Head of Mechanical Engineering

What you'll do

• Build the team. Hire, onboard and develop 8–10 mechanical and process engineers, from junior to senior, plus external contractors. Set leveling and expectations, and give regular, direct feedback.
• Set the standard. Build a world-class engineering function: operating structure, cadence, requirements, design reviews, project ownership, and shared tools across Austin, Los Angeles and Europe. An engineer in any office should design to the same bar.
• Lead design and delivery. Guide the team through designing, building and testing automated cells and production lines. This covers fixtures, end effectors, textile handling and add-on mechanisms for industrial knitting machines, from process flow and layout through prototype, debug and production.
• Stay close to the hardware. Be on the floor during build, debug and first-article. When a prototype isn’t working, help the team find the real failure and get the fix into the design fast.
• Own key engineering partnerships. Be the day-to-day technical lead for our external engineering partners and consultants. Keep these relationships strong, hold partners to scope, quality and schedule, and take ownership of these working relationships from leadership.
• Partner across the org. Work with program managers on scope, schedule and tradeoffs, and flag early when a date is at risk. Work with the electrical/controls, robotics and software leads so cells work as one system, not hand-offs over a wall.
• Own BOMs and sourcing. Plan and procure BOMs, make make-vs-buy calls, and manage machine shops and fabricators.
• Deploy and improve. Support deploying and maintaining automation in our factories. Use cycle-time and OEE data from running lines to drive improvements as we scale.

What we're looking for

• Background & Experience
• 10+ years designing complex mechanical or mechatronic systems, such as automated production lines, robotic cells or capital equipment, and taking them from prototype to full production.
• High-volume, high-mix manufacturing experience required (e.g., lines that run many

SKUs or variants at scale such as appliances, packaging, consumer products). Apparel or textile experience is a plus.

• A degree in mechanical engineering, or equivalent hands-on experience.
• Willing to travel regularly to Los Angeles, Europe and other sites as needed.
• Managerial
• Proven experience hiring, leading and developing engineers from junior to senior. You’ll build a team of 8–10 engineers across offices and time zones, plus external contractors, so strong written and async communication is essential.
• Has set engineering standards a team actually adopted, such as design reviews, drawing and GD&T conventions, and DFM practices.
• Comfortable in a matrix. Program managers set priorities, and you influence scope and schedule without owning them.
• Skills
• Fluent in SolidWorks, NX or similar, plus PDM/PLM.
• Deep experience designing automation cells and integrating them into lines, from fixtures, end effectors and robot integration up to line-level design: buffers between stations, recovery from jams and faults, and graceful degradation.
• A rapid-prototyping mindset. You know when to machine, print or assemble something yourself and when to bring in the right shop or contractor.
• Enough electrical and controls fluency to collaborate closely with controls and robotics engineers.
• Who you are
• Low ego, high agency and comfortable with startup ambiguity. You turn loose requirements into buildable designs and a clear plan your team can execute.
• A hands-on builder by background, with the first-principles judgment to review designs, coach engineers, unblock them on the floor, and know which analysis is worth running.

Nice to have

• Experience with textile, knitting or apparel machinery, especially flat knitting machines, or handling of soft goods.
• Comfortable designing retrofits and add-ons for third-party equipment, often with minimal drawings or documentation to start from.
• A manufacturing/industrial engineering experience: cycle-time analysis, OEE and continuous improvement.
• Experience as a first engineering hire or early team lead at a hardware company.

Why Framework

• Mission: Reshore manufacturing, shorten supply chains, and change how apparel is made.
• Ownership: A senior leadership seat. You'll shape the mechanical roadmap, the team and the engineering culture.
• Tangible results: See your designs running robots and producing apparel within weeks, not years.
• Generous salary and equity.
• Benefits: Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and life insurance. 401(K) with company

matching