Senior Manufacturing Engineer

WindBorne Systems•Palo Alto, CA

10d•$130,000 - $180,000•Onsite

About The Position

WindBorne is seeking a Senior Manufacturing Engineer to establish and lead the manufacturing engineering function within the company. This role is crucial for scaling production as the company experiences rapid growth. The ideal candidate will own the manufacturing engineering process for parts transitioning from design, implement automations to improve speed and reliability, and build the foundational manufacturing systems. This is an opportunity to be the first manufacturing engineer, with the expectation of hiring and leading a team within the first year. The position requires a blend of engineering rigor, adaptability to evolving designs, and strong judgment to balance systematization with flexibility in a fast-paced, high-volume production environment.

Requirements

~5+ years in engineering, preferably manufacturing, with a track record in NPI and assembly.
A senior individual contributor ready to step into leadership — prior direct reports aren't required, but the instinct and appetite to build and lead a team are.
Hands-on experience designing functional test fixtures and test protocols.
Strong mechanical and pneumatic fixturing and assembly-aid design.
Comfort with ambiguity: you've built repeatable production around designs that were still evolving, and you apply context rather than impose a rigid system.
Sound judgment, flexibility, and the ability to explain the "why" behind process decisions.
Able to work on-site in Redwood Shores.

Nice To Haves

Experience with soft goods, heat sealing, web handling, or other delicate, non-rigid materials.
A controls or mechatronics background (PLC, vision, custom semi-automated stations) — a direction the team may grow toward.
Prior people management or team-building experience.
Supplier/vendor management and incoming quality.
Experience standing up quality or documentation systems from scratch.

Responsibilities

Own manufacturing engineering for parts as they transition off the design team — taking on tooling, process, and production responsibility so design engineers can stay focused on design and bring-up.
Build and run clean design-to-manufacturing handoffs, including for parts that aren't yet at full design lock — using judgment to decide what's ready to systematize and what should stay flexible.
Develop functional, end-to-end test fixtures and protocols that verify quality on the line.
Design jigs, fixtures, and assembly aids, and identify and build the automations and semi-automations that make delicate hand assembly faster, safer, and more consistent.
Build the manufacturing backbone from the ground up — work instructions, revision and change practices, and production documentation — extending the lightweight in-house system already in place.
Partner with design engineers on design-for-manufacturability, early and often, so manufacturability is considered before a design hardens.
Hire, mentor, and lead a growing team of manufacturing engineers (target of ~2 within the first year), and shape how that team is structured.
Work cross-functionally — taking technical direction from the CTO, reporting goals and delivery through the COO, and collaborating as a peer to design engineering.