Prototype Engineering Lead

About Etched

Etched 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.

Job Summary

We are standing up an in-house prototyping division at our 80,000 square foot Milpitas facility: a quick-turn machine shop and sheet metal cell, a system assembly and integration area, and a prototype SMT line. The outcome you are hired to deliver is simple to state and hard to do: any Etched engineer can get a prototype part made with same-day or next-day turnaround. You own the entire outcome required to make that true — hiring, shop setup, process, and execution.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end stand-up of the prototyping division: space planning, equipment selection and procurement, facility improvements, permits, and commissioning of the machine shop, sheet metal cell, assembly area, and prototype SMT line

• Hire, lead, and develop a team of machinists, fabricators, and assembly technicians.

• Run day-to-day operations against the division's core metric: same-day or next-day turnaround on prototype parts for engineering

• Build the systems that make a shop run: work intake and prioritization, quoting, scheduling, traceability, inventory and vendor-managed consumables, and preventive maintenance

• Own the division budget (capex and opex), make build-vs-buy calls, and manage relationships with machine dealers, riggers, and overflow vendors

• Stand up quality infrastructure: first-article inspection, calibration program, cross-section/failure-analysis lab, and inspection criteria for incoming and in-process work

• Partner daily with mechanical, electrical, and thermal engineering teams to close design-for-manufacturability feedback loops and pull schedules in.

You may be a good fit if you have

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering, or other engineering discipline; OR 4+ years of professional experience in manufacturing or prototype operations in lieu of a degree

• 3+ years of experience in manufacturing, machine shop, or hardware prototyping operations

• 2+ years of experience directly leading technicians, machinists, or manufacturing teams

• Hands-on experience with CNC machining and/or sheet metal fabrication processes

Strong candidates may also have experience with

• Experience standing up a machine shop, prototype lab, or manufacturing line from an empty floor: equipment selection, rigging, utilities, and permits

• Working knowledge across the processes we run: 3-axis CNC milling, manual machining, waterjet cutting, CNC press brake forming, welding, and hardware insertion

• Experience with PCBA/SMT NPI processes (stencil printing, pick and place, reflow, AOI, X-ray, rework) or willingness to build that capability with a strong process engineer

• Experience with liquid-cooled systems, server/rack-scale hardware, or data center equipment assembly and test

• Familiarity with California manufacturing compliance: Cal/OSHA, CUPA/HMBP hazmat programs, BAAQMD air permits, wastewater discharge

• Experience implementing ERP/MES or lightweight traceability systems in a job-shop or NPI environment

• Ability to personally run a mill, brake, or lathe when the queue demands it

• Experience in a high-growth startup or program-driven environment (aerospace, automotive, consumer hardware NPI)

• Track record of hiring and retaining skilled trades talent in a competitive market

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision packages with generous premium coverage

  • $500 per month credit for waiving medical benefits

• Housing subsidy of $2k per month for those living within walking distance of the office

• Relocation support for those moving to San Jose (Santana Row)

• Various wellness benefits covering fitness, mental health, and more

• Daily lunch and dinner in our office

• Unlimited compute budget subject to ROI justification

How we’re different

Etched believes in the Bitter Lesson. We are the first inference-focused frontier AI system, betting early on transformer and transformer-like architectures and on increasing model sizes. Our addressable market is the entirety of inference, unlike many of our competitors.

We are a fully in-person team in San Jose (Santana Row), and greatly value engineering skills. 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.