Factory Lead

Who we are

Physical Intelligence is bringing general-purpose AI into the physical world. We are a team of engineers, scientists, roboticists, and company builders developing foundation models and learning algorithms to power the robots of today and the physically-actuated devices of the future.

The ideal candidate has run a production floor for a complex electromechanical product (robots, vehicles, aircraft, or similar) and has stood up or scaled a line from low-volume builds to steady output. They have hired, trained, and led technicians, run a daily production meeting, and owned throughput, yield, and on-time delivery numbers. They are fluent in lean practice (5S, kaizen, standard work, visual management) and comfortable enforcing process discipline in a fast-moving environment that is still inventing its product. It will be crucial for this individual to act with autonomy and own problems and decisions even at the edges of their core responsibilities, collaborating naturally with hardware engineering, supply chain, program management, and fleet teams.

The team

This role is part of the hardware team and leads the πBuild production floor, working closely with πFab, supply chain, hardware engineering, program management, and fleet integration.

In this role you will:

- Own and operate PI's robot production line, including final assembly, test, and pack, and be accountable for robots shipping to the fleet on time and to spec.

- Set and run the daily and weekly production schedule, allocate technicians and stations, and lead the daily production stand-up.

- Build and lead the build technician team: hire, onboard, train, plan labor for ramps, and run performance reviews.

- Design and improve material flow from receiving dock through staging, kitting, and line-side delivery, and partner with supply chain on inventory accuracy and replenishment.

- Plan and manage the production floor layout, station and equipment introductions, and space needs as volume grows.

- Hold the line to quality standards: enforce inspection criteria and test protocols, drive containment and corrective action with engineering when builds fail, and feed field issues back to the line.

- Define, track, and report production KPIs (throughput, yield, cycle time, on-time delivery, cost per unit) and make risks to the build schedule visible early.

- Set and enforce safety standards on the floor and coach the team to catch risks before they become incidents.

- Keep work instructions, standard work, and production records accurate and aligned to how the floor actually builds.

- Partner with the NPI TPM and Manufacturing Lead to bring new platforms and design changes into production without breaking current output.

- Lead continuous improvement on the floor (5S, kaizen, cycle-time reduction) and grow the production operation as PI moves from prototype to pilot to scale.

What we hope you'll bring

In addition to 7+ years in manufacturing or production operations with 3+ years leading a production team, strong candidates should have:

- Experience owning a production line end to end: scheduling, staffing, output targets, and escalation when the line stops.

- Experience standing up or scaling a production line or final assembly, test, and pack (FATP) operation for an electromechanical product.

- Experience building and leading a technician team: recruiting, onboarding, training, skill-gap planning, labor planning for ramps, and performance management.

- Working knowledge of production and inventory control: material flow from receiving to point of use, line-side presentation, kitting, and cycle counting.

- Working knowledge of lean manufacturing and continuous improvement: 5S, kaizen, standard work, time studies, and visual management.

- Experience defining and tracking production KPIs (throughput, yield, cycle time, on-time delivery, cost per unit) and reporting them to leadership.

- Experience with floor layout and space planning, including introducing new stations and equipment without disrupting running production.

- Experience setting and enforcing safety standards on a production floor (OSHA basics, powered equipment, hazardous materials).

- Familiarity with ERP/MRP and production tracking tools, and with keeping work instructions aligned to what the floor actually does.

- Hands-on ability to build and troubleshoot electromechanical assemblies alongside technicians.

- Clear written and verbal communication, able to present production status and tradeoffs to technical and executive audiences.

- Bachelor's degree in Manufacturing, Industrial, Mechanical Engineering, Operations Management, or equivalent experience. Experience in robotics, automotive, aerospace, or hardware startups preferred.