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Supplier Industrialization Engineer

Mind Robotics· Operations
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Palo AltoFull-timePosted 1mo ago

About the role

Mind Robotics is building Physical AI for real-world industrial deployment, focusing on factory floors. The role builds and leads the supplier industrialization function, owning PCBA, electronics, and tactile sensing from prototype to volume production, with potential to grow into SIE leadership or senior technical authority on manufacturability.

Responsibilities

  • Build the supplier industrialization function from the ground up: define the SI playbook, stage-gate requirements, supplier readiness criteria, and the full PPAP/qualification process (control plans, pFMEA, MSA/Gage R&R, capability studies, first-article inspection, run-at-rate) appropriate for a company moving from prototype builds to volume production
  • Own industrialization end-to-end for PCBAs, electronic assemblies, and tactile sensing components, from supplier selection through process development, qualification, launch, and ramp
  • Engage with electrical, mechanical, and firmware engineering from the design phase: drive DFM/DFA/DFT reviews, influence component selection, stack-ups, panelization, and test strategy early enough to actually change the design, not just react to it
  • Identify, assess, and select suppliers: lead technical audits of manufacturing capability, quality systems, process maturity, and capacity; make clear-eyed calls on who can scale with us and who can't
  • Travel to supplier sites (CMs/CEMs, PCB fabs, sensor manufacturers) to develop processes, validate lines, resolve issues, and verify manufacturing readiness firsthand
  • Lead new product introduction at supplier sites: process development and validation, SMT line bring-up, test correlation, yield improvement, and launch readiness for each build stage (EVT/DVT/PVT to production)
  • Develop and execute the supply chain readiness plan to scale electronics from tens of prototype units to hundreds and thousands of production units, including tooling, test fixtures, and capacity planning
  • Establish supplier quality management: incoming quality criteria, SPC deployment, root-cause/corrective action (8D/RCCA) on process and field failures, and ongoing supplier performance reviews
  • Work hand-in-hand with sourcing/GSM on supplier strategy, should-cost input, make-vs-buy decisions, and risk mitigation (dual-sourcing, alternate qualification)
  • Set the foundation for the SI team: define hiring needs by commodity as we grow, and build the systems and documentation that let the function scale beyond one person

Qualifications

  • You've built or significantly shaped an SI, SQE, or NPI function before. You know what it means to operate without a playbook because you've written one, not just followed it
  • 7+ years in supplier industrialization, supplier quality, NPI, or manufacturing engineering in hardware-intensive industries such as robotics, consumer electronics, automotive, or aerospace
  • Working knowledge of IPC standards and PCB fabrication processes; experience with flex and rigid-flex circuits or sensor integration (tactile, force, capacitive, camera modules) is a strong plus
  • Fluent in the industrialization toolkit: PPAP, APQP, pFMEA, control plans, SPC, MSA/Gage R&R, DOE, capability analysis (Cpk), 8D/RCCA
  • Hands-on experience taking products through the prototype-to-production transition, including EVT/DVT/PVT builds, tooling and test fixture qualification, run-at-rate, and ramp
  • Engineering degree (Electrical, Mechanical, or similar) and the ability to read schematics, layouts, and drawings well enough to hold your own in design reviews with the engineers who made them
  • Experience auditing and developing suppliers directly, including CMs/CEMs and component manufacturers worldover
  • Comfortable operating as both architect and operator: setting up systems one day, debugging a PCBA failure at a supplier the next
  • You thrive in ambiguity, default to urgency, and have the drive to build - not just maintain
  • Experience with tactile sensing or other high-mix sensor manufacturing (is a plus)
  • Experience in humanoid or mobile robotics, or other high-complexity electromechanical systems (is a plus)
  • Six Sigma / Lean certification, ASQ CQE, or equivalent (is a plus)
  • Experience hiring and leading the SIE or SQE function (is a plus)
Last updated Sep 2, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About Mind Robotics

Physical AI for the Real World

Mind Robotics is building intelligent robotics for industrial deployment. We believe the fastest path to broadly capable robots is through clearly defined, high-impact environments. We are starting where the need is most.

roboticsindustrial deploymentPhysical AImanufacturing
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