Manager, Fabrication And Assembly; R&D

Position: MANAGER, FABRICATION AND ASSEMBLY (R&D)

Date:
Feb 5, 2026

Overview

The Marvin Group is a Strategic Partner for Global Alternate Mission Equipment and Sustainment. The Marvin Group, a leading defense contractor, plays a crucial role in the development and manufacturing of various systems for military aerospace and vehicles. Based in Southern California near the Los Angeles International Airport, The Marvin Group consists of Marvin Engineering (MEC), Marvin Test Solutions (MTS) and Marvin Land Systems (MLS).

Marvin Engineering designs and produces military Alternate Mission Equipment. Marvin Test Solutions designs and manufactures armament Test Equipment. Marvin Land Systems specializes in the design and build of power and thermal management systems. For over 60 years we have maintained “A Tradition of Excellence”, serving as a trusted source for our unwavering commitment to supporting all branches of the Department of Defense and our global allies.

Our collaboration extends across a diverse array of programs and platforms, including major military prime contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon.

Job Description

The Manager of R&D Fabrication and Assembly is an integral role in MEC’s Research & Development Engineering Department that leads and manages build activity for high mix, low volume hardware assemblies required for Engineering Development Programs; including prototypes, test articles, and customer deliverables. The successful candidate will lead and collaborate with multiple disciplines within MEC to facilitate realization of R&D hardware assemblies in support of successful execution of Engineering Development Programs.

Prior experience in directing build activity for R&D Programs in an Aerospace or Defense product engineering and manufacturing environment is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Owns, leads, manages, and coordinates build activities for all high mix, low volume product assemblies required by Programs for Research & Development Engineering: including prototypes, test articles, and customer deliverables.
• Develops and/or enhances Work Instructions, Standard Practices, and other process documentation in collaboration with other disciplines within MEC to streamline the R&D build process, and to optimize and reduce time between kickoff of build activity to completion of hardware builds.
• Finds and implements creative solutions to challenges in build activity through MEC’s ERP System, SAP.
• Manages Direct and Dotted line Reports to support fulfillment of build activity: Material Program Managers (MPM) and Material Expeditors.
• Organizes and directs activity across cross-functional teams, including MPMs, Material Expeditors, Production Planning, Quality, Receiving Inspection, Schedulers, and Risk & Opportunity to ensure hardware is fabricated and assembled within cost and schedule budgets.
• Responsible for all material movement required to ensure assembly floor is equipped with product assembly kits to assemble R&D hardware. Includes ensuring Quality Notices (QN) levied against noncompliant material and internal/external Rework Jobs (R-Jobs) to repair/rework material are supported, managed, and followed through to meet build schedules.
• Liaison with Technical Program Managers (TPM) to ensure configuration of hardware builds aligns to latest released Bill of Material (BOM) from R&D Engineering and to Contractual requirements.
• Highlights technical, hardware, and other issues precluding successful build activity to appropriate internal and external Stakeholders: TPM, Systems Engineering, R&D Engineering, Test Engineering, Quality Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Subject Matter Experts, Supply Chain, External Suppliers, etc. Coordinates cross-functional meetings, actions, and follow up activity to identify and resolve issues and implement corrective actions.
• Leads and participates in strategic planning sessions and program reviews to inform the R&D Engineering Organization of build activity health for Engineering Development Programs. Summarizes status, challenges, outlook, alignment to schedule, support needed, and other relevant information.
• Interfaces with Test Engineering function to coordinate handoffs from…