GA Production Team Lead (Second shift)

Socket.dev; Garden Grove (CA); On-site; USD 43,000 - 47,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive Health, Dental & Vision

Early-stage Stock Options

401k, HSA, FSA

PTO & Parental Leave

Annual Vacation Bonus

Wellness & Fertility Benefits

Cell Phone Stipend

Complimentary Meals & Stocked Kitchens

Job summary

Harbinger is seeking a Team Lead in California to guide a production team on the EV platform. You will direct daily activities, manage staffing, and coach team members to meet safety, quality, and output goals.

Ideal candidates have automotive OEM/Tier-1 experience, strong leadership, and hands-on shop-floor expertise in assembly environments. This role offers comprehensive benefits and pays a California wage range.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent required.
• Experience with shop-floor operations, assembly lines and supplier management.
• Automotive OEM or Tier-1 supplier background preferred.
• Strong leadership and people-management skills required.

Responsibilities

• Direct daily activities of the production team and set clear goals.
• Oversee zonal staffing and headcount; escalate gaps to Supervisor.
• Coach and develop team members to drive growth.
• Monitor performance against KPIs and implement improvements.
• Act as liaison between team and management for progress and issues.
• Uphold 5S and safety standards within the zone and broader area.
• Master production fundamentals including takt time and cycle times.

Skills

Team Leadership

Resource Allocation

Mentorship & Development

Performance Monitoring

Communication

Continuous Improvement

Production Fundamentals

5S & Safety

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Automotive background (OEM or Tier-1)

Job description

About Harbinger

Harbinger is an American commercial electric vehicle (EV) company on a mission to transform an industry starving for innovation. Harbinger’s best-in-class team of EV, battery, and drivetrain experts have pooled their deep experience to bring a first-of-its-kind EV platform to support the growing demand for medium-duty EVs and Hybrids. Harbinger: Familiar Form, Revolutionary Foundation.

As a Harbinger Team Lead, you will guide a team toward achieving operational goals while fostering a collaborative, high-performing environment. Serving as the primary point of contact for your dedicated zone, you will provide the hands‑on support necessary to ensure all zonal targets are met successfully.

What You’ll Do:

• Team Leadership: Direct daily activities, provide clear goals (SQDC), and deliver regular feedback to team members to ensure alignment with company objectives as communicated by leadership.
• Resource Allocation: Oversee zonal staffing, ensure proper headcount at each workstation, and elevate any gaps to the Supervisor. Step in to support as a build operator when resource availability requires it.
• Mentorship & Development: Support the Supervisor in identifying training needs and provide coaching to drive the professional growth and skill development of each team member.
• Performance Monitoring: Track team performance against key metrics and implement strategies for continuous improvement.
• Communication: Act as a liaison between the team and management, ensuring transparent communication regarding your zone’s progress, challenges, and achievements.
• Continuous Improvement Culture: Champion the mindset that the production line is a living system requiring constant awareness, iteration, and effort to improve over time.
• Production Fundamentals: Master and apply core production concepts, including Takt time, operator and equipment cycle time, downtime tracking, waste elimination, and safety/quality escalation protocols.

Zonal Operations:

• Lead 5‑minute start‑of‑shift huddles covering output, goals, safety issues, and 5S.
• Respond to and immediately elevate issues to the Supervisor based on criticality.
• Maintain 5S and Safety at the highest possible standard within your zone and the wider General Assembly area.

Who You Are:

• Education: High school diploma or equivalent.
• Automotive Background: Proven experience working at an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) or a Tier‑1 supplier.
• Hands‑on Production: Direct experience working with shop‑floor operations, assembly lines, and supplier management.
• People Management: Demonstrated ability to direct, train, and evaluate assembly or engineering teams.
• Supervisory Experience: Prior experience managing a team or leading complex projects from concept to production release.
• Core Skills: Strong problem‑solving capabilities, sound decision‑making skills, and excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• 2+ years of experience in a relevant field (General Assembly / EV experience highly preferred).
• 1+ years of proven leadership, team lead, or supervisory experience.
• Strong understanding of vehicle assembly with the agility to learn and train operations teams across multiple build stations and cells.
• A documented track record of strong performance and positive peer feedback.

Key Benefits & Perks:

• Comprehensive Health, Dental & Vision (HDV) – 100% employee covered
• Early‑stage Stock Options
• Robust Retirement Savings (401k, HSA, FSA)
• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO) & Parental Leave
• Annual Vacation Bonus
• Wellness & Fertility Benefits
• Cell Phone Stipend
• Complimentary Meals & Stocked Kitchens

California Pay Range

$31 — $34 USD

Equal Opportunity

Harbinger is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information or characteristics, physical or mental disability, marital/domestic partner status, age, military/veteran status, medical condition or any other characteristic protected by law.

Harbinger is committed to ensuring that our hiring process is accessible for persons with disabilities. If you have a disability or limitation, such as those covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, that requires accommodations to assist you in the search and application process, please email us at [e-mail].

Candidate Data Privacy

Harbinger may collect, use and disclose your personal information or personal data (within the meaning of the applicable data protection laws) when you apply for employment and/or participate in our recruitment processes (“Candidate Personal Data”). This data includes contact, demographic, communications, educational, professional, employment, social media/website, network/device, recruiting system usage/interaction, security and preference information. Harbinger may use your Candidate Personal Data for the purposes of (i) tracking interactions with our recruiting system; (ii) carrying out, analyzing and improving our application and recruitment process, including assessing you and your application and conducting employment, background and reference checks; (iii) establishing an employment relationship or entering into an employment contract with you; (iv) complying with our legal, regulatory and corporate governance obligations; (v) recordkeeping; (vi) ensuring network and information security and preventing fraud; and (vii) as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law.

Harbinger may share your Candidate Personal Data with (i) internal personnel who have a need to know such information in order to perform their duties, including individuals on our HR, legal, and finance teams, and the team(s) with the position(s) for which you are applying; (ii) Harbinger affiliates; and (iii) Harbinger’s service providers, including providers of background checks, staffing services, and cloud services.

Harbinger may transfer or store internationally your Candidate Personal Data, including to or in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union and in the cloud, and this data may be subject to the laws and accessible to the courts, law enforcement and national security authorities of such jurisdictions.

Please note that we are currently not accepting applications from third party application services. Any unsolicited resumes or candidate profiles submitted in response to our job posting shall be considered the property of Harbinger and are not subject to payment of referral or placement fees if any such candidate is later hired by Harbinger unless you have a signed written agreement in place with us which covers the applicable job posting.