Power Electronics Manufacturing Engineering Lead

Joby Aviation; Sacramento (CA); On-site; USD 142,000 - 195,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits

Paid time off

Healthcare benefits

401(k) with company match

Employee stock purchase plan (ESPP)

Disability & life insurance

Job summary

Joby Aviation is seeking a hands-on Manufacturing Engineering Lead in San Carlos, CA to ramp the EPU Inverter to high-rate production. You will own end-to-end manufacturing, lead equipment projects, and scale power electronics assembly with the Powertrain & Electronics ME team.

You’ll drive debottlenecks, mentor staff, and partner across Design, Quality, and Equipment to deliver a robust manufacturing system. This builder role demands precision, fast decisions, and a bias for action.

Qualifications

• Hands-on manufacturing engineering leadership with floor experience.
• Proven track record taking products from concept to pilot line to high-rate production.
• Experience with PFMEA, control plans, capability studies.
• Strong GD&T, tolerance stack-ups, fastening and fits.
• Experience with power electronics, electric motor assembly, or complex electro-mechanical assembly including tooling/fixtures/test equipment.
• Strong problem-solving and cross-functional collaboration.
• Detail-oriented with data-driven mindset.

Responsibilities

• Own EPU Inverter manufacturing end-to-end — in-house assembly and test, plus scale-up with manufacturing partners.
• Drive equipment projects with internal teams and external suppliers — specs, builds, buy-offs, and installs.
• Ramp line capacity to hit rate and program milestones — debottleneck, balance stations, and prove out throughput.
• Build the processes that make a fast team faster — clear interfaces with design, quality, and supply chain; no bureaucracy for its own sake.
• Report line readiness to leadership with data, not hand-waving.
• Mentor your direct team and influence efficiency across the broader org — lead by example, raise the bar everywhere you touch.
• Partner with Design on DFM and EC R s, with Quality on first-pass yield and defect reduction, and with the Equipment team on readiness milestones.
• Set clear deliverables, dates, and owners for the manufacturing team — and hold the line on the mOwn the tooling and equipment budget — build it, pressure-test it, and track spend against capability and rate.
• Launch the next-gen Inverter using the best proven manufacturing technologies and methods available — and put a power electronics platform into the air that no one has built before.

Skills

Power electronics experience

GD&T

Root-cause analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Mechanical fundamentals

Problem-solving

Data-driven decisions

Education

BS in Manufacturing/Mechanical Engineering or related field

Tools

PFMEA

Control plans

Capability studies

Job description

Joby Aviation is building the future of electric flight, and we need a hands-on Manufacturing Engineering Lead to ramp our Electric Propulsion Unit (EPU) Inverter to high-rate production and launch the next- gen Inverter. Based in San Carlos, CA, you'll own the line: standing up equipment, locking in processes, and scaling power electronics manufacturing alongside our Powertrain & Electronics ME team. This is a builder's role for an engineer who lives in the details — someone with deep mechanical and electrical fundamentals, real shop-floor instincts, and the pragmatism to make hard calls under aggressive timelines. You'll be on the floor with technicians one hour and solving hard problems alongside senior leaders the next . Decisions move fast here, and the work you do will show up in aircraft that fly.

Responsibilities

• Own EPU Inverter manufacturing end-to-end — in-house assembly and test, plus scale-up with manufacturing partners. You're the technical authority on how this product gets built.
• Drive equipment projects with internal teams and external suppliers — specs, builds, buy-offs, and installs — to deliver production-intent tooling on schedule
• Ramp line capacity to hit rate and program milestones — debottleneck, balance stations, and prove out throughput
• Build the processes that make a fast team faster — clear interfaces with design, quality, and supply chain; no bureaucracy for its own sak e
• Report line readiness to leadership with data, not hand-waving
• Mentor your direct team and influence efficiency across the broader org — lead by example, raise the bar everywhere you touch
• Partner with Design on DFM and EC R s, with Quality on first-pass yield and defect reduction, and with the Equipment team on readiness milestones
• Set clear deliverables, dates, and owners for the manufacturing team — and hold the line on the mOwn the tooling and equipment budget — build it, pressure-test it, and track spend against capability and rate
• Launch the next-gen Inverter using the best proven manufacturing technologies and methods available — and put a power electronics platform into the air that no one has built before

Required

• BS in Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or related field10 + years of manufacturing engineering experience , ideally including time on the floor
• Track record of taking multiple products from early concept (bench-top prototype ) through pilot line and high-rate production as the manufacturing lead — not just supporting someone else who di dHands-o n process development and validation experience (PFMEA, control plans, capability studies)
• Strong mechanical engineering fundamentals and the instinct to reach for first principles before reaching for a spec — GD&T, tolerance stack-ups, fastening, and fits should feel like second nature
• Experience with power electronics, electric motor assembly, or complex electro-mechanical assembly — including the tooling, fixturing, and test equipment that make them manufacturable
• Strong problem-solving instincts — root-cause first, blame never — and the cross-functional chops to land the fix
• Genuine appetite for the details — you'd rather walk the line and read the data than sit in a status meeting

Desired

• Experience leading engineering teams — hiring, coaching, and getting the best work out of a group of strong individual contributors
• Prior experience in a highly regulated industry (e.g., Aerospace, Automotive, Medical Devices)
• Familiarity with FAA Part 21 production approval or AS9100 quality systems

Compensation

Compensation at Joby is a combination of base pay and Restricted Stock Units (RSUs). The target base pay for this position is $141,900 - $195,200/yr. The compensation package will be determined by job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Joby also offers a comprehensive benefits package, including paid time off, healthcare benefits, a 401(k) plan with a company match, an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP), short-term and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, and more.

Additional Information

Joby Aviation is an equal opportunity employer.