Manufacturing Engineering Manager

Menlo Ventures; San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Skild AI in San Mateo, California is seeking a Manufacturing Engineering Manager to transition electromechanical hardware from prototype to repeatable production. You will lead assembly technicians and manufacturing engineers, own build execution, and scale manufacturing processes.

You will improve fixtures, documentation, and BOM governance, driving low-volume, high-complexity builds with close collaboration with design and engineering teams.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in manufacturing or NPI engineering for complex electromechanical hardware
• Experience taking a product from prototype into repeatable production
• Experience leading technicians and engineers, with a passion for mentorship
• Fluency with PLM and BOM systems and maintaining data trustworthiness
• Hands-on process development, fixture design, tooling selection

Responsibilities

• Deliver units against schedule, prioritizing part availability and build flow
• Lead assembly technicians and manufacturing engineers, guiding growth
• Reduce build hours via process design, fixturing, and better documentation
• Move new hardware from engineering release to producible builds with pilot runs
• Stand up required processes and fixtures for each platform
• Own work instructions and build documentation, update as designs evolve
• Optionally own BOM and production data layer, MBOM accuracy, data integration

Skills

Leadership

Manufacturing engineering

NPI engineering

Process development

Scripting for manufacturing data

Tools

PLM systems

BOM systems

Job description

Company Overview

At Skild AI, we are building the world's first general purpose robotic intelligence that is robust and adapts to unseen scenarios without failing. We believe massive scale through data-driven machine learning is the key to unlocking these capabilities for the widespread deployment of robots within society. Our team consists of individuals with varying levels of experience and backgrounds, from new graduates to domain experts. Relevant industry experience is important, but ultimately less so than your demonstrated abilities and attitude. We are looking for passionate individuals who are eager to explore uncharted waters and contribute to our innovative projects.

Position Overview

We are looking for a Manufacturing Engineering Manager to own the transition of our electromechanical robotics hardware from prototype into repeatable production. You will lead a team of assembly technicians and manufacturing engineers, own build execution against schedule, and take responsibility for bringing new hardware platforms into production. The core infrastructure — assembly stations, Kanban inventory, BOM architecture, and controlled work instructions — is already in place, and your job is to run it, improve it, and scale it.

Responsibilities

• Deliver units against schedule, owning sequencing around actual part availability, daily floor priorities, and the escalation path when a build stalls
• Lead and develop the assembly technicians and manufacturing engineers, setting the standards for quality and the path for people to grow
• Bring build hours down substantially through process design, fixturing, and improved documentation across our high-mix, high-complexity assembly
• Take new hardware platforms from engineering release into producible builds, running pilot builds and feeding manufacturability issues back to design with actionable specificity
• Stand up the processes and fixtures each new platform needs
• Own the controlled work instructions and build documentation the floor works from, keeping them current as designs change
• Depending on your strengths, may own the BOM and production data layer — part numbering discipline, MBOM accuracy, and the automation connecting engineering data to operations

Preferred Qualifications

• 7+ years in manufacturing or NPI engineering for complex electromechanical hardware, with meaningful time in low-volume, high-complexity production rather than high-volume line manufacturing
• Direct experience taking a product from prototype into repeatable production
• Experience leading technicians and engineers — formally or as a lead — with a real interest in doing it
• Fluency with PLM and BOM systems, and the judgment to keep BOM data trustworthy as designs move
• Hands‑on process development: fixture design, assembly method development, tooling selection
• Demonstrated ownership of work instructions and build documentation under revision control
• Comfort working closely with mechanical and electrical engineers, including holding a position on manufacturability when it is inconvenient
• Scripting for manufacturing data — Python, Apps Script, or REST integration work between engineering and operations systems — is a plus
• Wire harness fabrication and cable assembly experience is a plus
• Exposure to MES, serialization, or traceability systems is a plus
• Experience standing up manufacturing processes at a company doing it for the first time is a plus

Base Salary Range: $100,000—$300,000 USD