Senior Prototyping Lab Manager

Walden Robotics, Inc.; Cambridge (MA); Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Walden Robotics, Inc. in Cambridge, MA is seeking a senior machinist and fabricator to stand up and run a prototyping lab. You will own the equipment, tooling, and material stock, enabling rapid prototype builds and test fixtures that engineers depend on daily.

You will lead a hands-on lab, owning machining, 3D printing, laser cutting, and safety programs while mentoring technicians and engineers as the team grows with the company.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in a machine shop or fabrication lab.
• Able to read drawings and GD&T to tight tolerances.
• Hands-on with rapid prototyping equipment: 3D printing, laser cutting.
• Experience running a shop end to end: procurement, inventory, safety programs.
• Mentor technicians and engineers on shop practice.

Responsibilities

• Own the prototyping lab end to end: stand up capability, benches, storage, workflows, and run day-to-day operations.
• Run CNC and manual milling/turning with fixed setups, fixturing, and tooling selection.
• Maintain 3D printers, materials, and consumables for prototypes and production runs.
• Fabricate, modify, and kit parts from engineering drawings with tight tolerances.
• Specify, procure, install, and maintain equipment across machining, 3D printing, laser cutting, and inspection.
• Establish and own lab safety: training, procedures, and readiness; coordinate with Facilities.
• Own lab inventory and stock, audits, and reordering; coordinate with Inventory & Procurement on robot BOM parts.
• Partner with hardware engineering to schedule access, mentor teams, and grow the prototyping lab as the company scales.

Skills

ProtoTRAK CNC

Manual milling

3D printing

GD&T

Shop safety

Team mentorship

Tools

CNC machines

3D printers

Laser cutter

Measuring tools

Job description

We're seeking a senior machinist and fabricator to stand up and run our prototyping lab: a working machine shop and rapid prototyping space spanning CNC and manual milling and turning, 3D printing across FDM, and industrial resin, and laser cutting. You will own the equipment, tooling, and materials in it, and put precision parts in engineers' hands fast. Hardware engineering and robot operations depend on this space daily for prototype builds, testing, repair, and refurbishment, and you will be the person who keeps that work moving. This is a hands‑on senior role for a machinist first and an operations leader second, someone who wants to grow both the lab and the team that runs it as the company scales.

Core Responsibilities

• Own the prototyping lab end to end: stand up initial machining capability, benches, storage, and workflows, and run the space day to day so hardware engineering and robot operations stay unblocked.
• Run the machine shop-CNC and manual milling and turning (toolroom mill and lathe, vertical machining center, turning center), saws, drill press, and tapping-owning your own setups, work holding, fixturing, and tooling selection.
• Run and maintain 3D printers, materials, and consumables, rapidly producing complex parts of ruse in robot prototypes and near-term production runs
• Fabricate, modify, and kit parts for prototype builds, repairs, and test fixtures, working from engineering drawings, holding tolerances, and inspecting your own work.
• Specify, procure, install, and maintain equipment across machining, 3D printing, laser cutting, electronics assembly, and inspection, and own machine maintenance, tooling, and material stock.
• Establish and own lab safety: standards, machine-specific training and checkout, operating procedures, incident response, and ongoing readiness, including who is qualified to run which machine.
• Partner with Facilities on lab space planning, buildouts, and utilities - power, compressed air, ventilation, and fume and dust extraction - and own the EHS programs that run inside the lab, including chemical and flammables storage, hazardous waste streams (coolant, cutting oils, solvents, resin and IPA), and readiness for inspections and audits.
• Own lab inventory - tooling, raw material stock, consumables, and robot operations equipment - including audits, stock levels, location tracking, and reorder points, partnering with Inventory & Procurement on anything that touches robot BOM parts.
• Partner across hardware engineering and robot operations to schedule shop and lab access, turn recurring parts and equipment failures into design and process feedback, mentor engineers and technicians on shop practice and design for fabrication, and hire, train, and manage prototyping technicians as the lab scales.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years in a machine shop, prototype shop, or fabrication lab, including hands-on CNC and manual machining of precision electromechanical parts.
• Able to run conversational CNC controls (ProtoTRAK or similar), program from drawings or CAD, and own setups, fixturing, work holding, and tooling selection without support.
• Fluent reading engineering drawings and GD&T, holding tight tolerances, and inspecting your own work with calipers, micrometers, gauges, and comparable inspection equipment.
• Hands-on experience with rapid prototyping equipment, including 3D printing (FDM, resin, and/or composite) and laser cutting.
• Experience setting up or running a shop or lab end to end: equipment procurement, maintenance, tooling and material inventory, and safety programs.
• Experience training, mentoring, or supervising technicians and engineers on shop equipment, and comfort owning who is authorized to operate what.