Head of Manufacturing Engineering Automation & Controls

Responsibilities

• Build, lead, and develop the Manufacturing Engineering organization from new product introduction through high-volume manufacturing.
• Define the manufacturing engineering strategy, technical roadmap, organizational structure, and capabilities needed for production growth.
• Partner with Design Engineering, Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, Test Engineering, and Product teams on manufacturability, automation, testability, and scale.
• Establish manufacturing standards, design reviews, equipment specifications, process qualification methods, and production-readiness criteria.
• Lead the architecture, development, deployment, commissioning, and lifecycle management of automated manufacturing equipment and production systems.
• Build capabilities in controls engineering, PLC programming, industrial robotics, motion control, machine vision, industrial networking, sensors, servo systems, safety systems, and automated material handling.
• Establish automation and controls standards for rapid equipment deployment, support, replication, and scaling.
• Develop strategies for manual, semi-automated, and fully automated manufacturing based on production rate, process capability, economics, and product maturity.
• Establish equipment development processes covering requirements, design reviews, FAT/SAT, commissioning, process validation, and production acceptance.
• Manage relationships with external automation integrators and equipment suppliers while developing critical capabilities internally.
• Connect manufacturing equipment with MES, traceability, quality, and factory data systems.
• Develop automated collection and analysis of process parameters, equipment states, cycle times, downtime, quality results, and genealogy.
• Use manufacturing data to identify process drift, predict failures, improve yield, and accelerate root-cause analysis.

Requirements

• 12+ years of experience in manufacturing engineering, automation engineering, controls engineering, equipment engineering, or related disciplines.
• 5+ years leading engineering organizations responsible for manufacturing systems or factory automation.
• Experience scaling complex electromechanical products into high-volume production.
• Experience in aerospace, automotive, robotics, industrial automation, electronics, battery, semiconductor, or another highly engineered manufacturing environment; aerospace experience strongly preferred.
• Deep understanding of manufacturing automation and controls, including several of the following: PLC and industrial controls architectures, robotics and robotic cells, servo and motion-control systems, machine vision, industrial networking and communications, sensors and instrumentation, automated test and inspection, machine safety systems, SCADA/HMI systems, and manufacturing equipment software.
• Experience developing custom production equipment from concept through production deployment.
• Experience developing capital equipment strategies and managing significant CapEx programs.
• Strong understanding of DFM/DFA and the ability to influence product architecture to enable manufacturing scale and automation.
• Experience with configuration management, traceability, process control, and quality systems.
• Ability to recruit, develop, and lead multidisciplinary technical organizations.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechatronics, Robotics, or a related technical field.

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience scaling aerospace or similarly complex hardware from low-rate initial production to hundreds or thousands of units per month.
• Experience building an automation and controls engineering function from the ground up.
• Experience designing manufacturing systems for complex electromechanical products involving mechanical assemblies, electronics, motors, sensors, batteries, or composites.
• Familiarity with AS9100 and other aerospace manufacturing and quality frameworks.
• Experience with MES, equipment connectivity, manufacturing data infrastructure, and Industry 4.0 architectures.
• Experience with automated inspection, machine vision, robotic assembly, dispensing, fastening, material handling, or automated test systems.
• Experience developing standardized automation platforms replicated across multiple production lines or factories.
• Experience in fast-growth hardware organizations where product design and manufacturing systems evolve simultaneously.
• Master's degree in an engineering discipline or equivalent technical experience.

Compensation & Benefits

• Annual base salary: $196,000-$257,000.
• Equity in the form of stock options.
• Comprehensive health insurance plans.
• Paid vacation, sick leave, holiday pay, and 401(k) savings plan.
• Relocation assistance may be available for eligible roles.
• FAA Part 107 certification within the first 60 days is strongly encouraged and required for certain positions.