Senior Director of Robotics Hardware (Node Engineering)

About the Role

This senior leadership role is one of the most pivotal and technically broad at Atomic Machines. Reporting directly to the VP, Device & Process Engineering, you will be the executive responsible for the development of Atomic Machines' digital manufacturing "Nodes," each of which implements a class of physical manufacturing process, as a fully automated digital machine built upon our robust hardware and software platform that enables sophisticated interaction with all other Nodes, ultimately manifesting in the Matter Compiler (MC). You will lead a team of exceptional principal-level mechanical engineers (both ICs and ICMs) to design and build the Nodes -- from initial prototypes and DoEs through to commercial readiness -- required for the launch of our first product and beyond, and your team will work in the context of our fully operational Hybrid Fab, which provides a unique agile development/deployment environment for all aspects of the MC. Importantly, we are growing rapidly, and you will play a key role in further building out the team with additional bar-raising talent.

What You’ll Do

• Cultivate a high-performing leadership team by managing managers and directors while ensuring their teams consistently deliver against strategic objectives and engineering excellence standards.
• Own the node hardware architecture: mechanism selection, kinematics, structural design, thermal control, sensing, actuation, and serviceability - with clear interfaces to software, controls, and manufacturing.
• Drive hardware requirements and error budgets for precision, throughput, and reliability (accuracy, repeatability, stiffness, settle time, drift, MTBF/MTTR, uptime) and translate them into subsystem specifications and verification plans.
• Lead design and industrialization of motion subsystems (stages/gantries, rotary axes, Z/force axes), end-effectors, fixturing, and in-situ metrology aligned with sub-micron performance needs.
• Establish rigorous design processes: design reviews, interface control documents (ICDs), GD&T and tolerance analysis standards, DFMEA/PFMEA, verification & validation (V&V) plans, and disciplined engineering change control (ECO/ECN).
• Build scalable calibration and alignment strategies into the hardware (datums, fiducials, kinematic mounts, reference artifacts) and partner with software to automate calibration, compensation, and drift detection.
• Partner with Manufacturing Engineering to develop the prototype-to-production pipeline for node hardware: supplier strategy, DFM/DFA/DFS, first-article inspection, incoming quality, build documentation, assembly/test fixtures, and ramp to stable yields.
• Drive reliability engineering for nodes: test strategy (lifetime, wear, thermal cycling, vibration, contamination), FRACAS, root cause analysis, preventive maintenance design, and reliability growth metrics.
• Hire, develop, and lead a high-performing multi-disciplinary hardware organization (ME, opto-mechanics, test/validation) with a strong bar for technical excellence and execution.
• Partner cross-functionally to integrate nodes into complete manufacturing systems and debug factory issues with urgency, rigor, and high standards.
  
  

What You’ll Need

• Ph.D. (strongly preferred) or M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Physics, or a related field with deep hands-on hardware execution.
• At least 7 years as an IC developing complex robotics, precision automation, or advanced manufacturing systems, along with 10+ years of cross-organizational leadership, including managing managers/directors and driving org-level hiring and talent strategies.
• Demonstrated ownership of multiple hardware systems shipped to production: from early prototypes through manufacturing ramp and sustained field operation.
• Deep expertise in precision mechanism design: stiffness/compliance, vibration/dynamics, thermal drift, error budgeting (including Abbe errors), and practical metrology.
• Strong command of GD&T, tolerance stack-ups, and design for manufacturability/assembly/service (DFM/DFA/DFS), including collaboration with suppliers and quality teams.
• Experience selecting and integrating sensors and actuators (encoders, force/torque, vision, capacitive/inductive, pneumatics, motors, bearings) with clear understanding of physics and failure modes.
• Track record of building hardware test and validation frameworks: DVP&R, fixture design, automated test where appropriate, and clear pass/fail criteria tied to requirements.
• Strong reliability and failure analysis skills: DFMEA/PFMEA, RCA, DOE, wear/fatigue, contamination, and field-debug discipline in production environments.
• Systems-level leadership and communication across mechanical, electrical, controls, software, vision, manufacturing, and supply chain domains.
• Cultural alignment with first-principles reasoning, accountability, disciplined thinking, high standards, and truth-seeking teamwork.