Job Description

About Arda

Arda is a fast-moving startup building software and AI agents to automate manufacturing engineering. Starting with workflows like Bill of Process generation, DFM/DFA, manufacturability review, process planning, and production change management, Arda is building the tooling that allows manufacturing teams to move faster and make better decisions.

The Opportunity

Arda is looking for a Manufacturing Engineer to serve as the manufacturing domain expert embedded within the AI team. This is not a traditional manufacturing role. You will not be managing a production line or joining a factory-floor team. Instead, you will work directly with AI engineers to help teach models how physical products actually get built.

You will be the person who can look at an AI-generated manufacturing plan, identify what is wrong, incomplete, unrealistic, or unsafe, and explain exactly why. Your manufacturing judgment becomes the feedback loop that makes the models smarter. If you are excited by the idea of turning hands-on manufacturing intuition into AI systems that improve how entire teams build physical products, this is a uniquely high-leverage role — and a new function at Arda, so the highest-leverage version of it will be shaped by the person hired.

What You'll Do

• •Own and improve Arda's manufacturing eval process with the AI team, reviewing model outputs on real manufacturing tasks and documenting where the AI gets things wrong
• •Evaluate AI-generated Bills of Process, DFM/DFA recommendations, inspection plans, tooling suggestions, and manufacturability reviews; translate repeated failure modes into structured feedback the AI team can use
• •Work hands-on in Arda's software, reviewing real customer manufacturing workflows and identifying gaps between what the model proposes and what would actually work in production
• •Physically build, mock up, or validate manufacturing processes suggested by the software — including buying, fabricating, or assembling parts from test cases to understand what breaks in the real world
• •Partner closely with AI engineers to turn manufacturing judgment into training data, evals, and product improvements that make the agents better over time
• •Serve as the internal manufacturing authority for the AI team, helping identify where deeper domain expertise is needed
• •Help define what this role becomes as the function grows

You Should Have

• •3-6 years of experience in manufacturing engineering or NPI, with hands-on experience taking electromechanical products from prototype toward production
• •Real manufacturing judgment — the ability to look at a process plan and know immediately what is wrong, why, and what to do about it
• •Experience with complex hardware products such as robotics, aerospace, drones, satellites, industrial equipment, consumer electronics, or automotive
• •Comfort working in a fast-moving, ambiguous environment where the role is still being defined
• •Strong communication skills — the ability to explain manufacturing reasoning clearly to engineers who do not have a manufacturing background