Job Description

Overview

As a Composites Technician at Impulse, you will be responsible for manufacturing composite and metallic structures for the Mira spacecraft and Helios, the third-stage/kick-stage.

Responsibilities

  • Perform composites lamination work such as filament winding, vacuum bagging, hand layup, oven curing, and layup tool preparation.
  • Operate cutting machines for composites raw materials and cured flat panel.
  • Perform composites assembly work such as hand trimming, adhesive bonding, and fastener and insert installation.
  • Bond and assemble thermal protection materials to metallic and composite structures.
  • Apply coatings, sealants, adhesives, and primers to surfaces for surface protection and bonding.
  • Perform composites and metallics assembly work such as drilling, bolting, applying safety wire, and installing bushings.
  • Review work instructions and specifications, and complete work buyoffs electronically as the work is being performed.
  • Work with engineering to develop test panels and parts to help develop and optimize composites designs.
  • Hand drill, match drill, step drill, tap, countersink, and chamfer using pneumatic drills and hand tools.
  • Install fasteners (Hi-Loks, nuts, bolts, etc.), safety cable, inserts, use clecos, and bucking bars.
  • Perform cleaning operations on composite and metallic structures using solvents.
  • Interface with engineering to identify work instructions and recommend engineering improvements.
  • Use basic shop tools such as saws, mills, drill presses, hand routers, de-burr tools, rotary tools, and sanders.

Requirements

  • High school diploma or equivalency certificate.
  • 3+ years of hands-on hardware manufacturing experience in a production environment, working specifically with composites materials.
  • 5+ years of demonstrated experience with composites assembly work on rockets, launch vehicles, satellites, or spacecraft (preferred).
  • Experience manufacturing COPV's from start to finish including liners, overwrapping, testing, and integration (preferred).
  • Demonstrated experience performing complex composite scarf repairs with ply splices and curved surfaces (preferred).
  • Demonstrated experience with grinding off bonded composites hardware on complex curved surfaces (preferred).
  • Demonstrated experience with drilling, reaming, countersinking tight-tolerance holes using electric or pneumatic tools (preferred).
  • Ability to read and interpret drawings and blueprints. Understands drawing symbols, flag notes, and section views (preferred).

Benefits

  • 401k
  • Health Insurance
  • Dental
  • Vision

Additional Information

  • Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data.
  • Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities, and internal equity.
  • This position requires applicants to be either U.S. Persons or persons eligible to obtain an export license from the U.S. Departments of State, Commerce, or other applicable U.S. government agencies.
  • Impulse Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Benefits

401k
Health Insurance
Dental
Vision

How this job compares in Redondo Beach, CA

Pay in context

At roughly $40/hr, this posting sits about 11% above the $36/hr median for welding jobs across California — toward the top of a $30–$48/hr middle band drawn from 373 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 57% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. Pay that far above local median usually comes attached to something: a harder cert requirement, travel, night shift, or overtime that isn't really optional. Worth establishing which before you accept.

The local market in Redondo Beach, CA

Redondo Beach, CA is a small market in our index: 2 other active welding openings alongside this one, from 1 employer. Across California as a whole we're tracking 505 other active welding openings from 240 employers. With this few local postings, most welders here end up either commuting or looking at travel work. Browse welding jobs across California.

Impulse Space currently has 2 other openings live in California, which is usually a sign of either steady growth or steady turnover — worth asking which in the interview.

The most active employers in California at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are SpaceX (37), Relativity Space (18), and Welding Shop in Los Angeles, CA (13). 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 El Segundo at $53/hr, Los Angeles at $51/hr, and Pasadena at $50/hr. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.

Similar openings near Redondo Beach, CA

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