Hardware Lab Manager

Y Combinator is the leading startup accelerator for entrepreneurs. Since 2005, YC has invested in over 6,000 companies, including Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe, Reddit, Instacart, DoorDash, and Coinbase. YC hardware alumni include Stoke Space, Flock Safety, Starcloud, Hubble Network, Boom, and May Mobility. Today, YC has built the most powerful startup community in the world alongside the products and programs to support founders for the life of their company.

Job Description:

Y Combinator is seeking a Lab Manager who will help manage our YC Hardware Lab. Over 20% of YC startups are now hardware startups, and you’ll help support these founders. The Lab Manager will support founders by managing a space, purchasing and maintaining equipment, reviewing prototypes, and providing founder feedback.

The ideal candidate will have built products from prototype to scale. They will have worked with key prototyping machines like CNCs, 3D printers, PCBs, and more. They will have extensive experience maintaining equipment.

You’ll enjoy many perks for working at Y Combinator – competitive salary and excellent benefits including fully-paid health care benefits and unlimited vacation – while mentoring the founders of the future.

In your first month, you might:

• Provide input, purchase, and set up equipment.
• Provide tutorials on how to use equipment to founders.
• Create the lab’s safety policy.
• Support founders in using the equipment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage and run operations of the hardware lab from purchase to maintenance.
• Manage all lab policies.
• Schedule lab equipment.
• Advise hardware startups.
• Connect founders with vendors.
• Help scale the lab from initial launch to expansion.

Skills:

• You have built hardware products before.
• You have worked in a lab where hardware products have been built as a machinist or manager.
• You know how to run and maintain hardware prototyping equipment like CNCs and 3D printers.

Experience:

• At least 3 years of experience building hardware.
• Have built hardware from prototype to manufacturing.
• Have mentored or managed other builders.
• You have managed or supported a hardware space before.

Location: YC is headquartered in the SF Bay Area, and this lab will be near our office in Dogpatch, San Francisco. Candidates must live in the SF Bay Area or be willing to relocate. Our Hardware Lab Manager will be onsite FT, Monday through Friday.

Benefits: Our full benefits package includes medical, vision, and dental plans, an infertility benefit, STD/LTD, life insurance, commuter benefits, a flexible spending account, a health savings account, a 401(k) with 4% matching, generous parental leave, paid holidays, and a flexible paid time off policy.

Work Authorization: This position does not support work authorization/visa sponsorship.

Y Combinator considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law, including San Francisco’s Fair Chance Ordinance. Y Combinator is committed to protecting the privacy of job applicants' personal information and to complying with the California Consumer Privacy Act. The privacy policy of Ashby, Inc., the hiring platform used by Y Combinator, governs the collection of such data and is available here.