Manager Fertigung & NPI Engineering (m/w/d)

Antora builds and deploys thermal energy storage to power always-on industrial operations and data centers with low-cost energy. Factory-built in California, Antora's thermal batteries deliver reliable and cost-effective heat and power for industrial loads of any size. Antora is electrifying global industry while supporting U.S. manufacturing jobs, lowering costs for energy consumers, and enhancing the competitiveness of American industry.

We are growing our company with people who put team and mission first, value connection through laughter and joy, and build with humility and openness. We are committed to continue building a diverse, passionate, and creative team dedicated to a future where every industrial facility, everywhere on earth, is powered by abundant, clean, low-cost energy.

Position Summary

Antora is searching for an experienced manufacturing engineering leader to lead our Manufacturing & NPI Engineering team in San Jose, CA. You will lead the function responsible for translating product designs into safe, repeatable, and scalable manufacturing processes, ensuring that Antora's thermal battery modules can be built safely, reliably, and at increasing scale.

In this role, you will lead a team of engineers responsible for manufacturing process development, new product introduction, design-for-manufacturability, tooling, work instructions, manufacturing systems, and production readiness including released processes, trained operators, validated tooling, accurate manufacturing bills of materials, and clear launch criteria. You will partner closely with design engineering, production, supply chain, quality, and factory expansion teams to turn evolving product designs into scalable manufacturing processes.

This is a hands-on leadership role suited for someone who enjoys both developing people and solving complex manufacturing problems on the shop floor. In the near term, you will help drive manufacturing excellence at Antora's San Jose facility while translating today's production learnings into the processes, equipment, and factory requirements that support Antora's next stage of scale.

Roles & Responsibilities

Team leadership

• Lead a team of Manufacturing & NPI Engineers; set priorities, run weekly syncs, and manage workload across concurrent product generations and production demands.
• Coach engineers on process plan quality, BOM accuracy, and ECO discipline; step in directly on high-priority technical work when needed.
• Encourage the use of analytics, automation, and AI-assisted workflows to improve manufacturing engineering quality, speed, and consistency.
• Build and maintain engineering processes, standards, and best practices for manufacturing engineering & NPI at Antora.

Design for manufacturability (DFM)

• Champion DFM in design reviews: provide manufacturability feedback that influences product architecture for cost, yield, cycle time, and ramp-up speed.
• Lead manufacturing & NPI engineers to be key voices in the room, collaborating with design engineering teams to develop buildable designs early-on when changes are easier to implement and cost less.
• Translate floor-level learnings (yield drivers, scrap modes, ergonomic / takt-time constraints) into upstream design guidance and DFM standards for the next product generations.

Manufacturing readiness & product generations

• Own the transition of each new product generation from design release into fully launched production including blank-sheet process definition, BOM lock milestones, and EVT (Engineering Verification Test) unit builds.
• Drive facility layout, work center design and commissioning, headcount requirements, and material flow for new product builds and parallel-line launches of existing products.
• Set strategy for and oversee identification, justification, acquisition, and commissioning of capital equipment including cranes, fixtures, lift tooling, and specialized manufacturing equipment.
• Set and drive manufacturing readiness deadlines in coordination with production, supply chain, and R&D.
• Define and own manufacturing readiness gates across each product generation (EVT ??? DVT ??? production), including entry/exit criteria, readiness reviews, and clear hand-offs between R&D and Production.
• Partner with the next-generation factory program to translate current-product process knowledge into facility design inputs (work-center specs, throughput models, equipment requirements, headcount planning) and own pre-launch manufacturing readiness for the first product builds in the new factory.
• Support the introduction of new vertically integrated components into existing assembly lines (incoming-part qualification, fixturing, tooling, and process integration).

Engineering change orders (ECOs)

• Review and approve ECOs; advise stakeholders on timing, scope, and risk tradeoffs - balance implementation speed, technical risk, material readiness, and production impact.
• Coordinate accountability between design engineers and the NPI team during ECO implementation; ensure changes are correctly and completely incorporated into the assembly line.

Process plans, work instructions & Bill of Materials (BOM) management

• Partner with the Responsible Engineers (REs) in design engineering to author, review, release, and maintain process plans, work instructions, and operation sequences across all product generations and sub-assemblies in our Manufacturing Execution System (MES); own the team standards, cadence, and execution discipline that keep this work consistent and on time.
• Ensure tight alignment between design BOMs (PLM) and manufacturing BOMs / process plans (MES) so ECO incorporations are complete, accurate, and on time. Partner with the Manager of Operations Systems, who owns end-to-end PLM/MES/ERP system strategy and integration.
• Drive systemic improvements to the ECO-to-shop-floor workflow; partnering with Operations Systems on the underlying tooling including automated checks that catch mismatches between released designs and production work orders.

Quality

• Partner with Quality Engineering on nonconformance disposition, corrective action, and validation methods that ensure the as-built product meets design requirements and prevent quality escapes.
• Partner with Quality Engineering and Field Service on root-cause analysis for field issues; close the loop back into design and process changes to drive field-issue count and cost-of-quality down generation-over-generation.

Cross-functional integration & reporting

• Serve as the primary manufacturing & NPI interface to R&D (EVT coordination), Supply Chain (clear-to-build material readiness tracking, supplier follow-up), Production (floor execution, schedule adherence), and Design Engineering.
• Develop manufacturing performance reporting for senior leadership, including cycle time, ramp readiness, production performance, and learning-curve metrics.

Key Qualifications

• Demonstrated scope equivalent to 8+ years in manufacturing engineering, NPI, or process engineering, including experience leading engineers, technical programs, or cross-functional manufacturing initiatives.
• Proven ability to build and lead high-performing, highly-motivated and collaborative teams of engineers in a manufacturing or product development context.
• Demonstrated ownership of new product introduction or product generation transitions, including process definition, tooling, documentation, first builds, and production ramp.
• Hands-on experience with a Manufacturing Execution System (MES); process plan authoring and work order release.
• Working knowledge of Manufacturing Execution Systems, Product Lifecycle Management systems, and engineering change order processes.
• Experience partnering cross-functionally with design engineering, production, supply chain, quality, and operations teams.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to generate clear work instructions and process documentation for a technical audience.

Additional Qualifications Desired

• Experience in a startup or early-growth manufacturing environment where you've had to build processes, not just follow them.
• Background in a product involving precision assembly, electromechanical integration, or thermal/energy systems.
• Familiarity with quality tools: Material Review Board, nonconformance systems, PFMEA, SPC.
• Experience contributing to executive or board-level reporting on manufacturing operations.
• Python or SQL skills

Work Location: Onsite - San Jose, CA

Salary Range: $174,000 USD - $238,000 USD

Salary Basis: Annual

Please note that the salary range listed above reflects Antora Energy's estimated pay for this position. The actual salary offered will be within the posted range and determined based on several factors including but not limited to a candidate's experiences, credentials and expertise, as they pertain to the position's requirements.

In addition to a competitive base salary, Antora Energy's Total Rewards program includes equity compensation in the form of stock options, a premium health benefits package with life and disability insurance, a 401K plan with employer contributions, flexible spending accounts, and an industry leading paid-time-off policy that features flexible and inclusive holiday observance, as well as paid volunteer time off.

When it comes to stopping climate change, we need everyone. We believe that having a diversity of backgrounds and experiences strengthens all of us, and we strive to create an environment where every one of us is empowered to create meaningful change.

Benefits

Compensation & Paid Time Off

• Competitive salary
• Stock options
• 401k plan with company match
• Clean commute stipend
• 15 paid vacation days per year, increasing with tenure
• 12 paid holidays (10 fixed, 2 of your choosing)
• 16 hours of volunteer time off
• 16 weeks of paid parental leave
• 24 hours of wellbeing time off

Health & Wellness

• Comprehensive medical coverage for employees & dependents
• Health savings account option with employer contribution
• Vision, dental, and life coverage
• Flexible spending account & dependent care account options
• Subsidized backup childcare, senior care, and petcare
• 80 hours of sick leave
• Personalized access to mental health support

Facilities & Community

• Kitchen with a variety of healthy snacks & drinks
• On-site gym with fitness equipment
• On-site showers and bike parking
• Dedicated mothers' room
• Team volunteer events
• Monthly social gatherings
• Foosball table and lawn games for breaks and friendly competition