Senior Hardware Quality Manager

Overview

This is a rare opportunity to become Copper’s first dedicated hardware quality leader, owning end-to-end quality across suppliers, manufacturing, new products, and the field as the company scales production and partners with world-class manufacturers. Reporting to the Director of Manufacturing, this role has real authority and visibility, with the mandate to build practical quality systems from scratch while working closely with engineering, operations, and external partners in the US and abroad China.

This is a hands‑on role which will also shape how quality decisions are made and setting the bar for how Copper scales without sacrificing product excellence. Success in this role means moving the company from reactive firefighting to predictable, high‑quality execution, while laying the foundation for a quality team that grows with the business.

We value a diverse workplace, and are assembling our team to match these values at this early stage. We especially welcome different backgrounds, experiences, abilities, and perspectives, and strongly encourage people of all ethnic backgrounds and genders to apply.

• Own end-to-end hardware quality across all pillars (supplier, NPI, factory/assembly, field, and customer quality), serving as Copper’s single point of accountability for quality outcomes.
• Build and operate core quality systems from scratch, including inspections, defect and deviation tracking, SCARs, serialization, and change control, personally owning their design and early execution.
• Drive supplier and CM quality performance, working directly with overseas suppliers and US manufacturing partners to identify issues, implement corrective actions, and prevent recurrence.
• Lead assembly and production quality execution, personally identifying and closing assembly quality gaps, enforcing training procedures, and ensuring ECOs are correctly implemented on the factory floor (in close partnership with manufacturing and engineering).
• Own field quality and failure analysis, personally connecting DOAs, RMAs, and customer complaints back to root cause and corrective action across engineering, suppliers, and manufacturing.
• Partner closely with engineering on NPI and sustaining quality, sharing responsibility for design‑for‑quality decisions while personally owning quality readiness, risk assessment, and handoff to production.
• Establish and maintain strong quality relationships with partners, setting up regular quality reviews, clear escalation paths, and trusted points of contact with suppliers and CMs.
• Lay the groundwork for a future quality team, defining roles, identifying when additional support is needed, and mentoring contractors or future hires as the organization scales.

• 7-10 years of experience running quality functions for electromechanical or energy storage products, with 4+ years in start‑up environments.
• End-to-end hardware quality ownership across supplier, NPI, factory/assembly, field failures, and customer quality.
• Ability to build core quality systems from scratch (inspections, defect tracking, deviations, SCARs, serialization, change control).
• Proven supplier and CM leadership, including overseas partners, driven through influence and follow‑through.
• Strong root cause and corrective action discipline (5 Whys, fishbones, sustained fixes).
• Broad hardware manufacturing knowledge (mechanical, cosmetic, electrical, PCBA-related defects).
• Assembly execution focus, including training manufacturing and supply partners, ECO implementation, and reducing escapes.
• Field‑to‑factory feedback loops, turning RMAs and complaints into corrective action.
• Clear documentation and cross‑functional communication skills to align engineering, ops, and partners.
• Sound judgment under pressure, balancing speed, rigor, and risk.
• Ownership and leadership potential to grow Copper’s quality function over time.

This is a full‑time position and it is expected to be in‑office 4 days per week with 1 day flexible for in‑office or remote work. We anticipate travel for this role as high as 50%. Our office is located in Berkeley, CA.

The salary range for this role is…