Lead Manufacturing Engineer

Teleo • Palo Alto, CA

2d

About The Position

Teleo, a Havoc company, is a robotics company that transforms construction heavy equipment, including loaders, dozers, excavators, and trucks, into autonomous robots for commercial and defense applications. Our technology enables a single operator to supervise and control multiple machines simultaneously, delivering significant productivity gains while improving operator safety and comfort. Teleo was founded by a team of experienced technology leaders who previously led the development of Lyft's Self-Driving Car program and Google Street View. Teleo recently announced its merger with Havoc AI, a fast-growing defense technology company developing coordinated fleets of autonomous maritime vessels. This is a unique opportunity to join a team building technology with real-world impact. You will work on cutting-edge 100,000-pound autonomous robots and engineer complex systems at the intersection of hardware, software, robotics, and AI. About the Role We are looking for a Lead Manufacturing Engineer, Contract Manufacturing, to sit at the intersection of Teleo engineering and contract manufacturing, supporting our autonomy retrofit kits from prototype through a stable transition to CM, and owning production from there. You'll collaborate with Teleo's cross-functional engineering, operations and PM teams on internal prototyping and manufacturing-process development, then own the handoff to the CM and shift into overseeing CM delivery, cost, and quality — acting as the primary point of contact when issues arise at the CM.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Manufacturing Engineering
• 5+ years in manufacturing or process engineering on electro-mechanical hardware that actually ships to the field
• Hands-on with SOP development, box builds, PCB/A, harness and cable assembly manufacturing, and FW/SW flashing
• Comfortable around autonomy systems; integration, test, and validation of sensor/compute hardware (LiDAR, camera, radar, compute)
• Working knowledge of mechanical processes (CNC, casting, sheet metal, powder coating, jigs/fixtures), enough to judge whether a part or process will hold up in the field, and what to flag at the CM's FATP line
• Advanced proficiency interpreting mechanical and electrical designs, with working knowledge of GD&T, tolerance stacking, and basic SPC
• DFM/DFA/DFT experience across NPI, ramp, and scale, able to look at a design and flag manufacturability issues early
• Strong root-cause instincts; can write build docs a CM tech can follow with zero design context
• CM management experience, on-site support and running ECR/ECO across two organizations
• Working knowledge of QMS (ISO 9001, AS9100, MIL-STD), supplier/vendor quality management (incoming inspection, SCAR, vendor scorecards), and inventory control at a CM
• Familiar with CAD (Onshape or similar) and EE design tools (KiCAD, Altium or similar)
• Familiar with ERP/PLM/inventory systems (NetSuite, Ironflow, Odoo, etc.)
• Skilled at using AI tools to accelerate manufacturing workflows automating data review

Nice To Haves

• Experience retrofitting or manufacturing autonomous vehicles, off-highway, construction, defense equipment
• Experience with C++ and Python for coding, scripting, debugging, building UIs, building test benches, and troubleshooting

Responsibilities

• Partners with engineering on process design and DFX (DFM/DFA/DFT/DFS) for kit builds, fixtures, work instructions, routers, build sequencing, translating designs into a CM-ready package before handoff
• Owns the handoff from Teleo engineering to the CM: process validation, first-article approval, and clear-to-build sign-off via BRR/MRR (Build/Material Readiness Review), confirming parts, documentation, and ECO status are ready for the CM to execute against
• Own CM performance post-transition: delivery, cost, and quality against target; first line of defense for floor issues, with authority to hold CM shipment pending disposition
• Coordinate ECRs/ECOs between the CM and Teleo engineering; keep build documentation current on both sides
• Monitors on-time delivery and cost at the CM; drives root cause analysis and corrective action on production issues
• Enforce quality (inspection, non-conformance, CAPA) and inventory control (WIP, cycle counts, reconciliation) at the CM
• Oversee finished-goods kitting, correct configuration, packaging, and staging for shipment to a partner site or inventory
• Support NPI and ramp-to-volume; specify and validate tooling/fixtures and test stations (in-line and EOL) for new build stations
• Track yield, cycle time, and scrap/rework rate; drive down variance

Benefits

• equal opportunity employer
• value diversity

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior