Prototype-to-Production Leader, Hardware Operations

Heron Power Inc.; Scotts Valley (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Heron Power Inc. is seeking an experienced hardware manufacturing program leader to own the transition from prototype builds to volume production. You will lead the pilot technician team and define the program-level processes converting designs into buildable hardware on a factory floor.

You will work across design, manufacturing engineering, supply chain, and quality to ensure readiness, manage risk, and drive continuous improvement in a fast-growing hardware startup environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in a technical field; equivalent experience considered.
• 7+ years in NPI, prototype build, or manufacturing eng in hardware.
• 2–3+ years leading a technician or build team.
• Experience taking prototypes to production with ramp-to-volume.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end build program execution for prototypes and early engineering builds, including schedule, resourcing, and readiness gates.
• Build and lead the pilot technician team, scaling structure and career paths as volume grows.
• Serve as cross-functional glue across design, manufacturing, supply chain, quality, and EPMs to keep builds aligned.
• Maintain build readiness plans: track part availability, tooling, and open engineering changes.
• Own manufacturing transition to production plant; define production readiness for each process.
• Coordinate engineering change cutovers; track configuration and serial-number effectivity.
• Own master build schedule and risk mitigation; address long-lead components and contingencies.
• Monitor yield and drive root-cause/corrective-action resolutions.
• Maintain dashboards and KPI reporting on build health, delivery, and readiness for execs.
• Identify cost and process improvements; lead trade-off discussions for savings.
• Partner with manufacturing engineering to ensure a smooth scale-up as the company grows.

Skills

NPI leadership

Prototype to production

Cross-functional coordination

On-floor leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical/Electrical/Industrial Engineering or related field

Tools

Jira

Confluence

Job description

Heron Power Inc. is seeking an experienced hardware manufacturing program leader to own the transition from prototype builds to volume production. You will lead the pilot technician team and define the program-level processes converting designs into buildable hardware on a factory floor.

You will work across design, manufacturing engineering, supply chain, and quality to ensure readiness, manage risk, and drive continuous improvement in a fast-growing hardware startup environment.