Manufacturing Engineering / Production Lead

Oakland on site Until 8/22/2026 5+ years exp First posted April 23, 2026 Last posted April 23, 2026
Job description

Arxlight's operations team is seeking a highly motivated and experienced Senior Manufacturing Engineer to join our rapidly growing team. In this pivotal role, you will be responsible for bridging the gap between cutting-edge design and efficient, high-volume production for our advanced products.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

  • Manage production technicians in the assembly and test of our drone products.

  • Support the transition of products from concept to prototype, pilot, and full production with speed, flexibility, scalability, and first-time quality.

  • Provide daily sustaining support to ensure each product line performs as intended, including real-time problem-solving related to mechanical fitment issues, electrical and harnessing issues, as well as software and firmware issues.

  • Work with design engineers during the development process to drive design for manufacturing best practices into the design effort, and help facilitate the transition from design to prototype to rate production.

  • Own documentation required for successfully manufacturing products at scale such as MBOM’s, work instructions, process flows, floor plans, time studies, capacity analysis, etc.

  • Collaborate with internal customers and manufacturing planning teams to define capacity planning actions to meet customer needs and expectations.

  • Work hand in hand with the broader production team to solve complex issues to ensure customer demand is met.

  • Analyze metrics for continuous improvement initiatives (cost reduction, QI reduction & capacity increase).

  • Instill a culture of innovation, teamwork, and accountability within the manufacturing engineering product team.

  • Travel to suppliers and partner sites to do initial sourcing work, solve ongoing production issues, and implement process procedures as required.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

  • Degree in a technical field such as engineering, math, or a hard science

  • 5+ years in manufacturing or similar position

  • An attitude of world-class mission assurance, quality, attention to detail, and dedication

  • A genuine interest in manufacturing and thirst for learning

  • Demonstrated ability to creatively deliver hardware in a resource-constrained environment

  • Personal experience physically manufacturing hardware via any means (machining, fabrication, soldering, assembly, etc.). Work on personal or extracurricular projects is a plus

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

  • Experience building successful production operations from scratch, often working with very little definition

  • Ownership of a complex bill of materials for an electromechanical product

  • Knowledge of manufacturing processes including sheet metal, machining, and 3D printing

  • Experience in Solidworks

Compensation (from employer):
$120K – $160K • Offers Equity

About this role

Summary

Manage production processes, collaborate with design, solve manufacturing issues, oversee quality, and optimize capacity.

Job title

Manufacturing Engineering / Production Lead

Experience level

5+ years

Minimum experience

5+ years exp

Industry

manufacturing

Location requirements

On-site in Oakland, no remote work permitted.

Salary

$120k–$160k

Management role

Yes

Skills & keywords

Required skills

engineeringmanufacturingproblem-solvingassemblyquality assurance

Preferred skills

production operationsbill of materialsmanufacturing processessolidworks

Specializations

production managementassemblyelectromechanical
Locations

Structured locations inferred from the posting.

Oakland, CA, USA

On-site City