Senior Operations Engineer

About us

We are an early-stage humanoid robotics startup building intelligent robots designed to work alongside people. Our mission is to multiply human progress — creating machines that can take on useful work in real-world environments, from factories and warehouses to streets and public spaces.

We are small, technically ambitious, and moving fast. Every team member here has outsized ownership over what we build and how we build it.

About the role

As Senior Operations Engineer, you own the handoff from engineering design to a build that actually ships. When a subsystem comes out of engineering — a new actuator assembly, a redesigned harness, a full robot build — you're the one who turns it into a repeatable process: work instructions, a build sequence, the tooling and fixtures, and a plan for the parts and inventory that has to be in place before the line starts.

This isn't a maintain-the-line job. We're scaling from single-digit builds to full production runs, and the processes, work instructions, and systems you'll use (our ERP and PLM) are being built as you go. You'll set the standard other engineers build on, not follow one someone else already wrote.

If you are energized by getting robots out of the lab and into the world, and frustrated by the gap between a demo and a deployed product, this role is for you.

What you'll do

• Own production process development for assembly, test, and build readiness across Genki's robot subsystems and full-system builds — work instructions, assembly procedures, and quality-control documentation, from a blank page.
• Translate engineering designs and BOMs into clear, repeatable production workflows that a technician can execute without you in the room.
• Partner with engineering on Design for Manufacturability/Assembly (DFM/DFA) reviews — flag build, test, and serviceability issues while a design can still change cheaply, not after it's released.
• Own build readiness: confirm parts, tooling, fixtures, and documentation are in place before each build, and flag material shortages before they hit the schedule.
• Maintain visibility into inventory and open POs alongside our NPI Buyer/Planner team; compare upcoming build requirements against on-hand stock and supplier lead times.
• Drive root-cause analysis and corrective action on production and quality issues, working across engineering, quality, and supply chain.
• Define and maintain safety stock, reorder points, and materials plans for critical components as volumes ramp.
• Help configure and maintain our ERP and PLM systems as they come online, so the BOM, the build plan, and inventory all agree with each other.

What we're looking for

• 5+ years of experience in manufacturing, production, or operations engineering in a hardware, robotics, or related precision-manufacturing environment.
• Fluent reading of engineering drawings, BOMs, and technical specs — enough to have an informed build conversation with both an engineer and a technician.
• A track record of building production processes, work instructions, and quality documentation from scratch, not just running ones someone else wrote.
• Experience translating a build or production schedule into materials requirements — you've done the math on safety stock, lead time, and reorder points before.
• Experience with low-volume, high-complexity hardware manufacturing.
• Comfortable driving DFM/DFA conversations directly with engineering during design reviews.
• Working knowledge of an ERP or MRP system; PLM experience is a strong plus.
• Comfortable with the ambiguity of an early-stage ramp — you build the process while you're running it.
• Business-level English for internal communication. Japanese is a plus but not required.

Nice to have

• Experience with electromechanical, actuator, or precision motion-control manufacturing specifically.
• Experience supporting UL, ISO, or other product-certification documentation.
• A hand in standing up an ERP or PLM system from early implementation, not just using one someone else configured.

What we offer

• Competitive salary and meaningful equity in an early-stage company.
• Access to a cutting-edge humanoid platform and a full robotics lab in central Tokyo.
• Direct influence over how foundational robotics technologies meet the real world.
• A small, senior, technically dense team where decisions move at startup speed.