{"id":2198317,"url":"https://alion.io/job/etched-smt-line-lead","title":"SMT Line Lead","company":{"id":5021,"name":"Etched","domain":"etched.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/etched","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":90,"open_postings":79,"ghost_share":0.076,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":162,"computed_at":"2026-10-19T05:45:15Z"}},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":"lead","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Jose, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":250000,"max":350000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":350000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"AI Agents","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-09T18:08:05Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-09","last_verified_at":"2026-10-19T16:36:13Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":10,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":["company_stale"],"days_open":9},"description":"About Etched\nEtched is building hardware for frontier intelligence. We co-design chips, racks, software, and manufacturing to deliver best-in-class throughput and latency across both prefill and decode workloads. Our first products are heavily focused on inference. Backed by hundreds of millions from top-tier investors and staffed by leading engineers, Etched is redefining the infrastructure layer for the fastest growing industry in history.\nAbout the Role\nThe SMT Line Lead runs and operates Etched's in-house SMT line, from incoming material to finished, inspected modules. You'll build and lead the line's operations team (incoming quality, material handling and logistics, quality and test, machine operators, and rework), and turn a newly installed line into a reliable, high-yield operation. You'll work closely with our process engineering, DFM, equipment, and procurement teams, who own process setup, equipment, and sourcing.\nKey Responsibilities\nLine operations: Own day-to-day operation of a US-based SMT line assembling Etched's modules, for both NPI and mass production.\n\nTeam leadership: Hire, lead, and develop the line's operations team: incoming quality (IQC), material handlers, quality and test technicians, machine operators, and rework technicians.\n\nShift scheduling: Own shift schedules and coverage for full-time employees and contractors, including overtime, cross-training, and backfill. Manage contractor headcount with our staffing partners.\n\nTraining: Build training and certification programs (IPC-A-610, J-STD-001, ESD, MSD handling) and keep a skills matrix so every station has trained backups.\n\nBuild scheduling: Turn program priorities into a daily and weekly build schedule, coordinate changeovers, and resequence quickly when parts or priorities change.\n\nMaterial flow: Own the flow from receiving to finished goods: incoming inspection, kitting, feeder setup and staging, line-side inventory, WIP, and finished-goods packing and storage.\n\nInventory and traceability: Work with our supply chain and procurement teams to ensure we can meet build targets. Collaborate with our inventory team to ensure material availability and quality.\n\nQuality and yield: Run the inspection flow (IQC, SPI, AOI, AXI, test) and the rework operation, including ASIC rework. Partner with process engineering to debug yield issues and close out corrective actions.\n\nProcesses: Define how the line runs: work instructions, travelers, shift handoffs, nonconforming material disposition, and ESD, 5S, and safety programs.\n\nReporting: Report line status, schedule attainment, yield, scrap, and inventory health daily, and raise risks early.\n\nScaling: Collaborate with the engineering and capital projects teams to bring up future lines on world-class timelines as Etched scales to gigawatts worth of modules.\n\nHelp our agentic manufacturing team extract data from the production line and set up an auto-research loop to improve SMT throughput and yield.\n\nLead the way in integrating frontier AI technology into SMT operations.\n\nWhat we need to see:\nBachelor's degree in a STEM field or comparable experience.\n\nMinimum of five years of experience in electronics manufacturing (PCBA/SMT), with at least two years leading production teams.\n\nHands-on experience running an SMT line day to day: build scheduling, kitting, feeder setup, changeovers, and line-side inventory.\n\nExperience managing mixed teams of full-time employees and contractors across shifts.\n\nWorking knowledge of SMT inspection and quality (SPI, AOI, X-ray), IPC-A-610 and J-STD-001, and MSD handling.\n\nFamiliarity with SMT process validation and characterization, enough to partner closely with process engineering on yield.\n\nTrack record of building processes, training programs, and metrics from scratch.\n\nPassionate about automating parts of the job with agentic AI models, and willing to learn about this on the job.\n\nStrongly preferred:\nExperience leading an SMT line at a fast-growing hardware startup.\n\nHas brought a new SMT line from first build to stable production.\n\nExperience with complex, high-value assemblies (large BGAs, server or accelerator boards) and BGA rework.\n\nExperience with MES, traceability, or inventory systems.\n\nWe encourage you to apply even if you do not believe you meet every single qualification.\nBenefits\nMedical, dental, and vision packages with generous premium coverage\n$500 per month credit for waiving medical benefits\n\nHousing subsidy of $2,500 per month for those living within walking distance of the office\n\nRelocation support for those moving to San Jose (Santana Row)\n\nVarious wellness benefits covering fitness, mental health, and more\n\nDaily lunch and dinner in our office\n\nUnlimited compute budget subject to ROI justification\n\nCompensation Range: $250,000 - $350,000 with significant equity.\nWe are a fully in-person team in San Jose (Santana Row), and the SMT line is located in nearby Milpitas. We do not have boundaries between engineering and research, and we expect all of our technical staff to contribute to both and work across disciplines as needed.","description_format":"text","description_chars":5090,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":5,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":true,"industries":["Electronics Manufacturing","Processors, MCUs & AI Chips","AI Compute & Inference","AI Chips & Accelerators"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-09T20:20:41Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 5","filings_12m":5,"filings_prev_12m":0,"green_card_filings_12m":0,"median_offered_wage_usd":173500,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-15T11:24:14+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":90,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.903,"p_room":1,"age_days":9,"expected_fill_days":162,"reasons":["conf:1","velocity","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-10-19T05:45:15Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":350000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/etched-smt-line-lead","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/etched-smt-line-lead.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-19T18:18:16Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":14134,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-20T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":5021},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=5021"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fetched-smt-line-lead"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fetched-smt-line-lead"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fetched-smt-line-lead"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/etched-smt-line-lead\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fetched-smt-line-lead"}]}