Director of Manufacturing Operations & Factory

The role

You will design, launch, and run the San Francisco factory from the ground up. You will own production, capacity planning, technician management, procurement, inventory, and manufacturing quality.

What you will do

• Design 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 a team of electromechanical assembly technicians
• Purchase components, manage suppliers, track lead times and inventory, and ensure materials are available
• Establish incoming, in-process, and final QA, testing, build records, traceability, and processes for addressing defects
• Work 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 every system is built, tested, documented, serialized, packaged, and ready for handoff

Required qualifications

• 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
• Comfortable 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
• High agency and proactive
• Low ego, highly organized, and able to manage many moving pieces without losing attention to detail
• High standards for safety, quality, documentation, and delivery

Nice to have

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

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage with 100% of employee premiums covered
• The opportunity to build Orchard’s factory and manufacturing organization from the ground up

About the company

Orchard is building the AI Farmer that automates farms to secure America’s food supply. They build AI-powered camera systems that capture precise data on yield, fruit size, and crop health.