Lead Manufacturing Engineer

The role

You will lead manufacturing systems, the machine shop, and hardware production workflows at Zoo. The role is hands-on and covers machining, fabrication, process development, tooling, prototyping, and production operations.

What you will do

• Lead day-to-day manufacturing and machine shop operations, including scheduling, workflow, equipment readiness and production priorities
• Develop and optimize manufacturing processes for prototypes, fixtures, production hardware and internal tooling
• Program, set up and operate CNC mills, CNC lathes, manual machines and fabrication equipment
• Work with engineering teams on manufacturability, tolerances, materials and production readiness
• Turn CAD models, engineering drawings and GD&T requirements into repeatable manufacturing processes
• Develop tooling, fixturing, workholding and process documentation to improve throughput and quality
• Drive continuous improvement in cycle time, scrap, uptime and scalability
• Support new product introduction from prototype through early production builds
• Inspect and validate finished parts using calipers, micrometers, indicators, CMM tools and other metrology equipment
• Help hire, train and mentor machinists, technicians and future manufacturing team members

Required qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in manufacturing engineering, machining, precision manufacturing or hardware production
• Strong hands-on CNC machining experience, including mills, lathes, setups, tooling, feeds, speeds and offsets
• Experience programming with CAM software and editing machine code at the controller
• Experience developing and improving manufacturing processes for prototypes and/or production hardware
• Strong understanding of machining principles, materials, tolerances, GD&T and manufacturing methods
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, CAD models and technical specifications
• Experience building and scaling manufacturing teams
• Strong troubleshooting and root-cause analysis skills across machining, tooling, fixtures and workflows
• Ability to balance prototype urgency, production quality and manufacturing scalability
• Excellent organizational, communication and cross-functional collaboration skills
• High attention to detail, craftsmanship and pride in building high-quality hardware

Benefits

• Competitive equity
• Full benefits package, which may vary by geography

Before you apply

• Compensation may vary by geography and the final offer depends on experience, skills, expertise and market data

About the company

Zoo builds hardware design tools, combining a cloud-native CAD environment with AI-powered engineering workflows to help teams design and manufacture products faster. It was founded and incubated by Embedded Ventures in 2021 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA.