Director of Product Realization Newlab Inc

Direc­tor of Production Realization

Summary

Newlab applies trans­for­ma­tive tech­nol­ogy to things that matter. We are home to over 800

entre­pre­neurs, engi­neers, and inven­tors, solving the world’s biggest chal­lenges with leaders and

experts across indus­tries and cities. We support a range of fron­tier tech­nolo­gies, including

robot­ics, A.I., computer vision, connected systems, and materials science.

Newlab is seeking a Direc­tor of Produc­tion Real­iza­tion to run our team and facil­i­ties in Detroit focused

on bring­ing hard­ware prod­ucts into the world. This person will report to the VP of Product Realization

and support the Manag­ing Direc­tor of Newlab Detroit in estab­lish­ing the Detroit shops as a preeminent

facil­ity in the region. This person is passion­ate about support­ing inno­va­tion, always learning new

fabri­ca­tion skills and tech­niques, and is commit­ted to creat­ing machine spaces where all members

feel invited and empow­ered to lever­age the tools

Respon­si­bil­i­ties

● Create an inclu­sive culture of creativ­ity, learn­ing, and safety.

○ Imple­ment Learn­ing Management System

■ Design high level onboard­ing classes (typi­cally tool or concept specific), as well

as new classes as needed based on intended curricu­lum and implementation.

■ Balance instruc­tion time for staff, oversee consis­tency and quality of teaching

instruc­tion.

○ Lead weekly Product Real­iza­tion team meet­ings, mentor appren­tices, create skill

devel­op­ment plans for asso­ciates cover­ing hard and soft skills

● Support Newlab commu­nity in product real­iza­tion at Newlab Detroit

○ Create tools to support the shop user commu­nity with advice, answers, technical

sugges­tions, and other exper­tise for fabri­ca­tion and prototyping.

○ Work with the Member commu­nity to answer ques­tions, provide ​“infor­mal

mentor­ship”, convey policy, and assist with coordination.

● Ability to support members in the work­shop 1:1 when necessary.

● Build regional rela­tion­ships and part­ner­ships with peer shops, suppli­ers, and vendors

to support proto­typ­ing process and mate­ri­als outside the Newlab work­shops, as part

of the Detroit fabrication ecosystem.

● CAM program­ming, or design­ing for fabri­ca­tion, for both the Newlab Member

commu­nity and facil­ity upgrade projects.

● Oversee Detroit Shops Operations

○ Manage the strat­egy and budget for the Detroit shops.

○ Work with VP of Product Real­iza­tion to create and manage the annual

shop budget for Detroit. Actively seeks oppor­tu­ni­ties to minimize costs.

○ Routinely propose improve­ments to work­flow, equip­ment layout, machine

catalog, etc to contin­u­ally pair the space to members requests and

oppor­tu­ni­ties.

○ Imple­ment and project manage facil­i­ties upgrades based on strategic

improve­ments, including fabrication.

○ Main­tain systems on a day to day basis.

■ Main­tain fabri­ca­tion shop safety systems, includ­ing: chemical inventories,

LOTO hard­ware, routine main­te­nance, inci­dent reports and response, fire

safety train­ings, fork­lift licens­ing, etc.

■ Develop robust system for track­ing and assign­ing routine machine

main­te­nance

■ Coor­di­nate with various Newlab teams to prepare the work­shops for special

programs, events, courses, tours, etc.

Qual­i­fi­ca­tions and Skills

Require­ments

● Work History

○ At least 5 years of expe­ri­ence on a product engi­neer­ing or devel­op­ment team, doing

hands-on research, or in manu­fac­tur­ing envi­ron­ment with increas­ing levels of

respon­si­bil­ity.

○ Hands on exper­tise in many of the shop areas, expe­ri­ence or famil­iar­ity with all of them:

■ Wood, Metal (machin­ing, welding, sheet­metal), CNC, Metrol­ogy, Casting, Finishing,

Elec­tron­ics, Rapid Proto­typ­ing, 3D Print­ing, Textiles, and Robotics

■ Expe­ri­ence with phys­i­cal proto­typ­ing, digital design, design for manu­fac­tur­ing, or

other produc­tion related processes.

■ Digital design: CAD and CAM fluency for various machine oper­a­tions (CNC milling,

CNC routing, cutting, turning, etc) with a pref­er­ence for exper­tise in Autodesk

prod­ucts.

■ Famil­iar­ity with the best appli­ca­tions and safety concerns of a wide range of

proto­typ­ing mate­ri­als, includ­ing: plas­tics, metals, engi­neered and solid woods,

textiles, finishes.

○ Train­ing devel­op­ment and implementation:

■ Ability to teach machine train­ing courses across all of the workshop areas.

■ Ability to develop curricu­lum and train­ing instruc­tion for all new or adapted pieces

of equip­ment

● Work Style

○ Highly effec­tive commu­ni­ca­tor and collaborative leader.

○ Embrace flex­i­bil­ity and adapt­abil­ity as the team learns through prototyping and

playtest­ing, adjust­ing project plans as needed.

○ Trans­late high level scope/​vision into actionable plans.

○ Demon­strates a desire to constantly improve and adapt to new technologies.

○ Is highly depend­able with strong work ethic.

Nice to haves

● Deep famil­iar­ity with spaces that support phys­i­cal proto­typ­ing, research, and innovation.

● Expe­ri­ence with the oper­a­tions of shared-equip­ment and machine training programs.

● CAD/CAM leveraging autodesk.

● Under­stand­ing of auto­mo­tive compo­nents and systems.

● Famil­iar­ity with GD&T, detailed engi­neer­ing draw­ings, assem­bly instruc­tions, and electrical

schemes.

● Knowl­edge of Manu­fac­tur­ing Quality prin­ci­ples and prac­tices and how they apply to prototype

produc­tion.

Compen­sa­tion / Perks etc specific to this role

● Target Salary for Role — $70 – 90k

● Equity and cash bonus programs

● Gener­ous PTO and company holiday calendar

Send appli­ca­tions to: Alisyn Malek, General Manager of Newlab Detroit, alisyn.​malek@​newlab.​com

https://​newlab​.com