Production Technician

Dover; San Francisco, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Ulysses in San Francisco designs and builds autonomous underwater and surface vehicles. You will assemble, inspect, and test complete vehicles from subassemblies, working with engineers to solve build problems and improve repeatability.

Ownership is core: know what you are building, check your work, and leave clear records of parts, revisions, and test results. You’ll help turn early builds into scalable production with better tools and instructions.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience assembling, maintaining, or repairing mechanical or electromechanical hardware.
• Confident using hand tools, power tools, torque tools, and measuring equipment such as calipers.
• Able to read mechanical drawings, assembly instructions, and bills of materials, and follow test procedures accurately.
• Strong practical troubleshooting skills. You can explain what failed, what you checked, and where you need help.
• Careful workmanship and clear records. You catch mistakes, raise issues early, and take responsibility for the quality of your work.
• Comfortable working independently and alongside engineers as designs and production processes evolve.

Responsibilities

• Build robots: Assemble mechanical and electromechanical systems from drawings and instructions.
• Organise and manage inventory, keep the production space clean and traceable.
• Check fit, alignment, torque, cable routing, and seals; spot damaged parts or unclear instructions.
• Inspect parts and assemblies; run leak and functional tests and record results.
• Troubleshoot and perform repairs; work with engineering for design changes.
• Keep build records: revisions, serial numbers, build steps, test results, and rework notes.
• Prepare build kits, track parts, and keep tools and stations ready to maintain flow.
• Help develop fixtures and test setups to reduce build time and improve instructions.
• Provide feedback to engineers on difficult-to-assemble areas and improvements.

Skills

Hands-on hardware assembly

Tool proficiency

Reading drawings/BOMs

Troubleshooting

Documentation/record-keeping

Independent collaboration

Education

Trade school / Apprenticeship

Job description

About Us

Ulysses designs, manufactures, and operates autonomous surface and subsea vehicles for defense, commercial, and scientific missions. Our platform spans Mako (a modular autonomous underwater vehicle with 60-hour endurance), Leviathan (an autonomous surface mothership), and Kraken (an automated launch-and-recovery system).

Founded in 2023 and based in San Francisco, we've raised $48M from Andreessen Horowitz, Booz Allen Ventures, Harpoon Ventures, Pebblebed, and Lowercarbon Capital. We work with partners including the U.S. Navy, the Government of Australia, and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. We prototype in the shop, test on the water, and ship.

About the Role

You'll build the robots that go into the ocean. Starting with parts and subassemblies, you'll assemble, inspect, and test complete vehicles, working directly with engineers to solve build problems and make the next robot easier to produce.

The core of the job is ownership: know what you're building, check your work, and leave a clear record of what went into each robot. You'll help turn early builds into a production process that delivers reliable hardware at scale, improving the tools, fixtures, and instructions as you go.

What You'll Do

• Build robots: Assemble mechanical and electromechanical systems, including housings, seals, propulsion, batteries, sensors, and wiring, from drawings, bills of materials, and work instructions.

• Organisation and Inventory: Keep the production space organised (kitted, clean, ESD safe), manage component tracing and procurement.

• Get the details right: Check fit, alignment, fastener torque, cable routing, and seal installation. Spot damaged parts or unclear instructions before they become a problem in the water.

• nspect and test: Inspect incoming parts and completed assemblies; run leak checks and functional tests using documented procedures, and record the results.

• Troubleshoot and rework: Find the cause of assembly and test failures, carry out tests. Complete agreed repairs, and work with engineering when a problem needs a design change.

• Keep builds traceable: Record part revisions, serial numbers, build steps, test results, and rework so we know exactly what went into each vehicle.

• Keep production moving: Prepare build kits, track parts and consumables, flag shortages early, and keep tools and workstations organized and ready.

• Improve the process: Help develop assembly fixtures and test setups, improve work instructions, and suggest changes that reduce build time and prevent repeat mistakes.

• Feed learning back: Show engineers where a design is difficult to assemble, inspect, or service, and help prove out improvements on the next build.

• Documentation: Maintain build instructions, rework notes, and test procedures; feed recurring issues back to engineering.

Requirements

• Hands-on experience assembling, maintaining, or repairing mechanical or electromechanical hardware in manufacturing, robotics, automotive, aerospace, marine, or a similar setting.

• Confident using hand tools, power tools, torque tools, and measuring equipment such as calipers.

• Able to read mechanical drawings, assembly instructions, and bills of materials, and follow test procedures accurately.

• Strong practical troubleshooting skills. You can explain what failed, what you checked, and where you need help.

• Careful workmanship and clear records. You catch mistakes, raise issues early, and take responsibility for the quality of your work.

• Comfortable working independently and alongside engineers as designs and production processes evolve.

• We care about what you can build and how you approach problems. Relevant trade-school, apprenticeship, and substantial project experience count.

Nice-to-Haves

• Marine or subsea assembly, including O-rings, pressure housings, sealants, potting, or waterproof connectors.

• Cable harness assembly, connector crimping, basic soldering, and electrical checks with a multimeter.

• Leak or pressure testing, production acceptance testing, or environmental testing.

• Building jigs, fixtures, or simple test equipment.

• Digital build records, inventory systems, or manufacturing execution systems.

• Experience helping move hardware from prototypes into repeatable production.