Who we are.

Spot AI turns cameras into coworkers.

We are building the category of AI coworkers for the physical world. Our platform enables businesses to understand, automate, and act across their environments in real time.

Spot AI is relied on at over 10,000 locations by more than 1,000 customers across manufacturing, construction, logistics, and retail.

Backed by over $110 million from investors including Scale, Redpoint, Qualcomm Ventures, StepStone, and Bessemer, we are building the system that brings AI out of the digital world and into the real one.

We move fast, take ownership, and focus on outcomes. We are building a company for people who want to solve real problems and have a direct impact on how businesses operate.

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Own the hardware that brings AI into the physical world

Every AI coworker Spot ships runs on hardware we put in the field. Our edge compute platform runs vision-language models on-site, in real operating conditions, where networks are unreliable and uptime is not optional. It is the layer that makes AI actually work in the physical world.

As Spot scales to more locations and the models running at the edge get more capable, the hardware has to scale and improve with them: better, cheaper, and more reliable with every generation. This role owns that. You bring together supply chain and NPI plus quality into a single seat, and you own the full path from spec to delivered, qualified unit.

We run production through third-party contract manufacturers that operate as our hardware supplier pass-through. That model lets a small, sharp team move fast and scale without owning factories. You own it end to end, from component sourcing to the line to the unit that lands on a customer site.

You do not need to be an EE who lays out boards. But you need real engineering chops: enough to reason about benchmarks and specs, own a DFM review, write a manufacturing SOP, debug a yield problem on the line, and hold a contract manufacturer and our own engineers accountable to a spec instead of taking anyone’s word for it.

Your assignment

Scope and spec the hardware

• Partner with engineering on the design, scoping, and benchmarking of the edge compute platform as it evolves, across x86, GPU, thermal, power, and I/O.

• Turn benchmark and workload data into hardware specs across deployment tiers, balancing performance, cost, and manufacturability.

Run NPI and manufacturing through our contract manufacturers

• Own new product introduction end to end: prototype, validation testing, and the ramp to volume.

• Run the contract manufacturers that operate as our hardware supplier pass-through: build readiness, line setup, first article inspection, and the ramp to production.

• Author and maintain the manufacturing SOPs, work instructions, and test procedures that make every unit come off the line the same way.

Own quality and the manufacturing process

• Define the quality plan: incoming inspection, in-line and functional test and outgoing AQL.

• Drive yield and first-pass test rate. Own the failure analysis loop, root cause, and corrective action for failures on the line and in the field.

• Run the RMA and field-return process so we learn from every unit that comes back.

Own supply chain, components, and fulfillment

• Own component management, sourcing, and supplier qualification, with special attention to long-lead and allocation-constrained parts.

• Secure component supply through forecasting, allocation, buffer strategy, and second-source qualification so a single shortage does not stop the line.

• Drive landed cost down release over release. Own cost models, RFQs, and the negotiation that protects margin.

• Own inventory, lead times, logistics, fulfillment, and the operational systems (Netsuite) that run the flow from component to delivered unit.

Who you are

You may come from hardware operations, supply chain, NPI, manufacturing engineering, or quality leadership. This role combines scopes that are often held by two people, so you are comfortable owning both halves.

You are a strong fit if you:

• Have taken a hardware product from design and NPI through to volume production through contract manufacturers/ODMs, and own the scars to prove it.

• Have owned, or are ready to own, both the supply chain and the NPI plus quality side of a hardware operation in a single seat.

• Are technically strong enough to reason about benchmarks and specs, write a manufacturing SOP, run a DFM review, debug a test-yield problem, and hold both engineering and the CM honest.

• Have managed CM / ODM relationships hands-on as a supplier pass-through, including build readiness, FAI, yield, and quality escapes.

• Know component management cold and can source and secure allocation-constrained parts. You can talk credibly about GPU and silicon supply.

• Are fluent in operations, fulfillment, and the systems behind them (ERP / MRP / PLM, logistics, inventory).

• Think in unit economics. You can build a cost model, run an RFQ, and drive landed cost down over time.

• Communicate clearly and can turn an ambiguous hardware problem into a spec, a test plan, a supplier scorecard, and a ramp schedule.

Bonus points for compute or server-class hardware (x86, GPU, thermal, power), edge or industrial devices, having run a hardware function through a transition to an outsourced CM model, or experience qualifying a second source or channel partner.

This role is based in San Francisco, CA and requires working from our office at 17 Bluxome St, with travel to manufacturing partners as needed.

This role could click if you

• Want to own the physical layer that AI runs on, at scale, across tens of thousands of locations.

• Want deep, single-owner control of the full hardware operation, supply chain through quality, in one seat.

• Are energized by making a hardware platform better, cheaper, and more reliable with every generation.

• Love being on the factory floor as much as you love a cost-down review.

This role likely won’t click if you

• Want a multi-layer org to operate within rather than owning the whole hardware function yourself.

• Only want one half of the scope. This role owns supply chain and NPI plus quality together.

• Struggle to engage technically with engineers on benchmarks, DFM, test, thermal, or component tradeoffs.

• Are not willing or able to work in-person from San Francisco and travel to manufacturing partners.

Compensation and benefits highlights:

• Annual Base Salary Range: $200,000 - $240,000. This range represents the San Francisco Bay Area. The offered salary will depend on the offered candidate’s demonstrated skills and competencies for the role.

• Meaningful early stage equity.

• Medical, dental, and vision plan options with little-to-no cost for employees and dependents.

• Company-paid short- and long-term disability plans.

• Company-paid life insurance.

• 401K with employer match.

If you want to own the hardware operation that brings AI out of the digital world and into the real one, and make every unit better, cheaper, and more reliable to ship than the last, we should talk.

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We are creating and cultivating a diverse and inclusive culture where we celebrate individuals for what they accomplish, no matter who they are. As an equal opportunity employer, we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.