Apptronik
Machine Shop Manager
Austin, TX · Staff+
Sponsorship not specifiedDetected 26 days ago
AgileJiraSupply ChainLogisticsProcurementCustomer SupportFusion 360GD&TRoboticsCAMMechanical DesignHardware DesignLeadershipCommunicationMentoringOrganizational SkillsOSHA
About the role
- We operate at the cutting edge of embodied AI, applying our expertise across the full robotics stack to solve some of society's most important problems.
- You will join a team dedicated to bringing Apollo to market at scale, tackling the complex challenges like safety, commercialization, and mass production to change the world for the better.
Responsibilities
- Customer Service Excellence: Act as a true partner to the engineering team. Proactively manage requests, provide status updates, and ensure the burden of shop logistics (ordering, tooling prep) does not fall on the engineering staff.
- Team Management: Direct, mentor, and evaluate a diverse shop staff, which may include CAM programmers, dedicated CNC machinists, junior/support machinists, and 3D printing technicians.
- Culture Building: Foster a welcoming, non-possessive, and highly collaborative environment where engineers feel comfortable utilizing shop resources and collaborating with shop staff.
- Training & Certification: Develop, schedule, and lead efficient, hands-on training programs (e.g., manual mills/lathes, CNCs) to safely authorize engineers and onboard new shop personnel.
- Material Stocking: Establish, maintain, and forecast a robust base inventory of raw materials, ensuring continuous availability of commonly used aluminum, mild steel, plastics, and various profiles (round, square, flat).
- Hardware & Fasteners: Maintain a highly organized, Kanban-style inventory of standard hardware, including fasteners, helicoils, dowel pins, and 80/20 extrusions/brackets.
- Shop Organization: Champion 5S principles to maintain a pristine, highly organized shop with clear labeling, logical tool storage, and optimized floor plans.
- Preventative Maintenance (PM): Create and rigorously execute PM schedules for all shop equipment. Maintain precise logs for fluid levels (coolant, way oil), spindle hours, and calibration metrics for CNCs, manual machines, and 3D printers.
- Equipment Commissioning: Lead the site preparation, plumbing, electrical coordination, and installation of new R&D equipment.
- Part Verification: Implement a seamless quality assurance process. Ensure submitted drawings and STEP models are reviewed for manufacturability, dimensions, and tolerances prior to cutting chips.
Nice to have
- 7-10+ years of hands-on experience in precision machining, CNC programming, and fabrication.
- 3-5+ years in a leadership, management, or shop foreman role.
- Proven experience working in an R&D, rapid prototyping, or aerospace/robotics environment (highly preferred over pure high-volume production environments).
- Degree, technical diploma, or equivalent journeyman certification in Machining, Manufacturing Technology, or Mechanical Engineering is a plus.
Skills
- Deep expertise with CNC milling and turning (Haas, Fanuc, or similar controls).
- Strong foundational knowledge of CAM software (e.g., Mastercam, Fusion 360, HSMWorks) to effectively oversee programmers.
- Familiarity with advanced machining and rapid prototyping equipment.
- Expert ability to read, interpret, and critique complex engineering drawings and GD&T (Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing).
- Familiarity with digital ticketing/workflow software.
- Physical Requirements & Work Environment
- This is a direct hire. Please, no outside Agency solicitations.
- This is a direct hire.
- Please, no outside Agency solicitations.
- Quality Control, Compliance & Safety
Benefits
- Implement, manage, and enforce a centralized ticketing system (e.g., Jira, Asana) for all machining and fabrication requests to track jobs, monitor queue health, and route work efficiently.
- Experience & Education:
Company info
- Foster a welcoming, non-possessive, and highly collaborative environment where engineers feel comfortable utilizing shop resources and collaborating with shop staff.
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This listing is sourced directly from Apptronik's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.