• Drive cross-functional program management for hardware assembly across mechanical, manufacturing, quality, and supply chain teams. • Manage the development and deployment of assembly fixtures, SOPs, line layouts, and production equipment—including automation and AOI—to ensure they meet engineering and manufacturing requirements. • Coordinate with design engineering to define fixture specifications, validation criteria, and readiness for production use. • Oversee fixture fabrication, bring-up, and iterative improvements based on factory build feedback. • Support the Hardware Product Design team to plan and execute design and manufacturing process experiments. • Track progress against program milestones, identify risks early, and lead the development of mitigation plans. • Coordinate activities across NPI and factory operations teams to ensure seamless technical and manufacturing execution. • Facilitate communication between engineering and operations teams to drive efficient issue resolution. • Lead post-mortems and continuous improvement initiatives to enhance future hardware builds and manufacturing strategies. • Actively support engineering builds in the factory, assisting directly with assembly, fixture operation, data collection, and issue reproduction. • Perform real-time root-cause analysis on mechanical, electrical, and process issues directly at the factory. • Participate in factory bring-up activities, including line readiness checks, equipment calibration, and process validation. • Tune assembly parameters, test limits, and tooling configurations in collaboration with manufacturing engineers. • Work closely with line operators and technicians to gather feedback, identify pain points, and implement process improvements. • Execute hands-on experiments on the production line, including DOEs, process trials, and characterization builds. • Collect on-line production data and analyze results to drive engineering decisions. • Participate directly in bring-up, debugging, and maintenance coordination for automation, test stations, and AOI systems. • Collaborate with equipment vendors during installation and troubleshooting. • Perform physical teardowns, support failure analysis, and prepare reliability samples directly in the factory. • Validate inspection criteria and refine quality gates with real units.