Engineering Lab Manager

Job description

**Company Background**Specter's mission is to help automate the physical world. Today, we build video sensors with state-of-the-art AI agents that answer any question, anywhere in their environments. Our systems can automatically detect and reason about any physical activity captured on camera, from security incidents (e.g. perimeter intrusion, theft, LPR), to safety monitoring (e.g. PPE detection, injured people), to operational efficiency (e.g. material tracking, congestion monitoring). We offer both long range wireless (1km range) and wired sensor variants to suit any deployment. Our co-founders Xerxes and Philip are passionate about empowering our partners in the fast approaching world of physical AI and robotics. We are a small, fast growing team who hail from Anduril, Tesla, Uber, and the U.S. Special Forces. **The Role**You’ll build and maintain the lab and test sites the rest of engineering depends on. That spans standing up outdoor test installations, wiring the lab’s network and servers, mounting radios for RF testing, and building racks and moving live hardware into them without losing a beat. You scope it, source it, build it, and make sure it holds up. Just as important is the part that doesn’t show up in a single install: making the lab a system that runs without you standing over it. You’ll decide how the space is laid out, how equipment is tracked and maintained, and how the common jobs get done so they come out the same every time. As the team grows, you’ll direct technicians and set the standards they work to. **Responsibilities:** - **Field test installs:** Install and weatherproof development units at test sites, including our roof. Route and protect cabling so it survives months of rain, heat, and wind. - **Prototype fabrication:** Take a bare set of electronics and turn it into something we can field: build or machine the enclosure, brackets, and mounts, and make it weatherproof and serviceable outdoors. - **Supporting test infrastructure:** Set up the networking, power, and IT that tests depend on. Pull and terminate cable, install switches, rack and power servers, and keep it organized and documented. - **Rack builds and system moves:** Assemble server racks from scratch and plan clean - migrations of our hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) systems. Map every cable and transplant running setups without losing state. - **Lab operations and standards:** Lay out the space, set up how equipment is tracked and maintained, and turn recurring jobs into repeatable processes so quality doesn’t depend on who’s on shift. - **Spotting failures before they happen:** Catch the “we probably shouldn’t drape a blanket over the servers, they’ll overheat” problems early. You have strong physical intuition for heat, power, cable strain, and weather. **Qualifications:** - **Creative problem-solving**: Given a loose set of requirements and a deadline, your instinct is to start figuring out how, not to ask for a spec sheet. You improvise with what’s on hand and know which corners are safe to cut and which aren’t. - **Organized and systematic**: You set up the space, tools, and processes so work is repeatable and problems don’t recur. You can turn a messy, ad-hoc lab into something that runs predictably. - **Computers and Linux**: You can build a machine from parts, set it up, and operate it comfortably. Linux and SSH are second nature, and basic troubleshooting doesn’t slow you down. - **Mechanical prototyping**: You can fabricate and build physical things: machining, welding, fixturing, 3D printing, casting. You’re at home in a workshop turning an idea into an object. - **Electronics prototyping**: Breadboarding, basic programming, setting up PSUs, loads, and solar panels, and crimping or modifying wiring harnesses. - **Handyman and assembly skills**: Mounting, drilling, fastening, cable routing, and weatherproofing, all done properly. Comfortable and safe working at height and outdoors. - **Careful with expensive hardware**: You handle sensitive lab equipment with care, especially during moves and re-cabling, and you’d rather label the cables now than trace them later. **Nice to Have** - **Team leadership**: Experience directing technicians or contractors, or setting standards that others work to. - **RF and antennas**: Exposure to RF hardware or antenna work. - **Hardware-in-the-loop**: Familiarity with HIL test setups and the cabling and state they depend on. - **Structured cabling and rack build-out:** Experience running clean, documented cabling and standing up server racks. - **Low-voltage or electrical:** Comfort with low-voltage wiring, power distribution, or basic electrical work. - **Networking depth**: VLANs, switch configuration, IP addressing, and keeping a growing physical network tidy.