Engineering Lab Manager

About the Role

We are a fast-growing AI hardware startup building
next-generation AI chips
that push the limits of performance, power efficiency, and scalability. We are looking for a
hands-on Engineering Lab Manager
to
build, run, and scale our engineering lab from the ground up
, enabling rapid silicon bring-up, validation, and system-level testing.

This is a highly visible, high-impact role. You will be the
owner of the lab
, working directly with silicon design, systems, validation, and software teams to ensure engineers can move fast without friction.

What You'll Do

Build & Own the Lab

• Design lab layouts, benches, rack infrastructure, power, cooling, and networking.
• Establish lab safety, ESD controls, access policies, and operating procedures—then keep them lightweight and practical.
• Manage inventory of consumables such as cables and connectors.

Hands-On Silicon Bring-Up Support

• Actively support first-silicon bring-up, board debug, and system integration.
• Help engineers debug power, clocks, resets, high-speed interfaces, and thermal issues.
• Rapidly adapt lab setups as designs evolve—no two weeks are the same.
• Assist RF and signal integrity measurements.
• Provide limited rework of board.

Equipment & Vendor Management

• Select, procure, and maintain lab equipment (scopes, analyzers, power supplies, thermal tools, servers).
• Work directly with vendors to get what the team needs—fast and cost-effective.
• Track assets and keep the lab operational with minimal downtime.

Enable Speed & Execution

• Prioritize lab usage across multiple teams and tape-out milestones.
• Remove bottlenecks so engineers can focus on building and debugging silicon.
• Create simple processes that scale with the company without slowing it down.

Grow with the Company

• Hire and mentor lab technicians or junior engineers as the team grows.
• Evolve the lab to support multiple silicon revisions, platforms, and customers.
• Contribute ideas beyond the lab—startup life values initiative.

What We're Looking For:

• Associate degree (Bachelor's degree preferred) in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or equivalent hands-on experience.
• 7+ years in hardware labs supporting SoC, semiconductor, or advanced system development.
• Strong hands-on experience with silicon bring-up, board-level debug, and lab instrumentation.
• Need to have good soldering skills and board rework experience.
• Comfort working in ambiguous, fast-moving environments.
• Builder mentality—you enjoy creating a structure where none exists.

Nice to Have

• Experience with a semiconductor or AI hardware startup.
• Mechanical design experience, especially with PCB jigs.
• Familiarity with thermal management of silicon testing.
• Experience automating lab workflows or test setups.
• Prior experience scaling a lab through multiple tape-outs.

Why This Role Matters

• You will
  directly impact the success of our silicon
  —lab readiness can make or break tape-out and bring-up.
• High ownership and visibility across engineering leadership.
• Opportunity to grow into broader operations or technical leadership roles as the company scales.
• Work alongside a small, elite team solving hard problems in AI hardware.