Director of Mechanical Engineering, Hardware Platform

About The Role:

What You'll Do

Hardware Platform and Node Architecture

• Own the hardware architecture for Atomic Machines' platform and Node systems, including mechanisms, kinematics, structures, thermal control, sensing, actuation, fixturing, serviceability, and interfaces to software, controls, and manufacturing.
• Lead the design and development of precision motion subsystems, including stages, gantries, rotary axes, Z / force axes, end-effectors, fixturing, and in-situ metrology.
• Drive hardware requirements, error budgets, and subsystem specifications for precision, throughput, reliability, accuracy, repeatability, stiffness, settle time, drift, uptime, MTBF, and MTTR.
• Guide architectural decisions and technical tradeoffs across mechanical, electrical, controls, software, vision, manufacturing, and supply chain domains.
• Ensure platform and Node hardware is designed for scalability, calibration, alignment, serviceability, and manufacturing readiness.

Mechanical Engineering Technical Leadership

• Provide deep technical leadership in mechanical design for robotics, precision automation, and advanced manufacturing systems.
• Establish and maintain high standards for design reviews, design documentation, interface control documents, GD&T, tolerance analysis, DFMEA / PFMEA, verification and validation plans, and engineering change control.
• Drive disciplined engineering practices while maintaining speed, creativity, and first-principles problem solving.
• Engage directly in technical problem solving as needed with a "do whatever it takes" mindset.
• Partner with teams to debug complex hardware, factory, and system-level issues with urgency and rigor.
• Build scalable calibration and compensation strategies into the hardware, including datums, fiducials, kinematic mounts, reference artifacts, automated calibration, and drift detection.

Prototype-to-Production Execution

• Lead hardware development from concept and early prototypes through design implementation, debug, verification, validation, qualification, manufacturing transfer, and production ramp.
• Partner with Manufacturing Engineering to build the prototype-to-production pipeline for Node and platform hardware.
• Drive DFM, DFA, DFS, supplier strategy, first-article inspection, incoming quality, build documentation, assembly fixtures, test fixtures, and stable production yields.
• Establish reliability engineering practices, including lifetime testing, wear testing, thermal cycling, vibration testing, contamination control, FRACAS, root cause analysis, preventive maintenance design, and reliability growth metrics.
• Ensure hardware systems are robust, manufacturable, serviceable, and ready for sustained operation in Atomic Machines' Hybrid Fab and future production environments.

Cross-Functional Coordination and Planning

• Partner with leaders across software, controls, electrical engineering, vision, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, program management, and company leadership to define requirements, align priorities, and anticipate technical and resource risks.
• Collaborate with leadership and program management to define clear objectives, milestones, timelines, dependencies, and success criteria.
• Represent the Hardware Platform team in broader program and company-level planning discussions.
• Ensure the team's work is accurately planned, resourced, communicated, and tracked.
• Drive clarity and alignment in ambiguous technical and organizational situations.

Team Leadership and Management

• Lead, develop, and scale a high-performing hardware engineering organization, including senior individual contributors, managers, and potentially directors.
• Hire exceptional mechanical, hardware, opto-mechanical, test, and validation engineers to support Atomic Machines' long-term strategy.
• Cultivate a culture of high standards, technical rigor, accountability, collaboration, and truth-seeking.
• Assign team members effectively across platform and cross-functional engineering efforts.
• Provide technical guidance, coaching, mentorship, and career development for team members.
• Manage performance clearly and directly while creating an environment where exceptional engineers can do their best work.
• Align team priorities with company objectives and ensure the team works effectively within company processes.

What You'll Need

• 15+ years of experience developing complex robotics, precision automation, advanced manufacturing systems, or dynamic mechanical precision systems.
• 7+ years of experience managing engineering teams, including senior engineers; experience managing managers and / or directors is strongly preferred.
• Deep technical expertise in precision mechanism design, robotics, motion systems, stiffness / compliance, vibration and dynamics, thermal drift, error budgeting, practical metrology, actuators, motors, and electromechanical systems.
• Demonstrated ownership of hardware systems from early prototype through manufacturing ramp and sustained production or field operation.
• Strong command of mechanical engineering fundamentals, detailed design, drawings, GD&T, tolerance stack-ups, DFM, DFA, DFS, and supplier collaboration.
• Experience selecting and integrating sensors and actuators, including encoders, force / torque sensors, vision systems, capacitive or inductive sensors, pneumatics, motors, bearings, and related components.
• Experience leading teams through the full product development lifecycle: requirements, architecture, design, implementation, debug, verification, validation, qualification, and transfer to manufacturing.
• Demonstrated knowledge of rapid prototyping and scalable production manufacturing processes, including machining, sheet metal, injection molding, assembly, inspection, and test.
• Experience building hardware test and validation frameworks, including DVP&R, fixture design, automated test where appropriate, and clear pass / fail criteria tied to requirements.
• Strong reliability and failure analysis skills, including DFMEA, PFMEA, RCA, DOE, CAPA, wear, fatigue, contamination, and production debug.
• Ability to engage productively in whiteboard brainstorming, drive clarity on ambiguous requirements, and influence alignment across multiple teams and technical disciplines.
• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written, with an ability to create clear documentation and communicate technical context at the right altitude.
• High autonomy and ability to make meaningful progress in ambiguity.
• Strong collaboration skills and the judgment to ask the right questions.
• Creativity, inventiveness, and a first-principles approach to solving hard technical problems.
• Cultural alignment with Atomic Machines' values: disciplined thinking, high standards, accountability, truth-seeking teamwork, and a bias toward building.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related engineering discipline, or equivalent hands-on experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with sub-micron or micron-scale precision systems.
• Experience with advanced manufacturing, semiconductor equipment, robotics, automation, industrial machinery, or high-performance hardware platforms.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary hardware organizations across mechanical engineering, opto-mechanics, test, validation, and manufacturing transfer.
• Experience building teams in a high-growth or early-stage technical environment.
• Experience operating in a fast-paced hardware development environment where prototype iteration, factory deployment, and production learning happen in tight loops.