Director of Manufacturing Engineering

Job Title:
Director of Manufacturing Engineering

Location:
San Francisco, CA - Onsite

DIRECTOR - MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING

ABOUT THE ROLE:

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Engineering Director to lead all manufacturing engineering functions at a modern electronics manufacturing facility specializing in server assembly, box build, and rack-level integration and testing. This role will own cross-functional engineering activities across Product Engineering, Test Development, Manufacturing Engineering, New Product Introduction (NPI), Design Engineering, Equipment Maintenance to drive operational excellence, scalability, and innovation.
This is a foundational leadership role in a newly developed flagship manufacturing site-offering a unique opportunity to build and shape the engineering organization as part of a broader initiative to create a next-generation model factory.

WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING:

• Leadership & Strategy
Establish, lead, and scale a multi-disciplinary engineering team supporting full product lifecycle and factory operations
Lead and mentor engineering teams across product, test, manufacturing, and maintenance functions.
Develop and implement the site's engineering strategy to support production, innovation, quality, and scalability goals
Drive a culture of ownership, continuous improvement, and technical excellence
Serve as the primary technical authority for engineering decisions on site.

• Manufacturing & Process Engineering
Own process design, optimization, and control for servers and rack level assembly/test
Implement lean manufacturing principles, PFMEA, continuous improvement initiatives and standardization
Oversee equipment selection, layout planning, and capacity modeling

New Product Introduction (NPI)
Manage site-level industrialization of new products: from engineering builds to full ramp.
Coordinate engineering readiness (tooling, process, test, training) for each phase gate.
Interface with customer engineering teams and Program Management on schedules and deliverables.

• Product & Design Engineering
Partner with OEMs/customers and internal teams to ensure manufacturability (DfM/DfT/DFAA), serviceability, and cost-optimization of server and rack-level products
Drive closed-loop feedback from manufacturing and test data back into product design.

• Test Development & Automation
Lead development and deployment of server-level and rack-level test systems (functional, burn-in, stress, and diagnostics).
Ensure traceability, yield monitoring, and root-cause analysis systems are robust and scalable.
Support the transition to automated test platforms and data-driven quality systems.

• Equipment Maintenance
Implement preventive and predictive maintenance systems across all key production and test assets
Ensure uptime, calibration, and health monitoring of critical production and test equipment including automation solutions

• Factory Automation & Innovation
Identify opportunities for production automation and digital transformation across production lines
Collaborate with internal R&D and Product teams to evaluate, pilot, and scale automation solutions - robotics, autonomous material movement, vision systems, and data-driven process controls

• Cross-Functional Collaboration
Collaborate with RnD, Product, Production, Quality, Supply Chain, Program Management to drive operational excellence.
Represent engineering in customer audits, technical reviews, and executive briefings

WHAT WE WANT TO SEE:

• Bachelor's or master's degree in electrical engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or related field.

• 10+ years of engineering leadership experience in electronics manufacturing, preferably servers or data center infrastructure.

• Proven track record managing teams in box build, system assembly, and rack-level testing environments.

• Strong background in test engineering (ICT, functional, burn-in) and process validation.

• Experience with NPI processes, customer collaboration, and high-mix/low-volume operations.

• Familiarity with MES, SPC, traceability tools, lean/Six Sigma, and smart factory systems.

• Excellent communication, leadership, and organizational skills.

IT WOULD BE GREAT IF YOU HAD:

•…