Power Electronics Manufacturing Engineering Lead

Joby Aviation•San Carlos, CA

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Joby Aviation is building the future of electric flight, and we need a hands-on Manufacturing Engineering Lead to ramp our Electric Propulsion Unit (EPU) Inverter to high-rate production and launch the next- gen Inverter. Based in San Carlos, CA, you'll own the line: standing up equipment, locking in processes, and scaling power electronics manufacturing alongside our Powertrain & Electronics ME team. This is a builder's role for an engineer who lives in the details — someone with deep mechanical and electrical fundamentals, real shop-floor instincts, and the pragmatism to make hard calls under aggressive timelines. You'll be on the floor with technicians one hour and solving hard problems alongside senior leaders the next. Decisions move fast here, and the work you do will show up in aircraft that fly.

Requirements

BS in Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or related field
10 + years of manufacturing engineering experience, ideally including time on the floor
Track record of taking multiple products from early concept (bench-top prototype) through pilot line and high-rate production as the manufacturing lead — not just supporting someone else who did
Hands-on process development and validation experience (PFMEA, control plans, capability studies)
Strong mechanical engineering fundamentals and the instinct to reach for first principles before reaching for a spec — GD&T, tolerance stack-ups, fastening, and fits should feel like second nature
Experience with power electronics, electric motor assembly, or complex electro-mechanical assembly — including the tooling, fixturing, and test equipment that make them manufacturable
Strong problem-solving instincts — root-cause first, blame never — and the cross-functional chops to land the fix
Genuine appetite for the details — you'd rather walk the line and read the data than sit in a status meeting

Nice To Haves

Experience leading engineering teams — hiring, coaching, and getting the best work out of a group of strong individual contributors
Prior experience in a highly regulated industry (e.g., Aerospace, Automotive, Medical Devices)
Familiarity with FAA Part 21 production approval or AS9100 quality systems

Responsibilities

Own EPU Inverter manufacturing end-to-end — in-house assembly and test, plus scale-up with manufacturing partners. You're the technical authority on how this product gets built.
Drive equipment projects with internal teams and external suppliers — specs, builds, buy-offs, and installs — to deliver production-intent tooling on schedule
Ramp line capacity to hit rate and program milestones — debottleneck, balance stations, and prove out throughput
Build the processes that make a fast team faster — clear interfaces with design, quality, and supply chain; no bureaucracy for its own sake
Report line readiness to leadership with data, not hand-waving
Mentor your direct team and influence efficiency across the broader org — lead by example, raise the bar everywhere you touch
Partner with Design on DFM and ECRs, with Quality on first-pass yield and defect reduction, and with the Equipment team on readiness milestones
Set clear deliverables, dates, and owners for the manufacturing team — and hold the line on them
Own the tooling and equipment budget — build it, pressure-test it, and track spend against capability and rate
Launch the next-gen Inverter using the best proven manufacturing technologies and methods available — and put a power electronics platform into the air that no one has built before