---
title: 'Automation Reliability & Performance Manager at Bright Machines'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/automation-reliability-performance-manager-bright-machines-florence-jzbypcq7fy6w'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-17'
---

# Automation Reliability & Performance Manager at Bright Machines

- **Company:** Bright Machines
- **Location:** Florence, KY
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-10-01
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-17
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/brightmachines/ec524549-0da0-40cd-acbc-91de2282828b

## Job description

## RETHINK MANUFACTURING

The only way to ignite change is to build the best team. At Bright Machines, we’re innovators and experts in our craft who have joined together to manufacture the AI and data center infrastructure at the edge. We believe unifying software, intelligent automation, and data is the answer to delivering quality and flexibility at scale. We deliver products to meet the demands of today while continuously investing in our Bright Factory model to take advantage of what comes next. Working with us means you’ll have the opportunity to make lasting, impactful changes for our company and our customers. If you’re ready to apply your exceptional skills to a brighter way of manufacturing AI infrastructure, we’d love to speak with you.

## ABOUT THE ROLE

The Automation Reliability & Performance Manager owns the performance and reliability of the robotic assembly equipment at our Florence, Kentucky production facility. This role leads a team of Automation Engineers, reports to the Site Operations Director, and serves as the link between the production floor and Bright Machines’ Automation/Controls, Software, Systems Engineering, Mechanical Design, and Quality teams, as well as equipment vendors. You’ll use downtime data, structured loss analysis, and hands-on troubleshooting to turn every stop and fault into prioritized improvements, raise machine availability, and build the maintenance program, rapid-build shop, and spare parts storeroom that sustain those gains. Strong leadership, data discipline, and experience in automated manufacturing environments are key to success.

This role supports a 24/7 manufacturing site. Your Automation Engineers cover a primary on-call rotation, and you serve as the final escalation point outside standard hours.

## WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING

- Own technical availability for all robotic and automated equipment on site
- Standardize downtime capture, including failure reason codes, stop definitions (including microstops), and structured shift logs from Automation Engineers
- Pareto losses by frequency, duration, and impact; maintain a ranked top-loss list and drive countermeasures to closure, verified with before/after data
- Partner with Automation/Controls, Software, Systems Engineering, Quality, and vendors on fixes, and feed recurring failure modes into the Bright Machines equipment and software roadmap
- Report weekly on availability, MTBF, MTTR, top-loss closure rate, PM completion, parts availability, and data capture completeness; represent technical performance at daily standups and gemba walks
- Lead, hire, and develop a team of Automation Engineers covering 24/7 operations, including scheduling, on-call rotation, and coaching on root cause analysis
- Own maintenance safety for robotic equipment, including LOTO, NFPA 70E, robot cell safety (ISO 10218 / ANSI/RIA R15.06), and verification of safety systems during PM and acceptance
- Build and run a full-spectrum maintenance program (autonomous, preventive, corrective, and predictive), including criticality ranking, PM schedules, calibration, and the CMMS
- Serve as technical lead for final acceptance of new equipment, ensuring documentation, backups, spares, and safety validation are complete before production
- Run the on-site rapid-build shop for fixtures, jigs, and end-of-arm tooling, and manage spare parts inventory, budget, and vendor relationships

## WHAT YOU BRING

- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Mechatronics Engineering (or equivalent hands-on experience)
- 7+ years in reliability, maintenance, or automation engineering, including 3+ years leading a technical team in a high-mix robotic or automated environment
- Proven record of improving equipment availability through structured loss analysis, with before/after results
- Experience building or improving downtime data capture, including reason codes, stop definitions, and data quality discipline
- Strong root cause analysis skills (5-Why, fishbone, PFMEA) and working knowledge of OEE loss structures, TPM, and criticality-based maintenance planning
- Hands-on familiarity with automation hardware (servo systems, pneumatics, vision, conveyors, end-of-arm tooling) and the ability to troubleshoot PLC logic and industrial robot controllers
- Solid grounding in maintenance safety, including LOTO, NFPA 70E, and robot cell safety systems
- Experience with a CMMS (SAP PM, Fiix, UpKeep, or equivalent)
- Ability to drive improvements through teams you don’t manage, using data rather than escalation
- Clear written and verbal communication, with concise reporting and well-framed escalations
- Availability outside standard hours as the final escalation point for a 24/7 operation

## IT WOULD BE NICE IF YOU HAD

- Experience with a CMMS (SAP PM, Fiix, UpKeep, or equivalent)
- Experience building a full-spectrum maintenance program (AM, PM, CM, and PdM) from scratch
- Experience with data-driven or AI-assisted predictive maintenance, including turning equipment data into maintenance triggers
- Experience leading technical machine acceptance, including schematics, spare parts lists, PLC backups, and license documentation
- Experience standing up or managing a spare parts storeroom with accountability for availability and cost
- Proficiency with data tools such as SQL or Power BI for loss analysis
- Experience developing training for engineers who then coach operators
- Background in electronics, server, or data center hardware manufacturing

## BE EMPOWERED TO CHANGE AN INDUSTRY

Bright Machines is a next-generation, AI-enabled manufacturer focused on data center infrastructure production. Bright Machines uses its proprietary AI-based robotics and software to assemble AI infrastructure hardware products (i.e., data center servers) for hyperscalers, neoclouds, and leading Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to reduce their time to revenue. With its Bright Factory model, Bright Machines builds higher quality data center infrastructure at scale, addresses increasing market demands for computing power due to the surge of AI, and answers the call to the U.S. national mandate to reshore manufacturing.

Bright Machines is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, and has an integration center in Guadalajara, Mexico. The company has been recognized as one of Forbes’ AI 50, awarded “Best AI-based Solution for Manufacturing” by AI Breakthrough, named a “Technology Pioneer” by the World Economic Forum, and highlighted by several other leading technology and innovation organizations.

## About Bright Machines

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: A next-generation manufacturer leveraging robotics and AI to transform how the world designs and builds products. [brightmachines.com](https://www.brightmachines.com/)
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series C; raised $437M total funding, led by BlackRock) [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/bright-machines)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/bright-machines)
- **Founded**: 2018 [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/bright-machines)
- **Founders**: Lior Susan, Sviat Dulianinov (CEO) [brightmachines.com](https://www.brightmachines.com/about/)

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Manufacturing, AI infrastructure, data center hardware, industrial automation & robotics.
- **Target customers**: Hyperscalers (cloud providers), data center operators, enterprises needing high-performance AI servers/storage. B2B primarily.
- **Mission/purpose**: “Transform how products are designed and built across simulation, automation and data.” [brightmachines.com](https://www.brightmachines.com/about/)

## Products & Services
- **Bright Factory** – Fully integrated assembly facility for data center infrastructure, combining robotics, AI, and end-to-end data traceability. [brightmachines.com](https://www.brightmachines.com/)
- **Virtual Product Development** – Simulation and digital twins to design and validate products before production. [brightmachines.com](https://www.brightmachines.com/)
- **AI-Enabled Robotics** – Physical AI systems with micron-level precision that sense, decide, and self-correct in real time. [brightmachines.com](https://www.brightmachines.com/)
- **Factory Intelligence** – Software platform that connects and orchestrates data across systems for real-time visibility and continuous optimization. [brightmachines.com](https://www.brightmachines.com/)
- **Bright Robotic Cells (BRC)** – Modular, programmable robotics cells deployed in 130+ Microfactories worldwide. [brightmachines.com](https://www.brightmachines.com/about/)
- **Hybrid BRC** – Combines robotic automation with operator-assisted assembly while maintaining full traceability.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed (most recent Series C in June 2024 raised $106M).
- **Key Metric**: Estimated annual revenue of **$83M** (per LinkedIn) [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/bright-machines); total funding **$437M** (including $20M debt from J.P. Morgan in 2024). [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/bright-machines)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Investors – BlackRock (lead Series C), Eclipse Capital (lead Series A & B), J.P. Morgan (debt). Strategic partners – NVIDIA, Microsoft. [brightmachines.com](https://www.brightmachines.com/about/)
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Deployed 130+ Microfactories globally.
  - Headcount of ~203 (3.1% YoY growth).
  - Expanded focus on AI infrastructure manufacturing for hyperscalers.
  - Entered partnership with NVIDIA and Microsoft for automation tech stack.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Full-stack integration**: Combines hardware (robotics, assembly lines), software (Brightware platform, digital twins), and AI (self-correcting physical systems) in one end-to-end solution.
- **Micron-level precision & real-time adaptation**: Physical AI systems that sense, decide, and self-correct during production.
- **Strategic partnerships with NVIDIA & Microsoft**, embedding their tech into the next-gen manufacturing stack.
- **“Bright Factory” model collapses time to revenue** for hyperscalers needing rapid, scalable production of AI infrastructure.

## Strategic Focus
- **Current priority**: Scale the Bright Factory model to serve hyperscalers building AI data centers, reducing silicon-to-revenue timelines and total production costs.
- **Direction**: Expand beyond data center infrastructure into adjacent high-value manufacturing, continue investing in Physical AI, and deepen the software layer (factory intelligence, traceability).

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Values-led organization focused on integrity, collaboration (“Win Together”), customer obsession, and empowerment (“Be The Change”). [brightmachines.com](https://www.brightmachines.com/careers/)
- **Work policy**: Not explicitly stated; offices in San Francisco (HQ), and three other US locations. Roles likely hybrid/on-site given manufacturing nature, but engineering roles may offer flexibility. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/bright-machines)
- **Benefits**:
  - Comprehensive health insurance (medical, dental, vision)
  - Professional growth (classes, conferences, leadership training, internal mobility)
  - Competitive compensation, stock options, 401k match (US) or long-term savings plan
  - Generous vacation time and paid parental leave
  - Employee assistance program (mental health, financial wellness)
  - Team events and volunteer opportunities. [brightmachines.com](https://www.brightmachines.com/careers/)
- **Engineering culture**: Emphasis on robotics, computer vision, automation, and software; open positions include Robot Perception, Software Quality, Automation Controls, and Service Integration Engineers. [jobs.lever.co](https://jobs.lever.co/brightmachines)

## Sources
1. [brightmachines.com](https://www.brightmachines.com/) – Home page
2. [brightmachines.com](https://www.brightmachines.com/about/) – About page
3. [brightmachines.com](https://www.brightmachines.com/careers/) – Careers page
4. [jobs.lever.co](https://jobs.lever.co/brightmachines) – Open roles (Lever)
5. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/bright-machines) – LinkedIn company profile

## Other roles at Bright Machines

- [Strategic Finance Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/strategic-finance-intern-bright-machines-burlingame-zpnyn73srjgr) — Burlingame, CA
- [Trade Analyst](https://feeny.ai/job/trade-analyst-bright-machines-guadalajara-area-6anzajjdr8w4) — Guadalajara Area, Mexico
- [Office and Human Resources Coordinator - Night Shift](https://feeny.ai/job/office-and-human-resources-coordinator-night-shift-bright-machines-florence-geq33czqae9w) — Florence, KY
- [Site Automation Engineer - Robotics/PLC](https://feeny.ai/job/site-automation-engineer-robotics-plc-bright-machines-cork-re9mxn4zrd94) — Cork, Ireland
- [Staff Platform Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-platform-engineer-bright-machines-guadalajara-area-418sg8htm8hp) — Guadalajara Area, Mexico
- [Manufacturing Training Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/manufacturing-training-manager-bright-machines-florence-72j2brpez1bx) — Florence, KY
- [Sr. Accounting Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/sr-accounting-specialist-bright-machines-guadalajara-area-p3ra4e2m2phy) — Guadalajara Area, Mexico
- [Security Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/security-engineer-bright-machines-guadalajara-area-r6ak1xxh1cb5) — Guadalajara Area, Mexico
- [Integration Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/integration-engineer-bright-machines-guadalajara-area-0yksn6z7v8je) — Guadalajara Area, Mexico
- [Mechanical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/mechanical-engineer-bright-machines-guadalajara-area-b1qm9bf9h7hf) — Guadalajara Area, Mexico