Director, Core Manufacturing Technology

Ōura•San Francisco, CA

1d•$226,100 - $266,000•Remote

About The Position

The Director of Core Manufacturing Technology is the executive architect of the proprietary processes that define Oura’s hardware. This role leads a global team of experts in SMT, Molding, Coatings as examples and also new technology scouting. Your mission is to move Oura from "Project-specific" engineering to a "Core Technology" model, where common process modules are developed, perfected, and then deployed across all product lines to ensure world-class yield, reliability, and scale. This role works closely with Oura HW Core Technology development teams and is in full sync with future technology plans and requirements. Also collaboration with own engineering teams is essential to create seamless continuation from technology development to fast deployment. You have the skills and mindset of a high quality swiss army knife and can adapt to any technical problem we have in the organization.

Requirements

12+ years in high-volume Consumer Electronics, Wearables, Medical Devices or Semiconductors, with real “boots on the ground” experience solving molding or SMT yield/fallout on the factory floor.
Track record leading multi-disciplinary teams of senior and staff-level engineers across processes such as SMT, molding/encapsulation, coatings, optics, and automation.
Master’s or PhD in Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a closely related field (or equivalent deep practical expertise).
Ability to balance urgent build demands with long-term process “skeleton” growth, standardization, and reuse across products and sites.
Experience owning strategic relationships with key equipment and process vendors and guiding CMs to adopt and scale proprietary recipes.
Comfortable working across at least three timezones in a global organization, building ways of working where 1+1 clearly becomes >2.
Passion for moving an organization from project-specific solutions towards core technology platforms, with a bias for standardization and learning reuse.
Ability to explain complex process topics clearly to technical experts, leaders, and cross-functional partners, and to drive alignment on technical direction.

Responsibilities

Own the Core Technology roadmap: Define and maintain the 3-year roadmap for Oura’s foundational manufacturing processes, with focus on miniaturization, water-tightness (molding), and high-density electronics (SMT).
Standardize “Golden Processes”: Together with our other technical leaders, establish core process modules that become the technical skeleton for all NPIs, ensuring improvements from one program are quickly propagated to the global standard.
Build and protect IP: Identify, develop, and protect proprietary manufacturing methods that give Oura a durable competitive advantage in form factor, robustness, and reliability.
Lead molding, encapsulation & optics excellence: Drive advanced epoxy molding, water-tightness and enable best-in-class optical solutions for biosignal sensing.
Drive next-generation SMT: Own the strategy for ultra-miniaturized SMT, including component size roadmap, flexible PCB handling, and robust underfill/overcoating solutions.
Set equipment & tooling strategy: Define the global “Best in Class” equipment standards and own key vendor relationships (molding solutions, SMT lines, dispensing/etc) to ensure CMs can execute core recipes.
Deploy core experts into programs: Create and run a deployment model where Core Tech specialists support project teams during critical EVT/DVT/PVT phases to secure process choices and line concepts.
Ensure CM site readiness: Partner with Global Supply Chain and CMs to qualify factories to run selected proprietary processes at high volume with required yield, reliability, and capacity.
Provide solution planning visibility: Maintain active technical discussion within Manufacturing leadership so current activities, future solutions, risks, and wins are visible across the team.
Act as technical anchor in Manufacturing leadership: Be the voice of Core Manufacturing Technology in portfolio and strategy discussions, influencing where and how we invest in new capabilities.