What We're Looking ForWe're looking for a Mechanical Shop & Lab Manager to own FAB1's machine shop, a fully equipped space with mills, lathes, laser cutters, welding equipment, and 3D printers that supports engineering and prototyping across the company. This is a hands-on, full-time role for someone who wants a shop to actually be theirs: maintaining the equipment, running point on tooling and consumables, and building a real training program so employees across the company can get certified on machines safely and confidently.
What You'll Do- Own the Space: Be the single point of accountability for the machine shop and lab - layout, organization, cleanliness, and day-to-day operations.
- Maintain the Equipment: Run preventive maintenance schedules, troubleshoot and repair machine issues, and manage relationships with service vendors and suppliers.
- Manage Tooling and Consumables: Track inventory, reorder consumables before they run out, and make purchasing decisions on new tooling and equipment.
- Formalize Training and Access: Help build structured trainings so employees can safely get checked out on mills, lathes, laser cutters, welding, 3D printing, and other equipment. Define who's allowed to use what, and enforce it.
- Set the Safety Standard: Establish and enforce shop safety protocols - PPE requirements, machine-specific safety procedures, emergency procedures - and keep the space compliant and audit-ready.
- Make the Shop Accessible: Act as the go-to resource for anyone in the company who wants to use the space, from experienced engineers to first-timers, and remove the friction that currently keeps people out.
- Support Projects: Develop functional electro-mechanical prototypes, fixture-building, and fabrication for active FAB1 projects when shop operations allow.
Qualifications- 3+ years of hands-on experience in a machine shop, fab shop, or similar environment.
- Deep working knowledge of mills, lathes, laser cutters, welding, and 3D printing - comfortable both operating and maintaining this equipment.
- Experience training others on shop equipment and safety procedures, or strong instinct for how to build that kind of program from scratch.
- Highly organized, with a track record of bringing structure to a space that didn't have it.
- Comfortable owning a space independently - this role has a lot of autonomy and needs someone who takes initiative rather than waiting for direction.
- Strong communicator who can set and hold boundaries on safety and access without being a bottleneck.
Nice to Have- Experience managing a shop, lab, or makerspace in an academic, startup, or industrial setting.
- Background in mechanical design or fabrication (can read drawings, build fixtures, support prototyping).
- Familiarity with tool/inventory management systems.
- OSHA or equivalent safety certification experience.
