Manufacturing Reliability Engineer (Based in Milwaukee; Relocation assistance available)

Grit Ventures; Milwaukee (WI); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Grit Ventures in Milwaukee, WI is seeking a Manufacturing Reliability Engineer to own production test for our robotics contract manufacturer. You will design and run end-to-end test protocols, provision fleets of robots for production, and own the KPIs that define production quality.

Collaborate across software, hardware, operations, and product engineering, travel as needed, relocation supported. On-site full-time role in the Milwaukee area.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in production/test engineering for complex electro-mechanical products (robotics, medical devices, consumer electronics, or similar).
• Proven ownership of end-to-end production test processes and provisioning at a contract manufacturer (on-site experience preferred).
• Deep familiarity with test protocol development: test specification writing, fixture design, automated test implementation, and validation.

Responsibilities

• End-to-end test process ownership from incoming inspection through final test and shipment.
• Provisioning of bots: imaging, firmware deployment, configuration, validation, and handoff to production.
• Own key production metrics — FPY, cycle time, test coverage — and drive improvements to meet throughput and quality targets.

Skills

5+ years experience in production/test

E2E production test ownership

Firmware provisioning & validation

Test protocol development

Data-driven KPIs & SPC

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Python

pytest

LabVIEW

Provisioning tooling

Job description

What we’re doing isn’t easy, but nothing worth doing ever is.

Diligent builds helpful robots that work safely and autonomously in real world environments. We move quickly, solve messy problems, and care deeply about reliability at scale. We’re hiring a Manufacturing Reliability Engineer to own production test for our robots at our contract manufacturer: you’ll design and run robust end-to-end test protocols, provision fleets of robots for production, and own the KPIs that define production quality.

This role is based in the Milwaukee, WI area and requires close collaboration across software, hardware, operations, and product engineering teams.

We welcome applicants from outside Milwaukee who are willing to relocate. Relocation assistance/bonus will be a part of compensation package.

Key Responsibilities

• End-to-end test process ownership. Create, validate, and maintain production test protocols and gating criteria from incoming inspection through final test and shipment.
• Provisioning of bots. Design and operate provisioning flows (imaging, firmware deployment, configuration, validation) and the tooling/fixtures needed to provision and handoff robots for production.
• KPIs and continuous improvement. Own key production metrics — First Pass Yield (FPY), cycle time, and test coverage — and drive continuous improvements to meet throughput and quality targets.
• Test automation & infrastructure. Architect, implement, and maintain automated test frameworks, harnesses, and test rigs used at the CM site. Ensure tests are stable, fast, and provide actionable failure data.
• Cross-functional escalation & RCA. Lead root-cause analysis for field and production failures; coordinate corrective actions with design, firmware, and CM engineering to close quality loops.
• On-site production leadership. Be the onsite technical authority at the contract manufacturer: train operators, debug failures on the line, and continuously refine processes with CM partners.

What Success Looks Like

• Improved FPY and reduced rework rates across production builds.
• Reduced per-unit cycle time for test/provisioning while increasing test coverage.
• Stable, fully automated provisioning flow with minimal manual intervention.

Basic Qualifications

• 5+ years experience in production/test engineering for complex electro-mechanical products (robotics, medical devices, consumer electronics, or similar).
• Proven ownership of E2E production test processes and production provisioning at a contract manufacturer (on-site experience strongly preferred).
• Deep familiarity with test protocol development: test specification writing, fixture design, automated test implementation, and validation.
• Strong hands‑on experience with firmware provisioning and validation for sensors and compute (sensor FW + compute/host FW).
• Broad technical knowledge across systems integration (ES integration), sensors (e.g., cameras, LiDAR, IMU or similar), embedded compute platforms, and networking/provisioning.
• Excellent debugging skills across hardware, firmware, and system software; able to triage complex cross‑domain failures.
• Strong data‑driven mindset: experienced with KPIs (FPY, cycle time, test coverage), statistical process control, and metrics reporting. Outstanding communication skills and experience working closely with contract manufacturers, operators, and cross‑functional engineering teams.
• Comfortable being onsite full‑time at a contract manufacturer and traveling as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with robotics stacks (ROS or equivalent) and robotic sensor calibration/test.
• Familiarity with manufacturing automation tools, CI for embedded systems, and test frameworks (Python, pytest, LabVIEW, or similar).
• Experience with provisioning large fleets (device identity, secure image signing, automated configuration).