Director, Core Manufacturing Technology

Socket.dev; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 226,000 - 266,000; Full time

Job summary

Oura is seeking a Director of Core Manufacturing Technology to lead a global team across SMT, molding, encapsulation, coatings, and optics. The role drives a shift from project-specific engineering to reusable core modules that scale across all product lines while ensuring world-class yield and reliability.

Based in San Francisco, this hybrid position collaborates with HW Core Technology and Manufacturing leadership to shape roadmaps, protect IP, and execute at scale.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in high-volume Consumer Electronics, Wearables, Medical Devices or Semiconductors, with hands-on molding or SMT yield on the factory floor.
• Proven leadership of multi-disciplinary teams across SMT, molding/encapsulation, coatings, optics, and automation.
• Master’s or PhD in Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or related field.

Responsibilities

• Own and define the 3-year Core Technology roadmap for foundational manufacturing processes.
• Standardize core process modules to enable rapid propagation across NPIs and programs.
• Identify, develop, and protect proprietary manufacturing methods for competitive advantage.
• Lead molding, encapsulation, water-tightness, and optics excellence for biosignal sensing.
• Drive ultra-miniaturized SMT strategies, component size roadmaps and underfill/overcoating solutions.
• Set equipment and tooling strategy, and manage key vendor relationships with CM partners.
• Deploy Core Tech experts into programs to support EVT/DVT/PVT phases.
• Ensure CM site readiness and scalable high-volume capability with required yield.
• Maintain visibility of current activities, risks, and wins across Manufacturing leadership.
• Be the technical anchor in portfolio discussions and influence investment in new capabilities.

Skills

Leadership breadth

Cross-functional teams

Strategic thinking

Global collaboration

Vendor relations

Problem solving

Communication

Standardization

Education

Master’s or PhD in Materials Science/Mechanical/Chemical Eng

Job description

Our mission at Oura is to empower every person to own their inner potential. Our award-winning products help our global community gain a deeper knowledge of their readiness, activity, and sleep quality by using their Oura Ring and its connected app. We've helped millions of people understand and improve their health by providing daily insights and practical steps to inspire healthy lifestyles.

Empowering the world starts with living our values and empowering our team. As a quickly growing company focused on helping people live healthier and happier lives, we ensure that our team members have what they need to do their best work — both in and out of the office.

The Director of Core Manufacturing Technology is the executive architect of the proprietary processes that define Oura’s hardware. This role leads a global team of experts in SMT, Molding, Coatings as examples and also new technology scouting. Your mission is to move Oura from "Project-specific" engineering to a "Core Technology" model, where common process modules are developed, perfected, and then deployed across all product lines to ensure world-class yield, reliability, and scale.

This role works closely with Oura HW Core Technology development teams and is in full sync with future technology plans and requirements. Also collaboration with own engineering teams is essential to create seamless continuation from technology development to fast deployment. You have the skills and mindset of a high quality swiss army knife and can adapt to any technical problem we have in the organization.

This is an Office / Hybrid role (3 days in office per week) based in our San Francisco, California office.

What you will do:

• Own the Core Technology roadmap: Define and maintain the 3-year roadmap for Oura’s foundational manufacturing processes, with focus on miniaturization, water-tightness (molding), and high-density electronics (SMT).
• Standardize “Golden Processes”: Together with our other technical leaders, establish core process modules that become the technical skeleton for all NPIs, ensuring improvements from one program are quickly propagated to the global standard.
• Build and protect IP: Identify, develop, and protect proprietary manufacturing methods that give Oura a durable competitive advantage in form factor, robustness, and reliability.
• Lead molding, encapsulation & optics excellence: Drive advanced epoxy molding, water-tightness and enable best-in-class optical solutions for biosignal sensing.
• Drive next-generation SMT: Own the strategy for ultra-miniaturized SMT, including component size roadmap, flexible PCB handling, and robust underfill/overcoating solutions.
• Set equipment & tooling strategy: Define the global “Best in Class” equipment standards and own key vendor relationships (molding solutions, SMT lines, dispensing/etc) to ensure CMs can execute core recipes.
• Deploy core experts into programs: Create and run a deployment model where Core Tech specialists support project teams during critical EVT/DVT/PVT phases to secure process choices and line concepts.
• Ensure CM site readiness: Partner with Global Supply Chain and CMs to qualify factories to run selected proprietary processes at high volume with required yield, reliability, and capacity.
• Provide solution planning visibility: Maintain active technical discussion within Manufacturing leadership so current activities, future solutions, risks, and wins are visible across the team.
• Act as technical anchor in Manufacturing leadership: Be the voice of Core Manufacturing Technology in portfolio and strategy discussions, influencing where and how we invest in new capabilities.

We would love to have you on our team if you have:

• Deep operative foundation: 12+ years in high-volume Consumer Electronics, Wearables, Medical Devices or Semiconductors, with real “boots on the ground” experience solving molding or SMT yield/fallout on the factory floor.
• Proven leadership breadth: Track record leading multi-disciplinary teams of senior and staff-level engineers across processes such as SMT, molding/encapsulation, coatings, optics, and automation.
• Strong technical education: Master’s or PhD in Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a closely related field (or equivalent deep practical expertise).
• Strategic and systemic mindset: Ability to balance urgent build demands with long‑term process “skeleton” growth, standardization, and reuse across products and sites.
• Vendor & CM influence: Experience owning strategic relationships with key equipment and process vendors and guiding CMs to adopt and scale proprietary recipes.
• Global collaboration skills: Comfortable working across at least three timezones in a global organization, building ways of working where 1+1 clearly becomes >2.
• Change & innovation drive: Passion for moving an organization from project-specific solutions towards core technology platforms, with a bias for standardization and learning reuse.
• Strong communication: Ability to explain complex process topics clearly to technical experts, leaders, and cross‑functional partners, and to drive alignment on technical direction.

Oura takes a market-based approach to pay, which may vary depending on your location. US locations are categorized into tiers based on a cost of labor index for that geographic area. While most offers will be closer to the starting range, successful candidates' pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, internal peer equity, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future.

San Francisco Salary Range: $226,100 - $266,000

A recruiter can determine your zones/tiers based on your US location.

We are not considering candidates residing in the following states: Alaska (AK), Delaware (DE), Iowa (IA), Mississippi (MS), Missouri (MO), Nebraska (NE), South Dakota (SD), Vermont (VT), West Virginia (WV), and Wisconsin (WI)

Oura is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Individuals seeking employment at Oura are considered without regard to age, ancestry, color, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, mental or physical disability, national origin, protected family care or medical leave status, race, religion (including beliefs and practices or the absence thereof), sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. We will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics.

We will work to ensure individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.