Etched
Mechanical Operations Lab Lead
San Jose · Staff+ · Contract
Sponsorship not specifiedDetected 49 days ago
NLPProject ManagementJiraLogisticsProcurementCAMMechanical DesignResearchLeadershipOSHA
About the role
- Reporting to the Head of Lab Operations, you will be the ultimate custodian of lab safety, machine uptime, asset tracking, and space workflow.
Responsibilities
- Machine Shop Ownership: Supervise and maintain machine shop equipment, including manual/CNC mills, lathes, drill presses, band saws, chop saws, sheet metal brakes, and associated tooling. Ensure all machines are clean, lubricated, and safe for use.
- Manage post-processing infrastructure, including bead blasters, compressors, fume hoods, and specialized ventilation equipment.
- Maintain strict calibration and preventative maintenance schedules for precision instruments, including an Instron universal testing machine, microscopes, and granite surface inspection tables.
- Hazardous Materials & Ventilation: Manage chemical, resin, and consumable inventories
- Facilities Coordination: Partner with site services to manage lab infrastructure needs, including dedicated electrical drops, compressed air lines, exhaust systems, and facility chillers/PSUs.
- Rack Build & Assembly Logistics: Optimize the workflow of a dedicated Rack Build Area. Coordinate the intake of heavy infrastructure components and ensure staging areas are clear and organized for active engineering builds.
- Relocation support for those moving to San Jose (Santana Row)
Requirements
- You may be a good fit if you have (Must-have qualifications)
- 5+ years of experience managing a mechanical lab, machine shop, prototyping facility, or hardware R&D space.
- Deep working knowledge of OSHA standards, shop safety procedures, PPE enforcement, and EH&S compliance regarding chemicals and particulate filtration.
- Ability to operate in a standing shop environment, handle physical tools, and lift/move heavy lab inventory or equipment setups when necessary.
- Strong candidates may also have experience with (Nice-to-have qualifications)
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Technology, or a related technical field (equivalent deep hands-on shop experience is highly valued).
- Experience with CNC programming (CAM), precision laser cutter operation, or custom fixture fabrication.
Skills
- Experience using project management tools (Jira, spreadsheets) and basic CAD/slicing software to review engineering files for fabricability.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, and vision packages with generous premium coverage
- $500 per month credit for waiving medical benefits
- Various wellness benefits covering fitness, mental health, and more
- Inventory System Ownership: Keep real-time counts of raw stock (aluminum, plastics), fasteners, structural components, cables, hoses, and project-specific storage.
- Procurement Workflows: Proactively flag low-stock items and manage end-to-end procurement for lab shop consumables (endmills, blades, 3D printer filaments/resins, hardware).
Company info
- We are the first inference-focused frontier AI system, betting early on transformer and transformer-like architectures and on increasing model sizes.
- We are a fully in-person team in San Jose (Santana Row), and greatly value engineering skills.
This listing is sourced directly from Etched's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.