Depending on your specific background, your responsibilities will heavily index on one or both of the following tracks, while managing the end-to-end manufacturing lifecycle:
Process & Equipment Development: Lead the architecture, design, and qualification of custom manufacturing equipment or end-to-end processes for brittle materials. This includes driving solutions for CNC machining, polishing, Ion Exchange (IOX), pad printing, and precision assembly.
Optical Manufacturing & Metrology (For Optics-focused candidates): Define and optimize manufacturing processes specifically for optical parts. Establish how optical performances are measured and quantified, setting metrology strategies, test parameters, and yield criteria.
External Vendor Management: Act as the primary technical point of contact for external Equipment vendors (driving design, URS, FAT/SAT) and Contract Manufacturing (CM) vendors (driving factory bring-up, high-volume integration, and continuous improvement).
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Navigate a complex internal matrix to bring products to life:
- Partner with Product Designers (PDs) on Design for Manufacturability (DFM).
- Collaborate with Manufacturing Quality Engineers (MQEs) to establish robust quality control plans and inspection criteria.
- Align with Global Supply Managers (GSMs) and Capex GSMs on commercial strategies, equipment budgets, and vendor selection.
Advanced Problem Solving: Utilize Design of Experiments (DOEs), failure analysis, and data-driven root cause analysis to resolve complex manufacturing defects, improve yields, and stabilize processes.
Minimum Qualifications
Education: Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics, Materials Science, Manufacturing Engineering or a related technical discipline.
Experience: 5+ years of hands-on working experience in manufacturing process engineering, custom equipment development, or optical manufacturing.
Domain Expertise: Deep technical knowledge in the handling and processing of brittle materials, accompanied by expert-level proficiency in at least ONE of the following areas: (1) Custom equipment design and process parameter optimization for CNC, polishing, IOX, pad printing, and assembly, or (2) Manufacturing processes for optical parts, including a strong understanding of optical metrology and performance quantification.
Partnership: Proven track record of successfully managing external equipment suppliers and CM partners.
Communication: Excellent communication skills to effectively collaborate with highly technical design teams (PD), quality/operations teams (MQE), and business/sourcing teams (GSMs).
Preferred Qualifications
Higher education background (Master or Ph.D.) is highly preferred.
Prior experience successfully scaling early-stage technologies (hardware or optical) into high-volume consumer electronics mass production.
Ability to travel internationally to CM and vendor sites as required to support equipment bring-up and qualification.