Lead Manufacturing Engineer

TAR•Odessa, TX

3d•Onsite

About The Position

TAR is hiring a Lead Manufacturing Engineer to lead manufacturing operations at its test site in West Texas, where robots are tested and field learnings are turned into processes for gigawatt-scale deployment. The role leads a small team of assemblers, machinists, and a welder and owns the hardware they build, repair, and modify on site, including robot subassemblies, racking, field tooling, carts, and fixtures. The position is hands-on and on-site, with substantial time spent on the manufacturing floor and in the field, working directly with hardware engineers in San Francisco and robot operators. The Lead Manufacturing Engineer establishes daily priorities and schedules, trains the team, and maintains quality standards. The role works with engineering on design for manufacturability, develops tooling and assembly processes, establishes quality controls, investigates failures, manages suppliers, and documents standard work and training materials. It also partners with hardware engineering leadership to translate the product roadmap into manufacturing capacity and staffing plans.

Requirements

5–7+ years in manufacturing engineering, with direct experience standing up or scaling an assembly line for complex electromechanical or robotic hardware.
Demonstrated experience across the manufacturing value chain, including DFM, tooling, process development, quality planning, and documentation.
Hands-on experience personally building or assembling hardware, including machining, fabrication, wiring, and assembly.
Experience implementing quality control systems and driving root-cause analysis and corrective action in a production environment.
Track record managing vendors and suppliers for manufacturing inputs and outsourced processes.
Comfort working with limited resources and tight timelines, including standing up a line while it is still coming together.

Nice To Haves

Experience manufacturing hardware for austere, field, or defense-adjacent operating environments.
Experience with robotics or complex electromechanical systems rather than general consumer electronics.
Familiarity with Lean/Six Sigma or formal quality systems such as ISO or AS9100.
Prior experience building a manufacturing team or line from near-zero rather than improving an established operation.

Responsibilities

Lead the manufacturing crew by setting daily priorities, running the schedule, training team members, and maintaining the quality bar.
Lead design for manufacturability reviews with engineering and drive upstream design changes to reduce cost, assembly time, and failure modes.
Define and implement quality control processes and inspection criteria at each assembly stage to ensure hardware meets reliability and durability standards for austere field conditions.
Design, select, and qualify tooling, fixtures, and test equipment; work hands-on with technicians to debug and refine processes.
Own root-cause analysis and corrective action for build and field failures, and feed fixes back into processes and designs to prevent recurrence.
Manage supplier and vendor relationships for manufacturing inputs, materials, and outsourced processes, holding partners accountable for quality and schedule.
Build and document standard work, process travelers, and training materials to support scaling the production line while maintaining quality.
Partner with hardware engineering leadership to translate the product roadmap into manufacturing capacity and staffing plans.