Hardware Operation Program Manager

We're hiring a Hardware Operations Program Manager to link our design engineers with our manufacturing partners. You'll keep the BOM accurate, run engineering changes through PLM, plan materials for new builds and mass production, and make sure finished kiosks are ready when customers need them. You will work closely with the hardware team to keep inventory, shipments, parts, and operational tasks organized and moving.

You don't need to be hands-on in every area, but you need to understand all of them well enough to spot risks early and drive decisions. What matters most is that you are organized, reliable, able to follow through, comfortable working with physical hardware, and eager to learn.

Location: Hybrid, San Jose, CA (onsite at least 2 days per week)

What We Value:

• Impact: You will own significant responsibility and have total ownership over your work. We stay lean and efficient, so your work directly impacts the product we ship every day.
• Simplicity: Complexity is a waste of time here-we take pride in building things that just work.
• Hard Work: Forget the glamorous research papers. We prioritize the hard work it takes to achieve real-world clarity and accuracy. You will innovate relentlessly to push the boundaries of what’s possible in visual automation.
• Humility: No task is beneath you. Whether it's high-level architecture or grunt work to fix a bug, we check our egos at the door and get real work done.
• Ruthless Prioritization: If everything is on fire, nothing is. You will be expected to prioritize ruthlessly, cutting through distractions to focus on the most impactful product improvements.
• Customer Innovation: We are customer-centric, not customer-pleasing. You won’t bend to every client demand; you will let innovation drive the product forward to solve the real problems our users face.
• Efficiency: Meetings suck. We keep them short and only use them for alignment, giving you your time back to focus on real work.

What you'll do

• Own the BOM. Maintain accurate, multi-level BOMs for our kiosk products, tracking costs, lead times, single-source parts, and alternates.
• Assist with engineering changes in PLM. Manage ECO/ECN workflows with design engineers, ensuring changes are reviewed, released to our manufacturing partner, and phased in cleanly-including decisions about existing inventory.
• Assist with NPI builds. Plan and coordinate EVT, DVT, and PVT builds with engineering and our contract manufacturer. Track build issues through resolution and help take products into mass production.
• Plan materials for NPI and MP. Ensure parts arrive on time for prototype builds. For mass production, work from forecasts, manage long-lead-time parts, and balance shortages against excess inventory.
• Help manage international suppliers and manufacturing. Serve as the day-to-day contact for overseas suppliers and our contract manufacturer. Follow up on schedules, quality issues, pricing, and lead times.
• Track finished goods and inventory. Know how many units we have, where they are, and when we need to build more. Partner with finance to ensure inventory accuracy.
• Be the escalation point for logistics. Our fulfillment and shipping partners handle daily operations; step in when a shipment issue threatens a build or customer deployment.
• Keep everyone informed. Share clear updates on status, risks, and next steps with engineering, operations, finance, and leadership.
• Keep inventory records and shipment tracking information accurate and up to date.
• Support U.S. domestic logistics, including preparing shipments, coordinating with carriers, tracking deliveries, and helping resolve shipping issues.
• Follow up with our contract manufacturer, suppliers, and internal teams on open operational items.
• Help organize hardware, spare parts, packaging materials, and finished goods.
• Flag inventory discrepancies, shipment delays, and other issues to the team early.
• Support day-to-day hardware operations as priorities change.
• Maintain clear records so the team can see the latest status without having to reconstruct what happened.

What you bring

• Minimum of 3 years in hardware operations, NPI program management, materials management, or a related role at a hardware company
• Working knowledge of multi-level (layered) BOMs and how changes ripple through them
• Hands-on experience with a PLM system such as Arena, Agile, Windchill, or Teamcenter, including ECO/ECN processes
• Experience working with design engineers to release at least one product to market
• Experience managing materials for NPI builds and/or mass production
• Broad understanding of manufacturing, ideally with international contract manufacturers
• Working knowledge of finished goods and inventory management
• Experience working with domestic and/or international suppliers
• Comfort with occasional early-morning or evening calls to work across Asia time zones
• Clear, patient communication, including with partners whose first language isn't English
• Bachelor's degree in engineering, supply chain, operations, or a related field, or equivalent experience

Nice to have

• Experience working with US domestic and international logistics partners, such as 3PLs, freight forwarders, FedEx or UPS
• Familiarity with Incoterms and the basics of importing from China, including customs and tariffs
• Experience with an ERP or MRP system such as NetSuite, SAP or Oracle
• Previous work at a hardware startup or with consumer electronics, kiosks, POS, robotics or IoT products
• Time on the factory side, at a contract manufacturer or EMS provider