# Director of Manufacturing Operations & Factory

**Company:** [Orchard](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/orchard)
**Location:** San Francisco, CA
**Role:** Hardware Engineering
**Experience:** 8+ years
**Skills:** Manufacturing Engineering, Electromechanical Assembly, Procurement, Supplier Management, Inventory Management, Bill Of Materials, Production Planning, Erp/Mrp Systems, Manufacturing Quality, Process Control, Root-Cause Analysis, Tooling, Capacity Planning, Quality Assurance, Hardware Engineering
**Posted:** 2026-08-22

> Leads the buildout and operation of Orchard’s San Francisco factory for rugged electromechanical camera systems. The role owns production, technicians, supply chain, quality, capacity, and manufacturing performance while partnering with Hardware Engineering on production readiness and design-for-manufacturability.

## Job Description

## 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.

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