Lead Manufacturing Engineer San Francisco Bay Area

TAR; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

TAR builds its own construction robots to install solar at gigawatt scale, co-designed with the racking system they put in the ground. This Lead Manufacturing Engineer role owns the line from low-rate production to higher-volume operation, including DFM, tooling, quality control, root-cause, vendor management, and standard work at our San Francisco robotics facility.

You will work shoulder to shoulder with engineers and technicians who design and build the machines, using hands-on methods to

Qualifications

• 5–7+ years in manufacturing engineering with experience scaling an assembly line for complex electromechanical or robotic hardware.
• Experience across the full manufacturing value chain: DFM, tooling, process development, quality planning, and documentation.
• Hands-on experience building hardware: machining, fabrication, wiring, and assembly.
• Experience implementing quality control systems and driving root-cause/corrective action in production.
• Track record managing vendors and suppliers for manufacturing inputs and outsourced processes.
• Comfortable working with limited resources and tight timelines, standing the line up during early stage development.

Responsibilities

• Own the buildout and scale-up of a full assembly, QC, and manufacturing line for TAR's robotics hardware.
• Lead DFM reviews with engineering, driving upstream design changes to reduce cost and cycle times.
• Define and implement quality control processes and inspection criteria for all assembly stages.
• Design, select, and qualify tooling, fixtures, and test equipment for the line; work hands-on with technicians.
• Own root-cause analysis and corrective actions for build and field failures; feed fixes back to process and design.
• Manage supplier and vendor relationships for manufacturing inputs and outsourced processes.
• Build and document standard work, travelers, and training materials to scale with new hires.
• Partner with hardware engineering leadership to translate product roadmap into capacity and staffing plans.

Skills

Manufacturing engineer

DFM

Tooling & fixtures

Quality control

Root-cause analysis

Vendor management

Lean manufacturing

Tools

Machining

Fabrication

Test equipment

Job description

TAR’s mission is to power intelligence for the world. We are building the world’s first off-grid power plant for data centers powered by renewable technologies.

We firmly believe AI should be built in the US for the benefit of all people. For that, power must be fast, clean and scalable. We are singularly focused on delivering GW-scale power faster than anyone has ever done, by rethinking every layer of the stack.

We vertically integrate to solve every bottleneck, from racking systems to power electronics to dispatch algorithms to on-site construction.

Leave your mark on the future of civilization-scale energy infrastructure.

Company

TAR is both a hardware and software company, we are building out massive, critical, physical infrastructure. TAR is working directly with one of the largest compute providers to scale and deploy 5GWs by 2028.

• High ownership. High Agency. Own project end-to-end. Great people don’t need to be managed.
• Speed. We achieve great things on incredible timelines. We push ourselves to go faster.
• First principles. No ego. No hierarchy. Challenge every assumption.
• Passion. Solving the energy problem is one of the largest challenges that faces the world now and in the future.

About the role

TAR builds its own construction robots to install solar at gigawatt scale, co-designed with the racking system they put in the ground. Those machines have to be assembled to a repeatable standard and built to survive austere field conditions before they ship, and the line that produces them does not exist yet. As Lead Manufacturing Engineer, you own that line. You take TAR's robotics hardware from early low-rate production to a repeatable, higher-volume operation, owning DFM, tooling and fixtures, quality control, root-cause and corrective action, vendor management, and standard work along the way. This is a senior, hands-on role based at our San Francisco robotics facility, working shoulder to shoulder with the engineers and technicians who design and build the machines.

Responsibilities

• Own the buildout and scale-up of a full assembly, QC, and manufacturing line for TAR's robotics hardware, taking it from early low-rate production to a repeatable, higher-volume operation.
• Lead Design for Manufacturability reviews with engineering, driving design changes upstream that cut cost, assembly time, and failure modes before hardware reaches the line.
• Define and implement quality control processes and inspection criteria at each stage of assembly, ensuring hardware built for austere field conditions meets reliability and durability standards before it ships.
• Design, select, and qualify the tooling, fixtures, and test equipment needed to run the line, working hands-on with technicians to debug and refine processes in real time.
• Own root-cause analysis and corrective action for build and field failures, feeding fixes back into process and design to prevent recurrence.
• Manage supplier and vendor relationships for manufacturing inputs, materials, and outsourced processes, holding partners accountable for quality and schedule.
• Build and document standard work, process travelers, and training materials so the line scales with new hires without losing quality.
• Partner with hardware engineering leadership to translate the product roadmap into manufacturing capacity and staffing plans.

Qualifications

• 5-7+ years in manufacturing engineering, with direct experience standing up or scaling an assembly line for complex electromechanical or robotic hardware.
• Demonstrated experience across the full manufacturing value chain: DFM, tooling, process development, quality planning, and documentation.
• Hands-on experience personally building or assembling hardware, including machining, fabrication, wiring, and assembly, rather than process design from a desk alone.
• Experience implementing quality control systems and driving root-cause and corrective action in a production environment.
• Track record managing vendors and suppliers for manufacturing inputs and outsourced processes.
• Comfortable working with limited resources and tight timelines, standing the line up while it is still coming together rather than running one that already exists.

Nice to have

• Experience manufacturing hardware intended for austere, field, or defense-adjacent operating environments.
• Experience with robotics or complex electromechanical systems specifically, rather than general consumer electronics.
• Familiarity with Lean/Six Sigma or formal quality systems such as ISO or AS9100.
• Prior experience building a manufacturing team or line from near-zero, rather than improving one that already runs.