Gritt Robotics

Hardware Operations Program Manager

On-site • Full-time • Mid-level (3–6 years)

About Gritt Robotics

Our mission is to help civilization build infrastructure faster — by building intelligence that works in unstructured environments.

Our systems are not just tools. They both perform physical work and act as decision-making entities on the job site.

About the Work

Our mechanical team builds the physical layer the AI runs on — the platform that puts intelligence on a machine and sends it to work. We integrate perception, industrial sensors, compute, and robotic actuators onto proven construction equipment to create autonomous field systems that can perceive, decide, and act on a real jobsite.

In practice, that means the role lives at the intersection of mechanical assembly, sensor and compute integration, and OEM-equipment compatibility. The right person is comfortable sourcing brackets, fasteners, and structural parts one hour, chasing down a LiDAR lead time the next, and walking the floor to confirm a finished system is properly integrated and field-ready before it ships.

The Role

We’re looking for a Hardware Operations Program Manager — think of it as chief of staff to the hardware org. Your job is to make the team and its leads as efficient as possible: clear priorities, unblocked engineers, honest schedules, a tight cadence, and the right parts on the floor when they’re needed.

You will also own procurement end-to-end: sourcing components, managing vendors, tracking purchase orders, and making sure the right parts show up in the right place at the right time. And you will be the person who closes the loop — ensuring every Gritt Robotics system is properly assembled, tested, and field-ready before it leaves our facility.

This is a hands-on, on-site role for someone who is prompt, organized, and energized by working at the intersection of program management, supply chain, and hardware execution.

What You’ll Do

Program Management — Hardware Team

• Make the leads more effective. Act as a force multiplier for the hardware leads. Take work off their plate — meeting prep, follow-ups, status rollups, cross-functional coordination — so they can spend their time on engineering decisions.

• Run the day-to-day. Keep the team on track with clear task lists, weekly priorities, and sprint-level plans. Know what every engineer is working on and what they need next.

• Own the schedule. Build and maintain realistic timelines for each system from design freeze through field deployment. Flag slippage early and drive the team to recover.

• Run the cadence. Lead standups, reviews, and planning meetings. Take notes, track action items, and make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

• Unblock the team. Be the person engineers come to when they’re stuck on a part, a vendor, a tool, or a dependency — and get it resolved fast.

• Communicate up and across. Give leadership a clear, honest read on status, risks, and what needs a decision.

Procurement & Supply Chain

• Source off-the-shelf parts. Procure mechanical components — brackets, mounts, fasteners, structural and machined parts — plus the LiDAR units, cameras, compute modules, cabling, and connectors that go into each system.

• Manage vendors. Build and maintain relationships with mechanical suppliers, sensor and compute distributors, and local machine shops. Negotiate price, lead time, and quality.

• Track POs and inventory. Own purchase orders end-to-end, track shipments, and keep an accurate picture of what we have, what we need, and when it arrives. Maintain BOMs per system configuration.

• De-risk long-lead items. LiDARs, industrial cameras, and compute modules often have multi-week lead times — anticipate them, place orders early, and qualify alternates before a delay becomes a blocker.

• Control cost. Keep spend visible per system, push back on inflated quotes, and help the team make cost-aware sourcing decisions.

System Readiness, Assembly & Field Deployment

• Own ‘ready to deploy.’ Make sure every Gritt Robotics field system that leaves the building has been correctly assembled, fully tested, and signed off — mechanical structure, sensors, compute, and host-equipment mounting.

• Drive the test loop. Ensure each unit goes through a defined round of mechanical and functional testing — fitment to the host construction equipment, LiDAR/camera alignment, compute boot-up, and end-to-end checkout. No system ships without it.

• Quality at assembly. Walk the floor. Watch builds. Catch issues — a missing bracket, a misaligned camera, a loose connector — at assembly rather than in the field.

• Field deployment readiness. Coordinate with the deployment team to make sure systems arrive on-site fully configured with the right brackets, sensors, cabling, spares, tools, and documentation for installation onto the customer’s construction equipment.

• Close the feedback loop. Capture issues found during testing or deployment and feed them back into mechanical design, sourcing, and assembly so we don’t see them twice.

Who You Are

• 3–6 years of experience in technical program management, chief of staff, operations, or procurement — ideally in a hardware, robotics, mechanical, aerospace, automotive, or manufacturing environment.

• Prompt and on top of things. You return messages quickly, you don’t let things sit, and people trust you to follow through.

• Organized by default. You naturally keep clean task lists, schedules, vendor records, and BOMs. Things don’t fall through the cracks on your watch.

• Comfortable with hardware. You can read a mechanical drawing, understand a bill of materials, talk to a machine shop, source a LiDAR or industrial camera, and tell a finished system from a half-finished one.

• A people connector. You can work with mechanical engineers, suppliers, field deployment, and leadership — and translate between them.

• Calm under pressure. When a part is late or a test fails, you don’t spiral — you make a plan and execute.

• Mission-driven. You want to work on something that matters. Helping build the infrastructure of the future is exciting to you, not just a job.

Tools & Systems You’ll Work With

We don’t expect mastery of all of these on day one, but the more of them you’re comfortable with, the faster you’ll ramp. We’ll choose and standardize the stack together as the team grows.

• ERP / MRP. For purchase orders, vendor records, inventory, and material planning. Common in hardware orgs: NetSuite, Odoo, Acumatica, SAP.

• PLM. For BOM management, part numbering, revision control, and engineering change orders. Common: Arena PLM, Duro, Fusion Manage, PTC Windchill.

• CAD / PDM. For reading mechanical drawings and pulling BOMs from the source. Common: SOLIDWORKS PDM, Onshape, Fusion 360.

• Procurement & sourcing. Direct supplier portals, Digi-Key / McMaster / Misumi for off-the-shelf parts, and tools like Coupa or Ariba in larger orgs. For sensors and compute: working directly with LiDAR, camera, and compute vendors.

• Project & task tracking. Asana, Linear, Jira, Notion, Smartsheet, or MS Project — whatever keeps the team aligned and the schedule honest.

• Spreadsheets. Strong Excel / Google Sheets skills are non-negotiable for BOMs, cost rollups, and supplier comparisons.

Nice to Have

• Experience procuring custom machined or fabricated parts (CNC, sheet metal, weldments) alongside off-the-shelf hardware.

• Familiarity sourcing sensors and compute — LiDAR, industrial cameras, NVIDIA Jetson / x86 compute modules, GPU’s, automotive-grade cabling and connectors and checking for environmental rating.

• Hands-on experience standing up or administering an ERP/MRP or PLM system at a hardware startup.

• Background working alongside mechanical, electrical, and firmware engineers on integrated hardware systems.

• Exposure to construction equipment, heavy machinery, off-highway vehicles, or field service in real-world environments.

• APICS/ASCM (CPIM, CSCP), ISM CPSM, PMP, or Lean / Six Sigma — useful, but not required.

What Success Looks Like in the First 6 Months

• The mechanical team has a clear, shared view of what they’re working on every week.

• Critical parts arrive on time, and long-lead items are ordered before they become a problem.

• Every system that ships has gone through a defined assembly + test checklist — mechanical, sensor, compute, and fitment to the host equipment.

• Field deployments — installing systems onto customer construction equipment — happen on schedule, with fewer surprises and fewer return trips.

• Leadership can ask ‘where are we?’ at any time and get a straight, accurate answer.

Location & Logistics

This is a full-time, on-site role. You’ll be in our facility every day — walking the mechanical floor, working with the team, eyes on the hardware. Hardware projects move faster when the people running them are physically present, and that’s the bar we’re hiring for.

Compensation & Benefits

Competitive salary, meaningful equity in Gritt Robotics, and a benefits package designed for people who are building something they care about for the long haul.

How to Apply

If you want to help make sure every Gritt Robotics system ships on time, built right, and ready for the field — we’d love to hear from you.