Lead Process Engineer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

ROLE: Production Process Engineering Lead  

Reports to: CTO  

Location: San Francisco, CA (Pier 19)

Pay Band Expected: : $145-170,000 base salary for a strong, on-site production process engineering lead who can work with lead assembler, manage materials flow, and create repeatable assembly execution at Pier 19; $170-180,000 base salary for candidates who have successfully formalized early-stage hardware production, improved floor discipline, and materially reduced engineering interruptions and manufacturing chaos in an electro-mechanical environment.

Position Overview

As Production Process Engineering Lead at Sentien, you will own the manufacturing execution plan for the Hive platform at Pier 19. Your role is to bring structure, repeatability, and accountability to the assembly floor by organizing workflows, managing production materials, and ensuring that systems are built correctly and consistently.

This role is not primarily a product-design role. It is a production role for a hands-on operator who can turn evolving engineering intent into disciplined floor execution while reducing chaos, interruptions, and rework. You will work closely with the Assembly Lead, Engineering Manager, and assembly team to establish build rhythm, maintain production momentum, and create the basic operating system required for Sentien to scale.

This role is responsible for current-site manufacturing execution and production repeatability. As Sentien grows toward larger-scale or multi-site manufacturing, this role is expected to partner with broader operations leadership and operate within a more formal manufacturing structure.

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Responsibilities

Manufacturing / Engineering Interface    

• Serve as the primary manufacturing counterpart to the Engineering Lead and relevant technical leads on released designs, build issues, and manufacturability concerns
• Translate engineering drawings, BOMs, and design updates into clear floor-level execution without requiring constant designer involvement
• Develop, improve, and maintain assembly instructions, build stages, jigs, checklists, and in-process verification steps that support repeatable output
• Coordinate with engineering to implement design changes in a way that minimizes production interruptions
• Escalate design-related blockers in a structured way while protecting schedule and build discipline on the floor

Production Pipeline & External Coordination

• Develop and optimize the end-to-end production pipeline, aligning materials, subassemblies, testing, and final integration to support delivery schedules while eliminating production bottlenecks.
• Identify and engage external fabrication and service partners when they provide cost, capacity, quality, or schedule advantages.
• Manage supplier and contract manufacturer relationships, coordinating scope, schedules, deliverables, and quality expectations with internal production teams.

Purchasing, Inventory, and Receiving Coordination    

• Own day-to-day coordination of production purchasing needs, inventory control, kitting readiness, and receiving flow for purchased components and materials
• Ensure incoming parts are checked against basic quality, quantity, and configuration expectations before entering the build process
• Maintain material visibility so missing parts, shortages, and supplier issues are surfaced early and do not surprise the assembly team

Quality and Production Control     

• Establish simple in-process quality expectations for builds, incoming goods, and completed assemblies
• Work closely with future quality or compliance personnel as those functions formalize, but own basic execution discipline in the meantime
• Support serial-number, configuration, and build-record discipline so the company gradually moves from tribal builds to controlled production

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Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in manufacturing, production supervision, assembly leadership, or operations coordination in an electro-mechanical, industrial, robotics, aerospace, or similar environment
• Degree in Industrial, Mechanical, Manufacturing, or similar field
• Demonstrated experience leading technicians or assemblers in a hands-on production setting
• Ability to read mechanical drawings, BOMs, and assembly documentation and translate them into practical shop-floor instructions
• Strong organizational and communication skills, with the ability to enforce discipline and stand firm with both technicians and engineers when needed
• Experience with purchasing coordination, inventory control, receiving, kitting, or related materials-management responsibilities

Preferred Skills

• Background in low-rate production, prototype-to-production transitions, or early-stage hardware manufacturing
• Familiarity with robotics, UAV/UAS, or complex electro-mechanical products
• Comfort using CAD viewers, ERP/MRP or inventory tools, and digital work-instruction systems