Prototype Operations Lead — Hardware & Manufacturing

The Consensus; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision

Housing subsidy for proximity

Relocation support

Daily meals in office

Unlimited compute budget

Job summary

Etched, a hardware innovator, seeks a leader to stand up and run a prototyping division inside a Milpitas/San Jose facility. You will own space planning, equipment selection, procurement, and the entire shop build-out including machine shop, sheet metal, assembly, and SMT lines.

You will hire and develop machinists and technicians, drive day-to-day operations, and implement robust systems for work intake, scheduling, quoting, inventory, and maintenance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering, or related field; or 4+ years of professional experience in manufacturing or prototype operations.
• 3+ years of experience in manufacturing, machine shop, or hardware prototyping operations.
• 2+ years of experience directly leading technicians, machinists, or manufacturing teams.
• Hands-on experience with CNC machining and/or sheet metal fabrication processes.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end stand-up of the prototyping division: space planning, equipment selection and procurement, facility improvements, permits, and commissioning of the machine shop, sheet metal cell, assembly area, and prototype SMT line.
• Hire, lead, and develop a team of machinists, fabricators, and assembly technicians.
• Run day-to-day operations against the division's core metric: same-day or next-day turnaround on prototype parts for engineering.
• Build the systems that make a shop run: work intake and prioritization, quoting, scheduling, traceability, inventory and vendor-managed consumables, and preventive maintenance.
• Own the division budget (capex and opex), make build-vs-buy calls, and manage relationships with machine dealers, riggers, and overflow vendors.
• Stand up quality infrastructure: first-article inspection, calibration program, cross-section/failure-analysis lab, and inspection criteria for incoming and in-process work.
• Partner daily with mechanical, electrical, and thermal engineering teams to close design-for-manufacturability feedback loops and pull schedules in.

Skills

Manufacturing operations

Team leadership

CNC machining

Sheet metal fabrication

Education

Bachelor's degree in mechanical/manufacturing/industrial engineering

Tools

CNC machinery

Job description

Etched, a hardware innovator, seeks a leader to stand up and run a prototyping division inside a Milpitas/San Jose facility. You will own space planning, equipment selection, procurement, and the entire shop build-out including machine shop, sheet metal, assembly, and SMT lines.

You will hire and develop machinists and technicians, drive day-to-day operations, and implement robust systems for work intake, scheduling, quoting, inventory, and maintenance.