Director of Engineering
** TO APPLY PLEASE FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS AT THE END OF THE JOB DESCRIPTION **
The TLS team is growing as we expand our core business and create more laser solutions for our customers.
We are looking for a Director of Engineering to take complete ownership of system performance and lead our entire cross-functional engineering department.
This is a "Player-Coach" role (70% Management / 30% Hands-On) designed for a seasoned technical leader who wants to run a department, build scalable processes, and still keep their technical skills sharp. You will act as our "Chief Architect," guaranteeing that our machines meet stringent customer specs, while serving as the ultimate escalation point when the team is stuck on complex system design, integration or debugging.
Stepping directly into the Director seat, you will seamlessly transition management and architectural oversight from our outgoing leadership (who is moving to a specialized technical role). You will be tasked with maximizing the output of our brilliant engineers, protecting the time of our top scientists, and balancing risk-averse technical perfection with the agility of a startup. This role reports directly to the CEO.
We are a work culture that truly believes in living out and practicing our values. Everyone, including the CEO, works closely together. We believe in work-life balance, investing in people, work excellence, continuous growth, and open feedback. You will get to work with a small and impactful team of great people who really care about their work and each other.
Requirements:
- Education: Master’s degree required (PhD a bonus) in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a closely related technical field.
- Experience: 10+ years of engineering experience in the design, build, and integration of complex capital equipment, metrology, or precision mechatronic systems.
- Management: 5+ years of formal engineering management experience, with a proven track record of leading cross-functional teams (ME, EE, SW/FW) running department-level strategic planning, and owning departmental resource planning.
- Accountability: A mindset of extreme ownership and full accountability; you take ultimate responsibility for the final system performance, the risk matrix, and your team's overall output.
- Technical Depth: Deep technical expertise in system-level math, including statistical modeling, error budgeting, industrial standards for precision machinery and throughput analysis.
- Cross-Functional Intuition: Strong cross-functional awareness of mechanical design, mechatronics, and software integration to confidently review and challenge senior engineers' designs.
- Strategic Trade-offs: Demonstrated ability to make high-level executive decisions, balancing risk-averse engineering perfection with aggressive startup schedules and cost efficiency.
- Hands-On Capability: Willingness and ability to remain ~30% hands-on, actively participating in system power-up, integration, and complex troubleshooting alongside the team.
- Location: This is a fully on-site role. You must be willing and able to work on-site at our Fremont, CA facility.
- Bonus: Previous experience in a highly agile, "0-to-1" startup environment is strongly preferred.
Your key responsibilities will be to:
- Own the System Architecture & Spec: Act as the primary technical owner for system performance. You will own the pre-sale analysis, deep mathematical/statistical modeling, and error budgets, guaranteeing our machines hit their accuracy, precision, and throughput targets.
- Manage the Engineering Risk Matrix: Identify high-level technical risks early in the design phase. Make the tough executive trade-offs and create mitigation strategies that perfectly balance proactive, risk-averse engineering with time, schedule, and cost efficiency.
- Drive Resource Planning & Cross-Functional Execution: Own the engineering resource allocation across all active and pipeline projects. You will accurately forecast the resources required, manage ongoing resource planning, and work cross-functionally with the program management team to ensure project schedules are realistic, efficient, and fully supported.
- Lead and Scale the Department: Manage and mentor the entire engineering team (Systems & Controls, and Design & Build). Establish a department-wide leadership rhythm, run strategic weekly meetings, and transition our R&D and build schedules from reactive to proactive.
- Act as the "Last Line of Defense" (30% Hands-On): While the team handles daily execution, you will oversee power-up, integration, and complex debugging. You are willing and able to jump into the trenches, program tools, and troubleshoot when the team needs an escalation point.
- Coach and Elevate: Actively mentor a team of experienced mechanical, controls, optics and software engineers, defining what "done" looks like and guiding the team on strategic testing and validation methods.
- Drive Departmental Strategy & Rhythm: Run periodic engineering meetings focused not just on day-to-day tactical execution, but on driving long-term strategic initiatives, process improvements, and scalable engineering practices.
- Succession Transition: Seamlessly take over management and administrative responsibilities from current leadership, ensuring a smooth transition of institutional knowledge while allowing them to operate effectively as an Individual Contributor.
- Exercise cross-functional influence with humility and clarity—building trust, aligning teams around technical priorities, and engaging in constructive, even difficult, conversations with the openness and vulnerability confident leadership requires.
Benefits
- Culture-focused; purpose driven; people first
- Small company atmosphere with room for growth and flexibility on a tight-knit team
- Flexible time: we support flexible schedules, provided they align with your responsibilities, team needs, and project timelines. Flex time requires coordination and mutual accountability.
- Medical (covers 100% CA employee’s premium), Dental, Vision, and Life insurance
- 401K match
- 15 PTO days/year to start. Can be used for vacation or sick days.
- Equity vesting opportunities
How to apply:
- Follow ALL the instructions below, generic applications without a thoughtful cover letter will not be considered.
- Review our website, LinkedIN page and learn about what we do!
- Send your application via email to [email protected]
- Attach your Resume (2-3 pages)
- Write an introduction about your background, your passions, why you chose your career path and your long term vision
- How your career and interests fit with this position at Turner Laser Systems
