Senior Manufacturing Software Engineer
Etched is hiring a Senior Manufacturing Software Engineer in San Jose, United States. It pays $175k-$225k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Etched.
Level's read on this job
- Level rates this software engineer role Little AI ●○○○: aI is not part of the work.
- The listed pay starts close to the typical software engineer posting on Level.
- Tools and skills the posting cites include Python, Go and Java.
- Level classifies it as a senior role.
- Level lists 119 other open roles at Etched.
AI in this role
Build the software platform powering manufacturing test and factory operations for AI hardware systems.
About Etched
Etched is building hardware for frontier intelligence. We co-design chips, racks, software, and manufacturing to deliver best-in-class throughput and latency across both prefill and decode workloads. Our first products are heavily focused on inference. Backed by hundreds of millions from top-tier investors and staffed by leading engineers, Etched is redefining the infrastructure layer for the fastest growing industry in history.
Job Summary
Etched is seeking a Senior Manufacturing Software Engineer to build the software platform that powers manufacturing test across new product introduction and mass production for our frontier AI systems.
This is a software engineering role embedded within Manufacturing Test Engineering, working closely with hardware, firmware, software, quality, and factory operations. You'll build the backend services, APIs, data pipelines, release infrastructure, and test station software that enable scalable, automated manufacturing across our global factory network. Your work will help ensure every Etched system can be built, tested, and deployed with speed, quality, and traceability.
Key Responsibilities
Design and build backend services, APIs, and data pipelines that support manufacturing test and factory operations.
Own software for manufacturing release management, deployment, versioning, and traceability across production environments.
Develop scalable manufacturing data platforms for test results, yield analysis, genealogy, and production reporting.
Build reusable manufacturing test station applications, operator interfaces, and automation frameworks.
Integrate manufacturing software with MES, SFIS, and other factory systems used by contract manufacturers.
Partner with Manufacturing Test, Hardware, Firmware, Software, Quality, and NPI teams to support product development through production ramp.
Productionize prototype engineering tools into reliable, production-ready manufacturing software.
Travel to domestic and international manufacturing partners to support factory bring-up and production deployments.
You may be a good fit if you have (Must-have qualifications)
6+ years of experience building production software, backend services, or data platforms.
Strong Python development experience (or equivalent expertise in Go, Java, C#, or TypeScript with Python proficiency).
Strong software engineering fundamentals including testing, CI/CD, version control, code review, debugging, and production monitoring.
Experience designing scalable APIs, databases, data models, and distributed systems.
Experience integrating software with external systems and building reliable production services.
Experience developing internal applications, dashboards, or operator-facing software.
Comfortable owning technical architecture and building greenfield software platforms.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
Willingness to work onsite from our San Jose office and travel internationally to manufacturing partners as needed.
Strong candidates may also have experience with (Nice-to-have qualifications)
Manufacturing software, factory automation, MES, SFIS, or production operations.
Manufacturing test software, hardware validation, or automated test infrastructure.
Yield analysis, manufacturing analytics, traceability, or genealogy systems.
Firmware release tooling or embedded software development.
AI servers, accelerator systems, networking hardware, storage systems, or other high-performance compute platforms.
Supporting first-generation hardware products through manufacturing scale-up in a fast-paced startup environment.
Benefits
Medical, dental, and vision packages with generous premium coverage
$500 per month credit for waiving medical benefits
Housing subsidy of $2,500 per month for those living within walking distance of the office
Relocation support for those moving to San Jose (Santana Row)
Various wellness benefits covering fitness, mental health, and more
Daily lunch + dinner in our office
How we’re different
Etched believes in the Bitter Lesson. We are the first inference-focused frontier AI system. Our addressable market is the entirety of inference, unlike many of our competitors.
We are a fully in-person team in San Jose (Santana Row), and greatly value engineering skills. We do not have boundaries between engineering and research, and we expect all of our technical staff to contribute to both and work across disciplines as needed.
How we rate this
Senior Manufacturing Software Engineer at Etched rates 10 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Little AI (AI Level 1 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.
Little AI. AI is not part of the work.
- ●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
- ●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
- ●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
- ●○○○ Little AI0 to 39
Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.
Prepare for this job
Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Also common in software engineer jobs at this level
Pay
- This job starts at
- $175k
- Typical software engineer job
- $168k
This posting starts close to the typical software engineer job. See software engineer jobs
Questions you could be asked
- Tell me about a project where backend was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where data pipelines was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where manufacturing software was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where automation was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where api was part of your work. What did you do?
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: Backend, Data Pipelines, Manufacturing Software, Automation, and API. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
- Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
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