Manufacturing Engineer

The fab2 team can build anything. We design all the hardware and software needed to make chips and we make the fabs, tools, and components ourselves. We're looking for exceptional, hands-on people who can iterate to the limits of what's possible.

fab2 was founded by Sam Zeloof and Jim Keller. Sam is best known for making chips in his garage, and Jim has been a leader in the semiconductor industry for the past 40 years.

The fab2 production team manufactures chip fabs. From deposition and etching tools to lithography and metrology, we are building every tool ourselves. We fabricate the metal parts, operate SMT lines to build PCBAs, and assemble the tools in-house. As a Manufacturing Engineer you sit at the center of that effort — the bridge between the engineers designing our tools and the shop floor that builds them.

At fab2 we design and build everything ourselves, from chambers, gas lines, and valves to etch, deposition, and lithography tools to complete fabs. As a Manufacturing Engineer, you own how our hardware gets made — from the first design review through mature, repeatable production. You will partner with design engineers from day one of a new tool, bringing a manufacturing mind to the design: reducing part count and complexity, driving down cycle time and cost, and improving manufacturability all while protecting design intent.

When the design releases, you already know how it will be built, because you helped shape it. You then own the NPI process: developing the manufacturing and assembly process, standing up the first builds, designing the fixtures and jigs that make assembly faster, more repeatable, or possible at all, and maturing it into production. From there you own that process;

tracking quality issues, chronic failures, unachievable tolerances, and anything else that surfaces during builds, and continuously making it better, faster, and more manufacturable. Our tools are precision, high-vacuum, and increasingly automated systems, fabricated largely in-house. You'll work across machining, sheet metal, welding, and finishing, and with vacuum and precision-motion hardware where cleanliness, tolerance, and leak integrity are non-negotiable. This is a hands-on, high-ownership role with room to take on broader projects that make the whole company more productive.

• Partner with design engineers from the earliest concept stage
• Participate in design reviews and influence the design for manufacturability, assembly, cost, cycle time, and complexity while preserving design intent.
• Provide GD&T and process feedback on drawings
• Own the NPI process for new tools and components
• Stand up and lead first builds turning a released design into physical hardware
• Design and build fixtures, jigs, and tooling that make assembly and fabrication faster, more repeatable, more ergonomic, or possible in the first place.
• Own processes for the life of the product; track quality issues, recurring defects, rework, chronic breakages, and out-of-spec conditions, and continuously improve the process, the design feedback, and the tolerances.
• Develop and maintain work instructions, process documentation, travelers, and acceptance criteria that let technicians build and inspect consistently.
• Select and specify manufacturing methods, tooling, and equipment; qualify processes and drive them to capability.
• Lead root-cause investigations on build failures, leaks, and defects, and implement corrective actions that stick.
• Support inspection and acceptance of high-risk parts and assemblies; machined parts, vacuum components, sheet metal, and precision assemblies.
• Take on overarching, cross-cutting projects that raise the productivity and capability of the whole…