Lead CNC Machinist

Lead CNC Machinist: On-site in Oakland (near Berkeley). $40 to $60/hr.We are an early-stage robotics manufacturing startup in Oakland, CA. Small team. Paying customers in robotics, defense, drones, and biotech. Revenue from week one and growing fast. We are hiring the person who will own our machining operations.This is not a job shop role. You will not be one of thirty machinists running someone else's programs on someone else's process. You will be the machining operation. You set the standards, you build the process, you decide how the floor runs. As we add more machines, the role grows with them.What you'll own- All CNC operations end to end: setup, programming, first article, production runs, shipping- CAM programming in Fusion, from customer STEP files and drawings to proven toolpaths- Fixturing and workholding design, including vacuum and zero-point systems- Tooling selection, speeds and feeds, tool library management, process documentation- Inspection and quality: first article, in-process checks, final QC against print- Preventive maintenance and machine uptime- Working directly with our software team to automate the parts of your job worth automatingWhat we need- 3+ years CNC machining across both prototype and production environments- Strong Fusion CAM experience. You can program a part from scratch with no hand-holding- Deep 3-axis experience and real working knowledge of 4 and 5-axis work- Fluent in print reading and GD&T. You flag a fit-class callout before you cut, not after- Proven ability to hold tight tolerances in aluminum, and the judgment to know when the process needs to change to get there- Metrology: calipers, micrometers, pin gauges, indicators, CMM or vision systems- Comfortable in a software environment. You can run scripts and read documentation to get software tasks done. You do not need to be an engineer, but if a spreadsheet is the most technical tool you use, this is not the right fit- Self-directed. Nobody is handing you a work order queue every morningNice to have- Vacuum workholding experience- Automation experience: cobots, automated machine tending, lights-out or unattended production- High-speed spindle work (20,000+ RPM) and micro tooling- DATRON machine experience- Writing or modifying post processors- Managing outside finishing vendors (anodize, plating, heat treat)Why this is differentYou are joining a startup that happens to make parts, not a machine shop that happens to be small. We are building one-of-a-kind manufacturing capability that does not exist anywhere else. You will be building it, not just running the machines that are already on the floor. The decisions that define this operation are being made right now: what we buy next, how we quote, how we fixture, what gets automated first. You will be making them with us, and you will live with the answers.- $40 to $60 per hour to start, based on experience and skill set- Clear path to a full-time salaried role with full benefits and equity in the company- Real scope. Early hires here own outcomes, not tasks- Free snacks and refreshmentsLogistics- Fully on-site in Oakland (near Berkeley). This work does not happen remotely- Full-time. Flexible on hours - Authorization to work in the US- Past job references is required and a background check will be performed To applySend your resume plus a short paragraph about the most interesting part you have made in the past year and why it was interesting. Feel free to include a personal project of yours and photos of your past work.