Manufacturing Applications Engineer

ABOUT US

Foundry Robotics is building an AI-native robotics manufacturing company focused on deploying advanced assembly and production capability for leading robotics companies and national-security-critical hardware. Basically, we’re building robots that build robots.

We are reimagining manufacturing through advanced robotics. Our mission is to rebuild the American manufacturing industry as an AI-first, assembly-focused, dual-use contract manufacturer. We aim to empower manufacturers with intelligent, efficient, and adaptable robotic systems that redefine productivity and quality. As an early member of our team, you will have a direct and significant impact on our product, culture, and ultimate success. This role is 100% in-person at our office in Emeryville, CA.

THE ROLE

This role is for a Manufacturing Applications Engineer who bridges what our customers need to build and what our factory can build. You are the engineer in the room when a prospect asks whether we can build their product, how we would do it, and what it would cost, and you carry that answer from the first discovery call to a signed PO. You turn drawings, BOMs, and volumes into a DFM review, a process flow, a cost model, and a proposal, then hand a clean technical package to manufacturing so nothing is lost between what the customer intended and what we execute. Much of this work happens at the customer: expect to travel to customer sites across the U.S. 30 to 40% of the time, for discovery visits, build shadowing, and first-article reviews.

This is an engineering role, not a support role, and you are the first person in the seat: you define how Foundry scopes and estimates programs, and you automate the parts that should not need an engineer at all. The problems waiting for you: estimating robotic assembly where no industry benchmark exists, turning a drawing package into a process flow and estimate inside a week, defining AS9100 build standards that do not slow a startup customer down, and feeding every lesson into FoundryOS so the next estimate is faster than the last. A year in, every new opportunity has a technical owner from the first call, technical estimates turn around in days, and at least two programs you scoped are in production on the timeline and margin you committed to.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

- Lead discovery calls and customer visits alongside go-to-market, qualifying fit before engineering time is committed - Own technical intake: drawings, BOM, volumes, materials, tolerances, test and certification requirements, export-control status (ITAR, EAR, CUI) - Run DFM and DFA reviews and deliver written findings the customer can act on and our engineers can build to - Provide the technical inputs behind every quote: process steps, labor and cycle-time estimates, tooling, supplier quotes, lead times, and NRE, so go-to-market can price and package the proposal - Scope design-services engagements (DFM, DFA, DFRA) with deliverables, milestones, and engineering-hour estimates for go-to-market to turn into the SOW - Define the build standard with the customer before PO (frozen revisions, deviation process, customer-furnished material), working with Quality to keep it AS9100-compliant - Hand off a complete technical package at PO and remain the customer's technical point of contact through first-article and pilot delivery - Build the reusable technical intake form, process-estimate templates, and cost models, and feed customer needs into the FoundryOS and robotic cell roadmaps