Manufacturing Engineering Manager (Robotics Hardware)

Most manufacturing roles hand you a stable line and ask you to keep it running. This one hands you a line that’s still being built.

My client is one of the best-funded AI robotics companies in the world, and their platform already runs on robots built by some of the largest technology companies. They’re now scaling their own electromechanical hardware from prototype into repeatable production, and they need a Manufacturing Engineering Manager to own that move.

What you’re walking into

A live assembly line, four technicians, a supply chain manager and builds already in flight. The foundations are there. What’s missing is the person who turns them into a real production operation.

What you’ll own

• Leading the assembly technicians and manufacturing engineers directly, and growing the team as volume ramps
• Build execution: sequencing around part availability, setting daily floor priorities, escalating when a build stalls
• Cutting build labor from the current 70 to 80 hours per unit through process, fixturing and tooling improvements
• NPI: taking new hardware from engineering release through pilot builds into producible builds, with clear manufacturability feedback to design
• Work instructions, build documentation and PLM/BOM, kept accurate and under revision control as designs change

What you’ll bring

• 7+ years in manufacturing engineering or NPI at senior or staff level, with team lead responsibility
• Hands-on experience taking complex, low-volume electromechanical hardware from prototype into repeatable production
• An operations mindset. You’re most at home on the floor
• Experience in robotics, aerospace, EV, medical devices or industrial automation hardware is a strong plus

To be straight with you: processes are still being written and some of the systems are young. If you want a mature, stable manufacturing environment, this will frustrate you. If you want to build one, this is about as good as it gets.

The package

• Base salary $150,000 to $250,000 plus bonus
• Five days a week on site in San Mateo, CA
• Relocation support available
• Open to visa transfers