Mechanical Engineering Lead

Atomic Machines; Emeryville (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Atomic Machines in Emeryville, CA, seeks a Mechanical Engineering Lead to own the mechanical architecture for a Node or related subsystems in Mechanisms and Fluid Systems. You will drive design and delivery from concept through qualification, optimizing performance, throughput, and cost.

You’ll manage 1–4 engineers, participate in design reviews, work in the lab and machine shop, and mentor the team to grow ownership of design and execution.

Qualifications

• 8+ years developing complex integrated systems, including 3+ years leading technical work.
• Prior people-management experience is not required. You’ve led through your technical work by mentoring engineers, leading projects, or running design reviews.
• A record of mentoring engineers and helping them grow, and a genuine interest in hiring and developing people.
• Deep expertise in precision engineering, machine design, systems development, and the fundamentals to back it up.
• A record of delivering complete equipment from concept through qualification, documentation, repeatable builds, and sustained operation in production.
• Experience turning ambiguous requirements and new process physics into working machines with customer stakeholders and process engineers.
• Technical leadership: guiding technical direction, improving engineering tools and processes, and mentoring other engineers.
• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline, or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead mechanical engineering for a Node or related subsystems within Mechanisms and Fluid Systems.
• Manage 1–4 engineers while personally owning critical design and verification work.
• Participate in design reviews, the lab, and the machine shop; set architecture with peers and solve hard problems beside your team.
• Set clear priorities, give direct feedback, and develop engineers who can take increasing ownership of design and execution.
• Oversee Node performance, throughput, reliability, and cost through architectural definition and technical leadership.

Skills

Mechanical design

Leadership

Mentoring

Systems engineering

Root cause analysis

Education

B.S. in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

CAD

Finite element analysis

Job description

You’ll lead mechanical engineering for a manufacturing Node or a group of related subsystems within Mechanisms and Fluid Systems. The machines you develop will expand the Matter Compiler’s capabilities and determine which devices we can manufacture, at what throughput and cost. The work spans precision motion, workholding, precision fluid handling, thermal control, and multi-physics processes. Reporting to our Director of Engineering, you’ll own the mechanical architecture and engineering delivery of your Node or subsystems.

You’ll manage one to four engineers while personally owning critical design and verification work. You’ll be in design reviews, the lab, and the machine shop, digging into the physics, setting the architecture with your peers, and solving hard problems alongside your team. You’ll set clear priorities, give direct feedback, and develop engineers who can take increasing ownership of design and execution.

Our engineering leaders are deeply technical, accomplished engineers themselves, and involved in the details. Your team will develop, test, and deploy Nodes in our Hybrid Fab, accelerated by in-house labs and a machine shop. You’ll work with engineers ranging from multi-decade principals to brilliant early to mid-career talent. You’ll build alongside technical partners across device, process, AI, electrical, controls, software, and manufacturing engineering.

Problems You’ll Solve

• Deliver systems with performance capabilities at micron-to-submicron precision, enabling high-volume, high-mix combinatorial manufacturing capability.
• Develop systems capable of executing novel manufacturing processes to meet cutting-edge product requirements.
• Chart the roadmap from prototypes through qualification, repeatable machine builds and sustained operation supporting high-volume device production.

Build, Own, Drive

Build. You set the technical bar for your team, participate in interviews, and help hire engineers who strengthen it. You give feedback and develop engineers into stronger contributors and future leads.

Own. You hold responsibility for your team’s outcomes. You oversee Node performance, throughput, reliability, and cost through direct architectural definition and technical leadership. You uphold engineering standards and resolve root causes through analysis and test.

Drive. You set priorities for your team and own delivery of your assigned systems. You empower your engineers, lead by example through tough technical problems, and drive qualification against clear production-readiness criteria.

How We Work

• Fast learning loops. In-house robotics labs and our shop and build team let you validate machine designs early and iterate within weeks. Our Hybrid Fab supports device and process validation using your equipment.
• First principles over opinions. We decide through analysis, experiments, and open technocratic debate.
• System in the loop. Your machines produce devices for customers, so your work gets tested by physics and by the market.
• Forecasts grounded in evidence. We update plans and delivery forecasts as analysis, experiments, and machine builds reveal new information.

What You’ll Need

Experience designing and delivering complex mechanical equipment in one or more of the following areas:

• Precision mechanisms and robotic systems from concept to production release.
• Optical or optomechanical systems design and manufacturing.
• Fluid handling, dispensing, or electrochemical processing systems.

Ideally Your Background

• 8+ years developing complex integrated systems, including 3+ years leading technical work.
• Prior people-management experience is not required. You’ve led through your technical work by mentoring engineers, leading projects, or running design reviews.
• A record of mentoring engineers and helping them grow, and a genuine interest in hiring and developing people.
• Deep expertise in precision engineering, machine design, systems development, and the fundamentals to back it up.
• A record of delivering complete equipment from concept through qualification, documentation, repeatable builds, and sustained operation in production.
• Experience turning ambiguous requirements and new process physics into working machines with customer stakeholders and process engineers.
• Technical leadership: guiding technical direction, improving engineering tools and processes, and mentoring other engineers.
• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline, or equivalent experience.