Senior Manager, Manufacturing Engineering

The posting, as Atomic Machines wrote it

Atomic Machines is building the Matter Compiler™, the first in a new class of AI-native, all-digital manufacturing systems that build working machines directly from code. The Matter Compiler (MC) is aimed at micro-machines: motors and gears the size of a grain of sand, robots small enough to work inside the body, cooling built directly into the chips that run AI, and the many devices like them that have been waiting on a way to build them. Its first product is PrimeSwitch™, an electromechanical power relay the size of a button battery that carries 150 amps continuous current and opens in 50 microseconds, about a thousand times faster than a conventional contactor. Founded by Jeff Holden — serial entrepreneur, ex-Amazon SVP and Uber’s first Chief Product Officer — the company has raised $250 million to date.

Atomic Machines is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices in Emeryville and Santa Clara.

About The Role

We are seeking a Senior Manager, Platform Manufacturing Engineering to lead Production Manufacturing Engineering as we scale the Matter Compiler from pilot production into high-volume manufacturing. You will own the equipment that builds our devices — its build, integration, bring-up, qualification and reliability — and the team of engineers who deliver it.

You are an engineer first. This is a player-coach role and the player half is not decorative: you will spearhead the hardest projects on the critical path personally, in CAD and on the floor, and use that work as the vehicle for coaching everyone around you. The fastest way to set a standard here is to define it while you produce work that meets it, then mentor your team to achieve the same bar.

Mentoring here happens inside the work, not alongside it. You will pull engineers onto the projects you lead, hand off scope as they are ready for it, review their designs with real technical depth, and grow the next set of project leads out of people who learned by building with you.

The management half is real. You will hire against a plan rather than a wish list, develop engineers toward the next level, run performance honestly, and install the operating standards this function works to — documentation, change control, qualification and release discipline, and what "done" means before work leaves the group. You will plan the organization ahead of where the business is today, own headcount and capital budget, and get manufacturability and equipment requirements into specifications set by other teams rather than reviewing them at the end.

What You’ll Do

• Spearhead the hardest equipment projects on the critical path yourself — architecture, CAD, build, bring-up and qualification — and bring engineers along on them as the primary way they develop.
• Lead a team of 5–10 engineers spanning equipment design, automation and controls, integration, and sustaining, through a mix of direct reports and technical leads.
• Set the engineering standard by producing work to it: refe

[…]
ling the operating standards — not only inheriting an existing team.

• Experience leading a team spanning more than one discipline (e.g., equipment, controls/automation, integration, sustaining), including people whose work sits outside your own background.
• Ownership of headcount and capital budget, with resourcing tradeoff decisions made under real constraint.
• Depth across DFx, RCCA, eBOM→mBOM conversion, qualification and acceptance testing, and PLM/document control and release (Arena a plus).
• Experience in semiconductor, solar, hardware-based biotech, EV, or similar high-tech industries.
• Demonstrated ability to influence cross-functionally without authority — specifically, getting manufacturing and equipment requirements into specifications owned by other teams.
• A first-principles mindset — you question assumptions, reframe problems from the ground up, and approach challenges with a foundational understanding rather than relying solely on precedent.
• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field; advanced degree preferred.

Bonus Points For

• Experience standing up or rebuilding a manufacturing or equipment engineering function at a company moving from pilot to production scale.
• Experience staying technically current while managing — a design, patent, or build you personally delivered while running a team.
• Knowledge of basic coding: RSLogix, Ignition, Python, or C/C++.

The compensation for this position also includes equity and benefits.

Salary Range
$200,000 — $250,000 USD

Atomic Machines is an equal opportunity employer that values diversity and does not discriminate based on characteristics protected by applicable law. We are committed to an inclusive interview experience, including for individuals with disabilities. To request an accommodation, contact rc@atomicmachines.com . To help our recruiting team manage application volume and respond to candidates more efficiently, Atomic Machines may use AI-assisted tools.