About Menlo
Menlo Research is an Applied R&D lab building Asimov, an open-source humanoid robot platform, and the full software stack that powers it. Our mission is to make humanoid labor economically viable, turning software into physical labor at scale. We build across the full stack: hardware architecture, locomotion, autonomy, simulation, and infrastructure. We move fast, ship to real robots, and open-source everything we can. If you want your work to matter beyond a paper or a demo, this is the place.
The Role
Asimov gets built at scale on someone else's line. As Product Quality Engineer, you are Menlo's quality owner at our contract manufacturer, responsible for the final assembly and test of the robot from the first trial build through mass production. You make sure what comes off the CM line matches what our engineers designed, every unit, at rate.
You will own process yield, define and enforce final inspection criteria, and run the customer side of quality at the EMS partner. You will live in the phase gates, EVT, DVT, PVT, and into MP, catching the defects, drift, and process gaps that decide whether a ramp succeeds or stalls. This role sits between our design teams and the factory floor, and holds both to the standard.
What You'll Do
- Own final assembly and test quality at the CM (Tier-1 / EMS), from trial production through mass production
- Drive process yield: monitor first-pass yield and defect rates at each station, run the analysis, and lead the CM to close the gaps
- Define, document, and maintain final inspection criteria, including inspection standards, limit samples, workmanship standards, and pass/fail criteria for the line
- Own the customer inspection and acceptance process: OQC, outgoing quality gates, AQL sampling plans, and lot disposition before shipment
- Represent Menlo through the NPI phase gates (EVT, DVT, PVT), driving build readiness, defining test coverage at final assembly and test, and signing off on quality exit criteria for each phase
- Lead root cause analysis and corrective action on line failures and test escapes, using structured methods such as 8D, fishbone, and 5-whys, and verify the fix holds
- Set up and audit the CM's process controls: FAI, in-process inspection, SPC on critical parameters, and change control on the line
- Manage non-conformance at the CM: MRB, containment, rework and sorting decisions, and disposition of held material
- Track and report quality metrics (yield, DPPM, defect Pareto, RTY) and drive continuous improvement reviews with the CM
- Partner with mechanical, electrical, firmware, and manufacturing engineering to feed field and line failures back into design and process
What We Look For
- 3 or more years in a product, supplier, or manufacturing quality role owning final assembly and test at a contract manufacturer or EMS partner
- Direct experience taking a product through NPI phase gates (EVT / DVT / PVT) and into mass production
- Strong command of yield analysis and defect reduction, and the discipline to chase a failure to its real source rather than its symptom
- Hands-on ownership of final inspection and outgoing quality: inspection criteria, AQL sampling, limit samples, and lot acceptance
- Fluency in core quality tools and methods: 8D, FMEA, SPC, control plans, FAI, and MRB / non-conformance handling
- Comfort reading mechanical drawings and GD&T, electrical schematics, and test specs across a complex electromechanical product
- Strong communication and influence skills to hold a CM accountable while keeping the ramp moving, working across engineering, manufacturing, and the supplier
- Willingness to travel to and work on-site at manufacturing partners
Nice to Have
- Experience with robotics, automotive, aerospace, medical devices, or other high-reliability electromechanical products
- Experience managing quality at CMs in the region (for example Vietnam, China, or elsewhere in Asia)
- Familiarity with quality systems and standards such as ISO 9001, APQP, PPAP, and IPC-A-610
- Motor, actuator, or drivetrain assembly and test quality experience
- Experience defining final assembly and test (FATP) test coverage and station-level test strategy
- Scripting for quality data analysis and automation, for example Python or SQL
- Experience standing up CM quality processes from near-zero at an early-stage hardware company
Why Join Menlo
You will own the quality of a humanoid robot as it moves from a handful of hand-built prototypes to real production volume, the phase where most hardware companies either learn to ship or quietly stall. You will define the inspection standards and yield discipline for a product that has to move in the real world, not pass a bench check, and you will hold both our engineers and our factory to them. On a small team, your sign-off is what stands between a design and a shippable robot.
A Note on AI
You don't need deep AI expertise for every role, but we do expect everyone at Menlo to be intellectually curious, drawn to tinkering and discovery, and excited to use AI as a real collaborator in their work. For some roles, AI fluency is a core requirement. When that's the case, we'll say so explicitly in the qualifications. People who thrive here don't treat AI as a novelty. They use it to think better, and make their work easier for others to build on.
Equal Opportunity and Accommodations
We hire talented people from a wide range of backgrounds. If you're excited about a role but don't meet every bullet, we still encourage you to apply. Menlo Research is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of any legally protected characteristic. Menlo provides reasonable accommodations during the application process. If you need one, please let your recruiter know.