Senior Manufacturing Engineer
Foundry Robotics · Emeryville, CA
- Level
- Senior
- Team
- Manufacturing
- Experience asked
- 8+ years
- Industry
- Industrial
- Posted
- Recently
The role in 30 seconds
A senior manufacturing role at Foundry Robotics (industrial) in Emeryville, CA. If you want to build the commercial engine that brings AI-driven manufacturing to every industrial and energy customer in America — this is it.
- They ask for
- 8+ years
- Tools it names
- Lean, Six Sigma, OEE, FMEA, PPAP, Control plans
Read from the posting. The full description is below.
From the plant jobs report · week of October 19, 2026
Manufacturing Engineer roles in California: typical posted base $114k–$167k.
Median of the low and high ends of 117 live postings that list pay, out of 320 manufacturing engineer openings in California, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.
California plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →
How this role compares
Against 319 other live manufacturing postings in California.
- Base pay
- Not listed in this posting
- Experience asked
- More than usual (8+ vs 5+)
Typical $111k–$157k, from 105 postings that list pay.
Similar roles usually ask 5+ years.
Skills these teams ask for most
- ✓ Tooling 53%
- New product launch 51%
- Root cause 40%
- ✓ Automation 35%
- Machining 29%
- ✓ CATIA / NX 29%
✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.
Stands out: this posting asks for OEE, PPAP, Control plans, ISO 9001, which few similar roles mention. If you have it, lead with it.
At a glance
Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.
How to get in at this plant
Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.
- 1
Pick 2–3 people on the Manufacturing team at Foundry Robotics
Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. Use the team search on this page to find them.
- 2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
- 3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- Is the work mostly new product launches or sustaining existing lines?
- How much time do you spend on the floor versus at a desk?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
- 4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
- 5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.
Full description from Foundry RoboticsAs posted on their careers site.ShowHide
The Role
This role is for a Senior Manufacturing Engineer who specializes in equipment introduction and the end-to-end project management of capital tooling and automation. You will own the path from production requirement to running line, driving the RFQ process, selecting and benchmarking equipment across the vendor landscape, managing external line builders through design and build, and commissioning equipment on the floor through FAT, SAT, and ramp. You will hit defined OEE, throughput, and cycle time targets, and transfer clean ownership to production and maintenance after SOP. You are equally comfortable in a vendor pre-build meeting and on the shop floor signing off acceptance tests.
Key Responsibilities
- ◆Own equipment introduction projects end-to-end, from
requirements
definition and RFQ through vendor selection, FAT, SAT, and ramp to SOP
- ✓Benchmark, select, and manage external line builders and tooling suppliers, holding them accountable to cost, schedule, and performance
- ✓Define and hit OEE, throughput, and cycle time targets on every project, using data to identify and close performance gaps
- ✓Provide DFM and DFA input on product, process, and tooling designs to ensure manufacturability is engineered in, not bolted on
- ✓Build business cases and ROI analyses to justify capital equipment decisions to senior leadership
- ✓Transfer ownership cleanly to production and maintenance after SOP, including process sheets, work instructions, maintenance instructions, and manufacturing BOM
- ✓Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, robotics, and software teammates to ensure equipment integrates into the broader production system
What We're Looking For
Founder mentality: We love people who build like it’s their own company. You move fast, take ownership, and find a way through when the path isn’t obvious. You have the drive to make big things happen and the judgment to take smart risks along the way. If you prefer a clearly defined lane, a predictable pace, and all the answers before you start, there’s nothing wrong with that—but Foundry might not be the right fit.
- ✓5 to 8 years in manufacturing engineering with a track record of taking production equipment from RFQ through FAT, SAT, and SOP in a mass production environment
- ✓Proven experience taking products from low-rate prototype builds to high-volume production
- ✓Direct experience with robotic or automated assembly systems, either as the product being built or as the production method on the floor
- ✓Strong vendor management skills, with experience holding external line builders and tooling suppliers accountable to cost, schedule, and performance
- ✓Working proficiency with 3D CAD (SolidWorks, CATIA, or equivalent) sufficient to evaluate vendor designs and provide DFM and DFA input in cross-functional product development
- ✓Experience defining and hitting OEE, cycle time, and yield targets
- ✓Comfortable building business cases and ROI analyses to justify capital equipment decisions to senior leadership
- ✓Bias toward action and scrappy problem solving without sacrificing rigor
Nice to Have (Not Required)
- ✓Familiarity with lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, or similar methodologies
- ✓Experience working within a formal quality management system (AS9100, ISO 9001, or IATF 16949), including participation in PFMEAs, control plans, and PPAP or FAI submissions
Why Join Us?
This is one of the only places where world-class manufacturing operators, mechanical engineers, robotics researchers, and software engineers sit in the same room — building production systems together.
We are committed to being deeply embedded in the U.S. industrial base. Our focus is simple: build adaptive robotic assembly systems that make American manufacturing scalable, resilient, and competitive again.
If you want to run a mature, well-defined commercial org, this may not be the role.
If you want to build the commercial engine that brings AI-driven manufacturing to every industrial and energy customer in America — this is it.
$150,000—$250,000 USD
Show full description ↓Show less ↑
About Us
Foundry Robotics is building an AI-native robotics manufacturing company focused on deploying advanced assembly and production capability for leading robotics companies and national-security-critical hardware. Basically, we’re building robots that build robots.
Factory OS is building software that runs factories. Our platform spans cloud backends, on-prem services, and edge devices deployed on the factory floor. The operators, supervisors, and managers who use our tools need interfaces that are fast, reliable, and intuitive—even when network conditions aren’t perfect and the environment is demanding.
