Head of Manufacturing Design Program Manager

About Etched Etched is building the world’s first AI inference system purpose-built for transformers - delivering over 10x higher performance and dramatically lower cost and latency than a B200. With Etched ASICs, you can build products that would be impossible with GPUs, like real-time video generation models and extremely deep & parallel chain-of-thought reasoning agents. Backed by hundreds of millions from top-tier investors and staffed by leading engineers, Etched is redefining the infrastructure layer for the fastest growing industry in history. Job Summary Etched is seeking a Head of Manufacturing Design Program Manager to lead technical manufacturing readiness across new product introduction and mass production for our transformer-specific AI systems. This role sits at the intersection of design engineering, test engineering, SMT, FATP, and operations, driving cross-functional execution from early DFM reviews through production ramp and yield optimization. You will own manufacturing program health, supplier readiness, capacity planning, and executive-level manufacturing reporting for some of the highest performance AI hardware systems ever deployed. Key Responsibilities - Drive manufacturing technical readiness across NPI and mass production phases in close partnership with test engineering, FATP process engineering, SMT engineering, and hardware design teams. - Lead DFM reviews with design engineering teams across L6/L10/L11 assemblies, identifying manufacturability risks, integration bottlenecks, and process constraints before production ramp. - Own manufacturing readiness reviews, including weekly executive reporting on build readiness, factory status, process capability, yield trends, risk mitigation, and supplier execution. - Partner with contract manufacturers and supply chain teams to develop production capacity plans, line bring-up schedules, tooling readiness, and ramp strategies. - Drive process capability improvements and yield optimization initiatives across SMT, mechanical integration, and final assembly/test operations. - Coordinate engineering issue resolution during prototype, EVT, DVT, PVT, and mass production builds, ensuring rapid root-cause analysis and closure. - Establish manufacturing KPIs, escalation frameworks, and operational review mechanisms to improve production predictability and execution quality. You may be a good fit if you have (Must-have qualifications) - 10+ years of experience leading manufacturing operations, NPI, or technical program management for complex hardware systems in high-volume electronics or compute infrastructure environments. - Deep expertise in one or more manufacturing disciplines including mechanical integration, test engineering, industrial engineering, SMT process engineering, or factory operations. - Experience driving DFM and production readiness reviews for complex electromechanical assemblies and multi-board systems. - Strong understanding of manufacturing development phases including EVT, DVT, PVT, and production ramp. - Proven experience managing contract manufacturers, FATP partners, and cross-functional factory execution. - Ability to communicate manufacturing status, risks, and tradeoffs clearly to executive leadership and engineering stakeholders. - Willingness to work in-person from our San Jose office and travel internationally to manufacturing partners as needed. Strong candidates may also have experience with (Nice-to-have qualifications) - Experience scaling AI servers, accelerator systems, networking hardware, or other high-performance compute platforms. - Familiarity with factory yield analytics, SPC methodologies, process capability metrics, and manufacturing data systems. - Experience with liquid-cooled systems, high-density compute integration, or advanced packaging technologies. - Hands-on experience with automated test infrastructure, board validation, or system-level manufacturing diagnostics. - Background working closely with ASIC, systems,