Physical AI Lab Manager

Inabia Software & Consulting Inc.; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Part time

Job summary

Inabia Solutions & Consulting, Inc. seeks an experienced Physical AI Lab Manager to launch and operate a new Physical AI lab in Boston. This role will organize the facility, keep it safe and well-equipped, and support daily engineering activities in a fast-moving environment.

The Lab Manager will coordinate cross-team schedules, manage equipment availability and calibration, and maintain inventories and safety documentation. Onsite five days per week in Boston is required.

Qualifications

• Five or more years of experience managing lab operations in hardware R&D, robotics, or advanced-manufacturing.
• Hands-on familiarity with lab equipment used in physical AI/robotics labs, including test benches, oscilloscopes, power supplies, soldering stations, 3D printers, and prototype testing gear.
• Experience coordinating equipment maintenance, calibration, and repair activities.
• Experience with inventory-management systems, equipment-tracking tools, and procurement workflows.
• Strong organizational and process-management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple workstreams, schedules, priorities, and dependencies.
• Ability to work directly with engineers to understand lab, equipment, and testing requirements.
• Willingness to raise concerns and push back constructively when schedules or lab configurations are not feasible or safe.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to write clear operating procedures, runbooks, safety documentation, and escalation summaries.
• Ability to work onsite in Boston five days per week.

Responsibilities

• Manage daily lab operations, including opening procedures, readiness checks, issue resolution, and end-of-day handoffs.
• Identify and resolve issues that could delay engineering, testing, or prototype development activities.
• Coordinate lab schedules across engineering workstreams while balancing priorities.
• Identify scheduling conflicts early and recommend practical alternatives.
• Manage equipment availability, calibration schedules, and preventive maintenance cycles.
• Maintain inventories of components, consumables, tools, and lab equipment.
• Manage replenishment activities, vendor coordination, and procurement requests.
• Serve as primary onsite contact for hardware, software, validation, and program-management teams.
• Develop and maintain the lab operations playbook, SOPs, escalation paths, safety protocols, and lab standards.
• Support onboarding of new team members with lab orientation, tool training, access coordination, and safety-certification tracking.
• Collaborate with facilities, IT, procurement, and engineering to resolve infrastructure and equipment issues with minimal disruption.
• Communicate lab constraints, equipment concerns, and risks clearly to stakeholders.
• Prepare the lab for prototype builds, integration sprints, testing campaigns, and other milestones.
• Ensure equipment, tooling, components, software, and workspace configurations are ready before activities.
• Track lab capacity, equipment status, scheduling conflicts, and readiness risks for leadership.
• Establish and enforce lab safety procedures.
• Support electrical-safety, handling of prototype hardware, equipment operation, and regulatory requirements.
• Review workflows, identify bottlenecks, and propose improvements to throughput and reduce rework.
• Maintain accurate operation records, equipment logs, calibration records, and safety documentation.

Skills

Lab operations

Hardware labs

Inventory management

Procurement workflows

Safety compliance

Communication

Onsite coordination

Education

Electrical engineering background

Tools

Test benches

Oscilloscopes

Power supplies

Soldering stations

3D printers

Prototype testing equipment

Job description

Employer: Inabia Solutions & Consulting, Inc.
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Work Arrangement: Onsite, five days per week
Employment Type: Contract, W-2
Compensation: Competitive compensation
Work Authorization: U.S.Citizen or Green Card

About Inabia

Inabia Solutions & Consulting, Inc. is seeking an experienced Physical AI Lab Manager to support the launch and ongoing operation of a new Physical AI lab in Boston. This environment brings together robotics research, advanced hardware, and engineering teams working to improve how intelligent machines interact with the physical world.

The Lab Manager will serve as the operational backbone of the facility. This person will keep the lab organized, safe, properly equipped, and ready for daily engineering activities. The position requires strong operational discipline, technical familiarity, and the ability to work effectively in a fast-moving environment where priorities may change quickly.

Responsibilities

Daily Lab Operations

• Manage daily lab operations, including opening procedures, readiness checks, issue resolution, and end-of-day handoffs.
• Identify and resolve issues that could delay engineering, testing, or prototype-development activities.
• Coordinate lab schedules across multiple engineering workstreams while balancing competing priorities.
• Identify scheduling conflicts early and recommend practical alternatives.
• Manage equipment availability, calibration schedules, and preventive-maintenance cycles.
• Maintain accurate inventories of components, consumables, tools, and lab equipment.
• Manage replenishment activities, component deliveries, vendor coordination, and procurement requests.

Onsite Coordination

• Serve as the primary onsite contact for hardware, software, validation, and program-management teams.
• Develop and maintain the lab operations playbook, including operating procedures, escalation paths, safety protocols, and lab standards.
• Support the onboarding of new team members, including lab orientation, tool training, access coordination, and safety-certification tracking.
• Work with facilities, IT, procurement, and engineering teams to resolve infrastructure and equipment issues with minimal disruption.
• Communicate lab constraints, equipment concerns, and operational risks clearly to the appropriate stakeholders.

Lab Readiness and Execution

• Prepare the lab for prototype builds, integration sprints, testing campaigns, and other major engineering milestones.
• Confirm that required equipment, tooling, components, software, and workspace configurations are ready before scheduled engineering activities.
• Track and communicate lab capacity, equipment status, scheduling conflicts, and readiness risks to engineering leaders and technical program managers.
• Establish, document, and enforce lab safety procedures.
• Support electrical-safety practices, prototype-hardware handling, equipment operation, and applicable regulatory requirements.
• Review lab workflows, identify bottlenecks, and recommend changes that improve throughput and reduce delays or rework.
• Maintain accurate operational records, equipment logs, calibration records, and safety documentation.

Required Qualifications

• Five or more years of experience managing lab operations in a hardware research and development, robotics, or advanced-manufacturing environment.
• Hands-on familiarity with equipment commonly used in physical AI, robotics, or hardware-development labs, including:
  • Test benches
  • Oscilloscopes
  • Power supplies
  • Soldering and rework stations
  • 3D printers
  • Prototype-development and testing equipment
• Experience coordinating equipment maintenance, calibration, and repair activities.
• Experience using inventory-management systems, equipment-tracking tools, and procurement workflows.
• Strong organizational and process-management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple workstreams, schedules, priorities, and operational dependencies.
• Ability to work directly with engineers and understand their lab, equipment, and testing requirements.
• Willingness to raise concerns and push back constructively when schedules, requests, or lab configurations are not feasible or safe.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to write clear operating procedures, runbooks, safety documentation, and escalation summaries.
• Ability to work onsite in Boston five days per week.

Preferred Qualifications

• Educational or professional background in electrical engineering, mechatronics, robotics, mechanical engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Experience establishing a new lab or significantly expanding an existing facility.
• Experience with equipment procurement, lab-layout planning, infrastructure coordination, and operational-process design.
• Familiarity with Environmental Health and Safety requirements in a research, robotics, or prototype-hardware environment.
• Previous experience working for a large technology company, robotics organization, advanced research team, or Physical AI startup.
• Experience supporting prototype builds, hardware integration, validation testing, or engineering test campaigns.

What a Typical Day May Include

You may begin the morning by completing the lab-readiness checklist before the first engineering sprint. If a test bench reports an overnight error, you will review the logs, determine whether the issue involves calibration or equipment failure, and coordinate a resolution before the hardware team needs the station.

Later, you may work with a technical program manager to schedule an integration session, identify a conflict involving the motion-capture system, and recommend alternative testing windows. Your afternoon could include processing a component delivery, updating the inventory system, coordinating with a vendor, and revising a safety procedure with the Environmental Health and Safety team.

Before leaving, you will complete a final lab walkthrough, confirm that equipment has been properly powered down, and document any issues requiring attention the following morning.

Work Environment

This is a hands-on, onsite role in a fast-moving Physical AI and robotics environment. The Lab Manager must be comfortable working around prototype hardware, electrical equipment, engineering tools, and changing project requirements.

The position may require standing, walking throughout the lab, moving equipment or components, and responding quickly to operational issues.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Inabia Solutions & Consulting, Inc. is an equal-opportunity employer. Employment decisions are based on job-related qualifications, experience, and business requirements without unlawful discrimination.