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

We’re looking for a Manufacturing Operations Manager to lead day-to-day execution across our contract manufacturers. You’ll own the delivery of fully integrated server systems—from board assembly and component kitting to bring-up, burn-in, and outbound shipment. This is a high-responsibility, cross-functional role that sits at the center of production, quality, and engineering.

You’ll collaborate closely with Etched’s hardware, production, and logistics teams to ensure reliable, high-quality output against aggressive timelines.

Key responsibilities

• Own build schedules and production execution at our contract manufacturers

• Coordinate material availability, work order release, factory readiness, and line balance

• Monitor yields, throughput, and quality metrics; drive issue resolution with engineering and supplier quality teams

• Execute and enforce manufacturing processes including bring-up, diagnostics, rework, and final test

• Ensure daily/weekly output targets are met and proactively escalate blockers

• Align cross-functionally on build readiness (NPI/MP), ECOs, and configuration changes

• Serve as the primary in-person interface between Etched and the L11 factory team

• Support production planning and forecast execution in collaboration with the planning team

• Conduct factory audits and help drive continuous improvement efforts in tooling, flow, and documentation

You may be a good fit if you have

• 8+ years experience in hardware manufacturing operations or OPM roles, ideally in system hardware company

• Hands-on familiarity with SMT, server integration, or datacenter hardware bring-up

• Proven ability to manage factory output

• Comfortable working on-site resolving issues in real time

• Strong communication skills and cross-functional coordination capability

• Working knowledge of BOMs, MRP/ERP systems, yield analysis, and change control

Strong candidates may also have experience with

• Previous experience in NPI-to-MP transitions

• Familiarity with thermal/power validation workflows or failure analysis

• Background in electrical or mechanical engineering

• Exposure to high-volume production scaling or rapid prototype builds

Benefits

• Full medical, dental, and vision packages, with generous premium coverage

• 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 San Jose (Santana Row)

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 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 as needed.