Senior Manufacturing Engineer

Our mission is to make biology easier to engineer. Ginkgo is constructing, editing, and redesigning the living world in order to answer the globe’s growing challenges in health, energy, food, materials, and more. Our bioengineers make use of an in-house automated foundry for designing and building new organisms. 

Ginkgo Introduction

Ginkgo is a high-growth, well-capitalized public biotech company headquartered in Boston that is redesigning the living world to solve some of the globe's growing challenges in health, energy, food, materials, and more. Ginkgo is constructing, editing, and redesigning the living world in order to answer the globe's growing challenges in health, energy, food, materials, and more. Our mission to "make biology easier to engineer" is poised to disrupt multiple industries by leveraging our innovative data, automation, and scale in biological engineering.

Team Introduction

We're looking for an experienced manufacturing leader who is excited by the challenges of scaling production of our Automation Technology. The Automation Team creates integrated robotic workcells, designs processes around walk-up robotic systems, improves how data is handled, works with scientists on scaling their processes, and much more.

Ginkgo is hiring a Senior Manufacturing Engineer to join our in-house automation and integration team in Emeryville. This team is responsible for designing, developing, and deploying automation solutions to both internal labs and external automation customers. Ginkgo's Automation team is building the technology for scalable, reconfigurable, highly automated, high-throughput R&D labs — and this role will be central to ensuring we can reliably produce those systems at scale.

Job Description

As Senior Manufacturing Engineer, you will own the end-to-end production process for Ginkgo's Reconfigurable Automation Carts (RACs) and other automation hardware products. You will be the on-the-floor leader responsible for driving quality, throughput, and continuous improvement across our Emeryville production operations, working closely with the Mechatronics engineering team, technicians, and supply chain partners.

You will lead a team of Engineering Technicians, set standards for assembly and test, and serve as the primary owner of our manufacturing process documentation. You will be expected to identify and eliminate production bottlenecks, champion quality control best practices, and ensure our output meets the reliability bar required for customer-facing deployments.

You should expect variety in your day-to-day work along with an agile environment where priorities shift quickly in response to new projects and updated customer needs. We're open to learning new tools or methodologies to get the job done more efficiently, and we hope that you will bring new ideas and perspectives to the team!

Responsibilities

• Production Ownership: Oversee and continuously improve the full production lifecycle for RACs and automation hardware products, from sub-assembly through final integration, test, and shipment preparation.
• Team Leadership: Directly lead and mentor a team of Engineering Technicians; assign work, conduct performance feedback, and support career development for direct reports.
• Process Development & Enforcement: Author, maintain, and enforce Manufacturing Process Instructions (MPIs), Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), work instructions, and assembly checklists. Ensure the team consistently works to documented standards.
• Quality Systems & Standards: Establish and maintain proactive quality processes including Incoming Quality Control (IQC) for components and sub-assemblies, in-process inspection checkpoints, and final acceptance criteria. Own and administer the Material Review Board (MRB) process for non-conforming materials — ensuring timely dispositioning, supplier feedback, and preventive action. Maintain build records and drive continuous improvement through structured corrective and preventive actions (CAPA).
• Production Planning: Partner with project managers and engineering leads to translate customer commitments and sales forecasts into realistic production schedules. Track build progress against plan and surface risks proactively.
• Continuous Improvement: Identify and drive manufacturing efficiency improvements using Lean, 5S, and other manufacturing engineering methodologies. Reduce cycle time, rework, and material waste.
• Supply Chain & Vendor Coordination: Work with procurement and vendors to ensure timely delivery of components and sub-assemblies. Participate in supplier qualification and support make-vs-buy decisions.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with Mechatronics Engineers to ensure designs are optimized for manufacturability (DFM/DFA). Provide manufacturing feedback during design reviews and new product introduction (NPI).
• Tooling & Fixtures: Identify, specify, and manage production tooling, test fixtures, and equipment needed to support efficient and repeatable assembly.
• Safety & Compliance: Maintain a safe and organized production environment; enforce safety protocols and support EHS compliance.

Minimum Requirements

• Education: BS in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechatronics, or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience: 5+ years of experience in a manufacturing, production engineering, or systems integration role, with at least 2 years in a lead or supervisory capacity.
• Process Documentation: Demonstrated experience writing and maintaining manufacturing process documentation (SOPs, MPIs, work instructions, assembly procedures).
• Quality Systems: Hands-on experience establishing and operating structured quality processes including IQC (incoming quality control), in-process inspection, MRB (material review board), non-conformance tracking, CAPA, and build records.
• Team Leadership: Proven ability to lead, supervise, and develop a team of technicians or production personnel in a hands-on manufacturing environment.
• Technical Breadth: Practical experience with electromechanical assembly, cable harnessing, and integration of mechanical, electrical, and software subsystems.
• Communication: Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to work collaboratively across engineering, operations, and management stakeholders.
• Adaptability: Comfortable working in a fast-paced, high-growth environment where priorities evolve rapidly.

Preferred Capabilities and Experience

We do not expect that any one candidate will have all of the following experiences — each is independently a preferred or "nice-to-have" capability.

• Experience manufacturing complex robotic or automation systems, multi-axis motion systems, or lab instrumentation.
• Familiarity with lab automation equipment (liquid handlers from Agilent, Hamilton, Beckman/Labcyte; plate sealers; bulk dispensers; etc.).
• Experience with Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or 5S methodologies in a production environment.
• Formal training or certification in quality systems (ISO 9001, GMP, or similar).
• Proficiency with 3D CAD tools (SolidWorks preferred) for reviewing designs, creating jig/fixture models, and supporting DFM reviews.
• Experience in a contract manufacturing or integrator environment — combining technologies from multiple vendors into a unified system.
• Familiarity with MES, ERP, or inventory management systems used to manage production builds and parts.
• Experience with NPI processes: translating engineering prototypes into repeatable, scalable production builds.
• Experience supporting customer site installations or field service activities for capital equipment.