WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FORWe are looking for a Director of Factory Engineering who will own the Microfactory-as-a-Product. You treat the factory itself as the product: a complex system of interacting subsystems, competing constraints, and cross-functional trade-offs. You've lived through the "zero-to-one" and "one-to-ten" phases of complex hardware products, stood up production systems from scratch (robotics cells, automated assembly lines, full manufacturing facilities), and built the processes and documentation that let the next team replicate what you did without starting from zero.
Your mechanical engineering foundation is what makes you credible in this role. You can still read a drawing and catch problems, and that fluency is what lets you make system-level trade-offs that hold up on the factory floor. But your day-to-day is no longer CAD. It's bringing clarity to complex cross-functional decisions, building the systems and processes that define how we engineer, and leading execution against business KPIs.
We value preparation over planning: we need a leader who builds systems resilient enough to handle real-world constraints, vendor failures, and shifting requirements without breaking the mission.
RESPONSIBILITIES- Facility Stand-up & Scaling: Lead the physical deployment of manufacturing sites, moving from initial concept to a fully operational, high-output facility.
- Playbook Ownership: Author and refine the "Microfactory Playbook," creating a repeatable, mechanical, and operational framework for nationwide expansion.
- Infrastructure Mastery: Manage complex mechanical and structural requirements, including floor loading, precision equipment leveling, and utility integration.
- Hands-on Problem Solving: Partner with factory production staff to run experiments, test new layouts, and drive incremental design changes on the floor.
- Vendor Ecosystem Management: Build and manage a resilient network of vendors, ensuring that rollout cycles aren't broken by supply chain failures or shifting requirements.
QUALIFICATIONS- 8+ Years of Experience: A proven track record in mechanical engineering with a significant focus on manufacturing build-outs and facility deployment.
- Mechanical Engineering Background: You likely started as a Principal Mechanical Engineer and moved into leadership because you enjoy the complexity of physical systems.
- "Zero-to-One" Experience: You have personally been on the ground for the birth of a new facility and understand the grit required to make it functional.
- Strategic Yet Hands-On: While you can define high-level technical standards, you are just as comfortable troubleshooting a mechanical failure on the factory floor.
- Resilient Mindset: We value preparation over planning. You build systems that are flexible enough to handle real-world rollout constraints without breaking the mission.
- Experience modeling Takt time, OEE, and throughput using first principles or simulation software (e.g., FlexSim, AnyLogic).
- Managed capital equipment procurement and contract negotiations exceeding $1M, including Factory and Site Acceptance Testing (FAT/SAT).
- Experience integrating industrial sensors, PLC-based hardware, and MES dashboards within production environments.
- Excellent communication and documentation skills
If you believe you have the skills to thrive in this role, we encourage you to apply-even if you don't meet 100% of the listed requirements. At this time, we are only considering candidates who are authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for current or future visa sponsorship.
