About the roleAs Head of Manufacturing at Gatik, you will lead the strategy and execution for scaling production of our fully autonomous freight vehicles into high-volume manufacturing. This role owns end-to-end vehicle manufacturing operations - including production ramp and optimization, quality systems, supply chain execution, and field retrofit programs - ensuring world-class reliability, safety, and operational performance across our commercial fleet.
You will build and lead a high-performing team of engineers and technicians while partnering closely with internal hardware and fleet operations teams, as well as external contract manufacturing partners, to implement repeatable, cost-efficient, and scalable production processes for a safety-critical platform already deployed in active commercial operations.
The ideal candidate brings deep experience in automotive manufacturing, hardware production scaling, quality systems, and contract manufacturing operations within complex vehicle or robotics platforms.
This role requires working onsite five days a week from our Santa Clara, CA headquarters.
What you'll do- Lead vehicle manufacturing operations across production ramp and high-volume execution for Gatik's autonomous freight fleet.
- Own relationships with external contract manufacturing partners, driving quality, throughput, cost optimization, and schedule performance.
- Own factory floor planning, line layout, and production process optimization to ensure efficient throughput, space utilization, and overall manufacturing flow.
- Develop and execute long-term manufacturing and quality strategies, establishing scalable production systems aligned with regulatory and safety standards.
- Lead field retrofit and upgrade programs for vehicles already in operation, coordinating service, engineering, and manufacturing teams.
- Support critical service & maintenance escalations, ensuring rapid response for complex hardware repairs or recalls.
- Define and enforce build documentation, manufacturing procedures, and quality processes using automotive industry best practices.
- Establish best-in-class standards for the installation, integration, and verification of automotive electronics, harnessing, compute platforms, sensors, and electrical subsystems.
- Partner cross-functionally with Autonomy Engineering, Hardware Engineering, Programs, Fleet Operations, Supply Chain, and Safety to bring vehicles from design into reliable production.
- Drive continuous improvement across cost, yield, cycle time, reliability, and field performance metrics.
What we're looking for- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Mechanical, Electrical, Robotics, or a closely related discipline.
- 10+ years of progressive manufacturing experience, with demonstrated leadership in scaling vehicle or complex hardware production environments.
- Proven leadership experience building and running manufacturing organizations within automotive, EV, AV, robotics, or complex hardware platforms.
- Demonstrated success developing and executing manufacturing and quality strategies that enable scale and operational reliability.
- Deep experience managing contract manufacturing partners and multi-vendor production networks.
- Hands-on background with vehicle electronics integration, harnessing, sensor mounting, and subsystem verification.
- Strong track record leading Quality teams and establishing robust quality management systems.
- Ability to drive cost improvement, efficiency gains, and production scalability.
- Solid project leadership experience managing builds, retrofits, NPI efforts, and manufacturing ramp programs.
- Experience operating at a senior strategic level while remaining hands-on in execution.
- Strong technical understanding of:
- Automotive manufacturing processes
- Electrical/compute hardware integration
- Vehicle assembly and verification procedures
- Safety-critical production environments
Salary Range - $200,000- $270,000
