation processes that outlast your co-op term.
  • Partner with senior engineers and program leaders, and present progress in design and program reviews.

Requirements

  • Enrolled in a Bachelor's or Master's program in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field.
  • Ability to commit to a minimum 6-month co-op rotation.
  • Available for a full-time term, whether a full academic semester, summer plus a connecting semester, or two consecutive semesters.
  • Strong curiosity and willingness to work across disciplines.
  • Comfortable in a lab or shop environment with hardware and tools.
  • Clear communicator who can document work, present results, and ask thoughtful questions.
  • Prior hands-on experience through projects, labs, clubs, personal builds, or a previous internship or co-op is a strong plus.

Additional Information

  • Full-time, paid co-op with pay tiered by commitment length: 6-month rotation: $28 to $34/hr, 9 to 12 month rotation: $34 to $40/hr.
  • Minimum 6-month commitment; 9 to 12 month rotations preferred.
  • Start dates flexible to align with your school's co-op calendar.
  • Onsite in Hawthorne, CA; relocation support includes a $1,200/month housing stipend for students relocating more than 50 miles.
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How this job compares in Hawthorne, CA

Pay in context

At roughly $34/hr, this posting lands within a few percent of the $37/hr median for welding jobs in Hawthorne, CA, whose middle half runs $31–$58/hr across 38 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 47% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. In other words it is a market-rate offer, so benefits, overtime, and shift schedule are where the real difference between this and the next posting on the list shows up.

The local market in Hawthorne, CA

We're tracking 38 other active welding openings in Hawthorne, CA right now, from 2 different employers. 18 of them were added in the last week. Across California as a whole we're tracking 594 other active welding openings from 271 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Hawthorne, or widen the search to California.

The most active employers in California at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are SpaceX (37), Welding Shop in Los Angeles, CA (17), and Honeywell Aerospace (16). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within California, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Pasadena at $51/hr, Santa Ana at $48/hr, and El Segundo at $48/hr. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.

Similar openings near Hawthorne, CA

Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Engineering Co-op figures were last recalculated when this page was built.