Head of Manufacturing Engineering

About Etched

Etched is building AI chips that are hard-coded for individual model architectures. Our first product (Sohu) only supports transformers, but has an order of magnitude more throughput and lower latency than a B200. With Etched ASICs, you can build products that would be impossible with GPUs, like real-time video generation models and extremely deep & parallel chain-of-thought reasoning agents.

Job Summary

The Head of Manufacturing Engineering will be responsible for defining and executing the manufacturing strategy for our Sohu silicon to system-level solutions. This role will focus on setting up and optimizing manufacturing lines for mezzanine cards and full system-level assembly and testing in collaboration with ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) partners.

This is not just a technical role — it is a leadership position that will involve building, managing, and growing a world-class manufacturing engineering team. The successful candidate will lead hiring efforts and manage a team of highly skilled engineers covering test engineering, process engineering, failure analysis (FA), RMA, and operations engineering.

The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in manufacturing process engineering, yield improvement, and operational scaling in high-performance computing or semiconductor industries. This is a hands-on role directly reporting to the VP platforms team, strategic leadership role requiring a blend of technical depth, operational expertise, and strong team management skills.  

Key responsibilities

Strategic Manufacturing Leadership

• Develop and execute a comprehensive manufacturing strategy to support Etched’s AI silicon and systems roadmap, ensuring alignment with company-wide business objectives.

• Provide strategic direction and leadership to the manufacturing organization, balancing cost, quality, and delivery performance.

• Partner closely with executive leadership to ensure manufacturing goals align with long-term business growth and product milestones.

• Build a scalable infrastructure capable of supporting both low-volume prototyping and high-volume production.

• Champion a culture of operational excellence, continuous improvement, and data-driven decision-making throughout the organization.
  

Build and Lead a High-Performing Manufacturing Engineering Team

• Take ownership of building and scaling a world-class manufacturing engineering team to support Etched’s aggressive growth.

• Recruit, develop, and mentor talent across critical functions, including:

  • Test Engineering: Own test coverage strategy for AI silicon and systems; collaborate with design teams to ensure comprehensive testing and validation.

  • Manufacturing Engineering: Define manufacturing test processes, qualification protocols, and fixture/tooling development; address yield and build issues.

  • Process Engineering: Drive improvements in yield, throughput, and efficiency through robust process optimization.

  • Failure Analysis (FA)/RMA: Manage returned products, root cause analysis, and implement corrective/preventive actions.

  • Operations Engineering: Ensure daily production performance, focusing on throughput, yield, and cycle time optimization.

• Establish clear organizational structure, roles, and accountability to promote team alignment and execution.

• Cultivate a collaborative, high-performance culture focused on quality and delivery.

Manufacturing Process Development and Optimization

• Define and implement best-in-class manufacturing processes for both AI silicon and system-level products.

• Engage early in the design cycle to drive DFM and DFY practices, enabling scalable, cost-effective production.

• Continuously improve cycle time, yield, and throughput with data-driven methodologies and rigorous process control.

• Collaborate cross-functionally to close feedback loops between design and manufacturing teams, ensuring rapid iteration and learning.

Supplier and Partner Management

• Build and maintain strong technical relationships with ODMs and contract manufacturers across the globe.

• Oversee onboarding, production ramp-up, and performance management of key external partners.

• Ensure suppliers and partners consistently meet Etched’s standards for quality, cost, delivery, and responsiveness.

• Travel as needed to vendor sites, particularly in Asia, to support ramp-up and engineering alignment.
  

Quality and Compliance

• Ensure that all manufacturing operations meet or exceed relevant quality standards (e.g., ISO 9001, IPC).

• Collaborate with quality assurance teams to define inspection protocols and acceptance criteria.

• Lead initiatives to improve product reliability and manufacturing consistency through rigorous quality frameworks.

• Proactively manage risk and implement corrective actions in response to field or factory issues.

You may be a good fit if you have

• 7+ years of experience in manufacturing engineering, process engineering, or operations leadership in semiconductor, datacenter, or hardware systems environments.

• Hands-on experience taking products from prototype to high-volume production, including production line bring-up, fixture/tooling development, and automation.

• Demonstrated ability to build and scale multidisciplinary engineering teams while delivering high-quality, manufacturable products on aggressive timelines.

• A strong record of improving yield, reducing cycle time, and driving down cost through systematic process improvements.

• A strategic mindset with the ability to define and execute a manufacturing roadmap in alignment with product and business goals.

• A degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field (Bachelor’s required, Master’s preferred).

Strong candidates may also have experience with

• Managing ODM/contract manufacturers, particularly in Asia, including frequent on-the-ground vendor collaboration.

• Statistical process control (SPC), design of experiments (DOE), root cause analysis, and analytical tools such as JMP, Minitab, or Python.

• Driving DFM/DFT/DFY improvements in close partnership with silicon and system design teams.

• Leading NPI (New Product Introduction) programs and managing transitions from design to production.

• Navigating ambiguous, fast-paced environments while building structure and clarity from the ground up.

• Leading cross-functional teams with humility, clarity, and a strong sense of ownership and accountability.

Benefits

• Full medical, dental, and vision packages, with 100% of premium covered

• Housing subsidy of $2,000/month for those living within walking distance of the office

• Daily lunch and dinner in our office

• Relocation support for those moving to West San Jose

How we’re different

Etched believes in the Bitter Lesson. We think most of the progress in the AI field has come from using more FLOPs to train and run models, and the best way to get more FLOPs is to build model-specific hardware. Larger and larger training runs encourage companies to consolidate around fewer model architectures, which creates a market for single-model ASICs.

We are a fully in-person team in West San Jose, 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 as needed.