Manufacturing Quality Engineer San Jose

Hark; San Jose, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Hark seeks a founding Quality Engineering leader to architect the quality strategy from the ground up, aligning design intent with manufacturing feasibility across disciplines. You will establish frameworks and systems to deliver hardware excellence and partner with Industrial Design, Product Design, and Supply Chain to ensure component quality at scale.

You will drive supplier quality audits, manage schedules and capex, and lead global engagements with significant travel to suppliers, shaping

Qualifications

• 5+ years leading quality engineering initiatives in high-volume consumer electronics manufacturing.
• Deep technical proficiency in GD&T, ASME Y14.5 drafting standards, process capability, and metrology design (CMM, OMM, Profilimetry, AOI).
• Proven track record scaling high-volume products through multiple ramp cycles.

Responsibilities

• Strategy & Process: Define, audit, and improve manufacturing quality systems, optimizing yields.
• Collaboration: Partner with Design and Manufacturing teams early to ensure manufacturability at scale.
• Supplier Partnership: Lead supplier selection and quality audits to verify format adherence to quality standards.
• Program Ownership: Manage quality schedules, capex, and operational requirements from architecture through ramp.
• Global Engagement: Drive on-site supplier quality improvements with 30-40% international travel.

Skills

Quality leadership

GD&T expertise

ASME Y14.5

Metrology design

Data analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Tools

CMM

Profilimetry

AOI

Job description

Hark is an artificial intelligence company building advanced, personalized intelligence. One that is proactive, multimodal, and capable of interacting with the world through speech, text, vision, and persistent memory.

We're pairing that intelligence with next-generation hardware to create a universal interface between humans and machines. While today's AI largely operates through chat boxes and decade-old devices, Hark is focused on what comes next: agentic systems that interact naturally with people and the real world.

To get there, we're developing multimodal models and next-generation AI hardware together - designed from the ground up as a single, unified interface for a new era of intelligent systems.

About the Role

As the founding member of the Quality Engineering function, you will architect our quality strategy from the ground up, establishing the frameworks and systems that define how Hark delivers hardware excellence. You will partner deeply with Industrial Design, Product Design, and Supply Chain teams to bridge the gap between design intent and manufacturing feasibility, ensuring every component meets both aesthetic and functional specifications.

Responsibilities

• Strategy & Process: Define, audit, and improve manufacturing quality systems, recommending process improvements to optimize yields.
• Collaboration: Partner with Design and Manufacturing teams early in the development cycle to audit processes and ensure product requirements are manufacturable at scale.
• Supplier Partnership: Lead supplier selection and quality audits to ensure our partners can inspect to Hark's rigorous quality standards.
• Program Ownership: Manage quality schedules, capex, and operational requirements from architecture through production ramp.
• Global Engagement: Drive on-site supplier quality improvements through regular collaboration (including 30-40% international travel to suppliers).

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience leading quality engineering initiatives in high-volume consumer electronics manufacturing.
• Deep technical proficiency in GD&T, ASME Y14.5 drafting standards, process capability, and metrology design (CMM, OMM, Profilimetry, AOI).
• Demonstrated success driving robust quality standards across varied manufacturing processes, such as CNC, Injection Molding, Stamping, and Compression Molding.
• Proven track record scaling high-volume products seamlessly through multiple ramp cycles.
• Bachelor's degree in engineering or a related field.

Bonus Qualifications

• Expertise in advanced metrology design, such as laser scanning, interferometry, photometry, or colorimetry.
• Proven track record driving module assembly quality, deep understanding of how individual part quality impacts the broader system.
• Experience with data analysis and visualization software packages.
• Proven track record using AI-driven tools to accelerate root cause analysis, predictive quality modeling, or workflow automation.

Compensation

The US base salary range for this full-time position is between $120,000 - $300,000 annually.

The pay offered for this position may vary based on several individual factors, including job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package may also include additional components/benefits depending on the specific role. This information will be shared if an employment offer is extended.