AI Lab Manager

Job Title: AI Lab ManagerLocation: Boston, Massachusetts 02199
Job DescriptionAbout the Team
We're building a Physical AI lab from the ground up in Boston — the kind of place where cutting-edge robotics research meets real hardware, and where the work you do today shows up in systems that change how machines interact with the physical world. It's a fast-moving, high-ambiguity environment, and we need people who thrive in exactly that kind of setup.This Lab Manager role is the operational backbone of the team. You'll be the person who makes sure the lab is ready to do great work every single day — coordinating equipment, managing schedules, tracking what's where, and making sure engineering teams have everything they need to move fast. It's a role that requires equal parts organization and technical fluency.
What You'll Be DoingDay-to-Day Lab Operations
Own the daily rhythm of the lab — from opening and readiness checks through to end-of-day handoffs.If something's blocking the team, you're the first to know and the first to fix it.Coordinate lab scheduling across multiple engineering workstreams, balancing competing priorities andflagging conflicts early rather than late.Manage equipment availability, calibration schedules, and preventive maintenance cycles to keep testinfrastructure in peak condition.Maintain accurate inventory of components, consumables, and tooling; own replenishment processesand vendor coordination.
Onsite Point of Contact
Serve as the single point of contact for lab-related questions from hardware, software, and validationengineering teams.Build and maintain the onsite lab operations playbook — documenting processes, escalation paths,safety protocols, and lab standards.Support onboarding of new team members into the lab environment, including tool training and safetycertification tracking.Interface with facilities, IT, and procurement teams to resolve infrastructure issues quickly and withoutdisruption to engineering work.
Lab Readiness & Execution
Own preparation for key lab milestones — prototype build sessions, integration sprints, and testingcampaigns — ensuring the lab is configured and ready before engineering teams arrive.Track and communicate lab capacity, equipment status, and readiness risks to engineering leads andTPMs on a regular cadence.Establish and enforce lab safety procedures, including electrical safety, handling of prototype hardware,and compliance with any relevant regulatory requirements.Drive continuous improvement in lab workflows, identifying bottlenecks and proposing operationalchanges that increase throughput and reduce rework.
What We're Looking ForRequired
5+ years of experience managing lab operations in a hardware R&D, robotics, or advancedmanufacturing environment.Hands-on familiarity with lab equipment common to physical AI or robotics environments — testbenches, oscilloscopes, power supplies, soldering and rework stations, 3D printers, and similar.Strong organizational instincts — you naturally build systems and processes that keep a fast-movingteam from losing things, missing steps, or duplicating work.Comfortable working directly with engineers, both taking direction on what the lab needs and pushingback constructively when something isn't feasible.Experience with inventory management systems, equipment tracking, and procurement workflows.Solid written and verbal communication — you can write a clear ops runbook, escalate a problemsuccinctly, and hold a room in a scheduling conflict.
Preferred
Background in electrical engineering, mechatronics, or a related discipline — enough technical depth tounderstand what engineers are building and why lab configuration matters.Experience standing up a new lab or significantly expanding an existing one, including equipmentprocurement, layout planning, and process design.Exposure to EH&S (Environmental Health & Safety) requirements in a research or prototype hardwarecontext.Prior experience in a hyperscaler, robotics company, or physical AI startup environment.
A Day in the Life
You start the morning by running through the lab readiness checklist before the first engineering sprint kicks offat 9am. One of the test benches threw an error overnight, so you pull the logs, identify that it's a calibration driftissue, and get it resolved before the hardware team needs it. By mid-morning you're coordinating with the TPMon scheduling for an upcoming integration session, flagging that the motion capture system is booked throughThursday and offering two alternative windows. In the afternoon you're processing a new component delivery,updating the inventory system, and wrapping up a revised safety protocol document you've been working onwith the EHS team. You end the day with a quick walkthrough of the lab to make sure everything is powereddown correctly and documented for the next morning.
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