Director of Manufacturing Operations & Factory

Responsibilities

• Design, launch, and operate Orchard’s San Francisco factory for rugged AI-powered camera systems.
• Develop assembly processes, production flow, work instructions, fixtures, tooling, test stations, safety policies, and production schedules.
• Translate commercial forecasts into capacity, labor, supply chain, purchasing, and production plans.
• Hire, train, schedule, and manage electromechanical assembly technicians.
• Purchase components, manage suppliers, track lead times and inventory, anticipate shortages, and ensure materials are available for builds.
• Establish incoming, in-process, and final quality assurance, testing, build records, traceability, and defect-resolution processes.
• Partner with Hardware Engineering on BOMs, design changes, new-product introduction, and design-for-manufacturing improvements.
• Own manufacturing cost, throughput, first-pass yield, rework, and other production KPIs.
• Ensure systems are built, tested, documented, serialized, packaged, and ready for deployment.

Requirements

• 5–7 years of experience in manufacturing engineering, manufacturing operations, production, or a related hardware field.
• Experience building or scaling production for complex electromechanical products.
• Experience leading technicians while remaining hands-on with assembly, tooling, inventory, and production processes.
• Experience with procurement, suppliers, inventory, BOMs, production planning, and ERP/MRP systems.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing quality, documentation, process control, and root-cause analysis.
• Hands-on mechanical and electrical intuition.
• Strong ownership, organization, problem-solving, safety, quality, documentation, and delivery standards.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with rugged electronics, robotics, automotive, industrial equipment, or other field-deployed hardware.

Compensation & Benefits

• Full-time role, five days a week at the San Francisco office/factory.
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage with 100% of employee premiums covered.
• Opportunity to build Orchard’s factory and manufacturing organization from the ground up.
• Occasional late evenings or weekend work may be required.