Role: Manufacturing Process Engineer
Department: Manufacturing Engineering
Location: San Carlos / Hayward, CA
About the Team:The Flexible Assembly Manufacturing team owns a mechanically critical subsystem that enables NEO to move with precision and load-bearing reliability. We sit at the intersection of design, assembly, and quality - responsible for translating prototype builds into consistent, scalable production. Our work is directly on the critical path to shipping NEO, and we're growing to meet that demand.
Your Charter: As a Manufacturing Process Engineer at 1X, you will take assemblies from prototype through volume production. You'll design, optimize, and manage manufacturing processes coupled with mechanical design intent, optimizing for precision assembly and surface treatment, ensuring they are repeatable, cost-effective, and reliable. This is a hands-on role that directly impacts the quality and scalability of our manufacturing operations.
Key Outcomes:- Drive process improvements to reduce cycle time, increase first-pass yield, and improve consistency across product families
- Implement statistical process control (SPC) and quality monitoring for key parameters such as surface treatment uniformity, cure integrity, and mechanical performance
- Design and build custom production tooling to improve throughput, reduce operator variation, and enforce process rigor across the manufacturing line
- Develop and maintain manufacturing process documentation - work instructions, SOPs, control plans - that production supervisors can train to and hold the line accountable against
- Own manufacturing process definition through new product introduction (NPI), managing prototype builds, validation units, and production ramp phases
Key Competencies:- Hands-on process ownership: You walk the floor, identify what is broken, and implement fixes - designing new fixtures, updating work instructions, and resolving detailed production failures directly
- Consistency and variance reduction: You define processes tightly enough that a supervisor can train to them and enforce them without your direct involvement
- Cross-functional fluency: You collaborate effectively with design engineering on geometry, tolerances, and assembly strategies to ensure manufacturability at scale, and serve as technical liaison between design, assembly, finishing, and quality teams
- Manufacturing documentation discipline: You produce up-to-date work instructions, SOPs, control plans, and change management records as a core part of the job - not an afterthought
- Urgency with rigor: You move fast, own your work completely, and hold yourself to a high standard before anyone has to ask
Minimum Requirements:- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field
- Minimum 5 years of experience in manufacturing engineering or process development involving precision mechanical or electromechanical assemblies, including hands-on experience supporting production builds, process ramp, yield improvement, and manufacturing issue resolution
- Experience with PFMEA, control plans, process validation, or safety-critical manufacturing
- Experience designing production tooling and fixtures to improve process repeatability and operator ergonomics
- Strong experience in mechanical design and design for manufacturability (DFM) for flexible assemblies
Preferred Skills:- Hands-on experience with cable, fiber, or flexible component assembly processes
- Experience with adhesive joining based assembly, including cure validation and surface treatment application
- Experience with fiber-based or composite structures
- Familiarity with industrial surface treatment or coating systems
- Background in process validation for safety-critical or load-bearing assemblies
- Experience with surface preparation, coating, bonding, or adhesion-critical processes
- Familiarity with measurement and inspection techniques - dimensional checks, mechanical load testing, surface treatment measurement
- Knowledge of lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, or continuous improvement methodologies
- Proficiency with CAD tools, PLM/ERP systems, and manufacturing documentation
- Solid cross-functional collaboration skills across engineering, supply chain, QA, and production teams
- Exposure to high-mix or custom-order environments with frequent process iteration
What does a successful 1X Team Member look like:Team members at 1X who thrive here are builders. They move fast, own their work completely, and treat time like it's the one thing you can't get back - because it is. They say what they mean, finish what they start, and hold themselves to a standard before anyone has to ask. We push each other to be better, and we do it with honesty and respect.
