--- title: 'Manufacturing Engineering Line Lead at Heron Power' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/manufacturing-engineering-line-lead-heron-power-scotts-valley-v09wm4pe0xcr' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-12' --- # Manufacturing Engineering Line Lead at Heron Power - **Company:** Heron Power - **Location:** Scotts Valley, CA - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-08-11 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/heron-power/f2176046-4ec7-48fe-83a2-fc28f9e08005 ## Job description What to Expect Heron Power is a startup company building cutting-edge power electronics for the 21st-century grid. We aim to debottleneck the growth of electricity generation and consumption with scalable, innovative, and less costly hardware solutions, accelerating the electrification of everything. Our first goal is to build better converters (inverters & rectifiers) to connect large-scale renewables, storage, and loads to the grid. Heron Power’s leadership team is made up of seasoned veterans who have designed and shipped gigawatts of power conversion products over the past decade. We understand that no one individual knows everything. We will all learn a lot together and from each other. We strive to build a collaborative, enriching environment conducive to personal, technical, and career growth. You can expect to work in a dynamic and collaborative environment, driven by first principles engineering, solving difficult problems. Job Overview At Heron Power, we are building the future of scalable power electronics. As a Manufacturing Engineering Line Lead, you will play a critical role in launching and scaling production lines. This high impact role is ideal for engineers who thrive in fast paced environments and are passionate about driving manufacturing system development from concept design into full production. You will lead complex equipment projects, guiding internal teams and external partners to oversee equipment design, fabrication, installation, commissioning, and initial production ramp. This is a position for confident and capable leaders who take full ownership of technical challenges, perform under pressure, and deliver creative solutions that lay the foundation for world class manufacturing. ## How You Will Contribute - Lead the specification / design, fabrication / testing, and installation / commissioning of high-volume manufacturing lines from RFQ through SOP. - Provide deep technical input on overall equipment design, informing both early concept development and detailed design decisions to ensure alignment with process requirements and production goals in collaboration with product design, controls engineering, quality assurance, and production operations teams. - Navigate complex equipment integrator and supplier relationships with clarity and accountability while driving technical alignment, enforcing design standards, maintaining schedule commitments, and delivering cost targets. - Anticipate risks, resolve ambiguity early, and identify issues before they impact cost, schedule, or quality. - Oversee FAT and SAT activities to ensure equipment meets all functional, quality, and throughput requirements. - Drive continuous improvement initiatives to increase OEE, reduce cycle time, and improve overall line reliability and first pass yield. - Guide the direction and execution of complex manufacturing programs, bringing technical clarity, executional accountability, and calm leadership to fast-moving, high-stakes environments. ## What You Will Bring We have a short list of must-have requirements. We prioritize a strong grip on first principles, hands-on skills, and a sense of initiative. Domain-specific knowledge and experience will help determine the career level for each hire. Must-Have Requirements - Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, or similar disciplines. - 5+ years of full-time industry experience working with high-volume manufacturing processes. - Track record of strong performance launching mass production lines from concept through ramp. - Established strategic relationships with equipment suppliers and integrators across general assembly, power electronics, battery pack, drive unit, and other high-volume, high-tech manufacturing sectors. - Experience with manufacturing processes such as framing, fastening, welding, dispensing/sealing, material handling, and inspection systems. - Experience with station and fixture design, including locating schemes, datum strategies, GD&T literacy, tolerance stack-up analyses, etc. - Knowledge of high-volume, heavy-duty conveyance and automation strategies, including indexed versus free-flow pallet systems, AGV/AMR technologies, lift-assist/manipulators, multi-axis robots and gantries, etc. - Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with a knack for distilling complex issues into clear actionable plans. - Willingness to work in a hands-on role, lead by example, and independently solve ambiguous problems with attention to detail. Nice-to-Haves - Experience leading PFMEA’s and DFM analyses. - Expertise in high-volume industrial painting / powder coating process development, equipment selection, and line design. - Familiarity with manufacturing medium voltage electronics or grid related products such as transformers, switchgear, converters, circuit breakers, etc. If you are passionate about technology and enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, we would love to hear from you. Join us in accelerating the electrification of everything at Heron Power. Heron Power provides competitive compensation (salary and equity) and benefits. The salary for this role ranges from $120,000 to $191,000 per year. ## About Heron Power ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Heron Power develops next-generation medium-voltage power electronics, including solid-state transformers, to modernize the electrical grid for AI data centers, renewable energy, and surging electricity demand. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series B) - **Headquarters**: Scotts Valley, California, United States - **Founded**: 2024 - **Founders**: Drew Baglino ## Core Business - **Primary industry/industries**: Electric Power Transmission, Control, and Distribution; Industrial Power Electronics; Energy Infrastructure - **Target customers**: B2B — hyperscale data center operators, solar and storage developers, utility-scale energy project developers, and the broader electricity sector. - **Mission or purpose statement**: To build power electronics purpose-built for the 21st-century grid, helping the electricity sector grow faster and more affordably with scalable, reliable, and software-integrated infrastructure. ## Products & Services - **Heron Link for Data Centers**: An integrated solid-state transformer + SuperBBU (battery backup unit) solution purpose-built for AI and hyperscale power needs, enabling more efficient, scalable, and reliable power delivery. - **Heron Link for Solar & Storage**: An integrated solid-state transformer and inverter in one infinitely scalable platform, designed to streamline the connection of renewable generation and battery storage to the grid. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed. - **Key Metric**: Total Funding of **$178 million** across two rounds (Series A: $38M led by Capricorn Investment Group in June 2025; Series B: $140M led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz in February 2026). - **Notable Investors/Partners**: - **Investors**: Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz (American Dynamism Fund), Capricorn Investment Group, Gigascale Capital, Valor Equity Partners, Energy Impact Partners, Powerhouse. - **Advisors**: JB Straubel (Tesla Co-Founder), Zach Kirkhorn (Former Tesla CFO). - **Strategic Partner**: LG Energy Solution Vertech (collaboration to integrate Heron Link with U.S.-manufactured battery energy storage systems). - **Growth Signals**: - Headcount has grown **975% year-over-year** to 72 employees, with 58 active job postings. - Awarded **$26.375 million** in tax credit incentives from the state of California to build a 40-gigawatt manufacturing facility and create 600+ advanced manufacturing jobs. - Rapidly scaling from engineering prototypes to early customer deployments with major industry partners. ## Competitive Advantages - **Deep technical moat**: Heron’s core technology is an integrated solid-state transformer (SST) — a fundamental re-architecture of medium-voltage power electronics that is more scalable, software-integrated, and efficient than traditional copper-and-iron transformers. - **Founder pedigree**: CEO Drew Baglino was a 18-year veteran and SVP of Powertrain and Energy at Tesla, where he led development of the 4680 battery cell, Megapack, and built multi-billion-dollar energy and charging businesses. - **Strategic backing**: Backed by a world-class syndicate of climate-tech and deep-tech investors (Breakthrough Energy, a16z, Valor) and advised by Tesla co-founder JB Straubel and former Tesla CFO Zach Kirkhorn. - **Manufacturing-first approach**: Already planning a 40 GW U.S. manufacturing facility with state incentives secured, signaling a focus on high-volume, cost-competitive production from the start. ## Strategic Focus - **Scale manufacturing**: Building out a large-scale U.S. factory to meet demand from AI data centers and renewable energy projects. - **Commercial deployment**: Moving from engineering prototypes to delivering integrated solutions with strategic partners like LG Energy Solution Vertech. - **Debottleneck the grid**: Targeting the critical infrastructure bottleneck where traditional transformers and grid equipment cannot keep pace with surging electricity demand from AI, electrification, and renewables. ## Why Work Here - **High-impact mission**: Work on foundational hardware that directly enables the energy transition and AI infrastructure — systems that will be deployed and operated for decades. - **Engineering culture**: Values rapid iteration ("build, test, learn"), first-principles reasoning, and cross-functional collaboration across hardware, software, manufacturing, and operations. - **Ownership and autonomy**: Strong emphasis on taking accountability for outcomes, not just tasks, and working across team boundaries to deliver an impeccable product. - **Transparent and direct**: Culture prizes clear communication, honest feedback, and progress over posturing — "no defensiveness, no ego." - **Location and flexibility**: Based in Scotts Valley, California (near Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley), with a presence in Canada. The work is highly hands-on (hardware, lab, factory), so on-site presence is expected for engineering roles. - **Growth trajectory**: Explosive headcount growth (975% YoY) and 58 open roles across electrical, mechanical, manufacturing, software, and supply chain disciplines — offering significant career acceleration for early hires. - **Notable perks**: Opportunity to work alongside a team with deep expertise from Tesla, Meta, and KKR, with direct mentorship from a proven founder. ## Sources 1. [heronpower.com](https://heronpower.com/) 2. [heronpower.com/about](https://heronpower.com/about) 3. [heronpower.com/careers](https://heronpower.com/careers) 4. [linkedin.com/company/heron-power-electronics](https://www.linkedin.com/company/heron-power-electronics) 5. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/heron-power](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/heron-power) ## Other roles at Heron Power - [Staff Industrial Designer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-industrial-designer-heron-power-scotts-valley-fpx59mmenp7f) — Scotts Valley, CA - [Accounting Manager/Senior Accounting Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/accounting-manager-senior-accounting-manager-heron-power-scotts-valley-fnvtfa8188q9) — Scotts Valley, CA - [Staff Supplier Industrialization Engineer - Mechanical](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-supplier-industrialization-engineer-mechanical-heron-power-scotts-valley-957jykeqt1bf) — Scotts Valley, CA - [Staff Supplier Industrialization Engineer - PCBA](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-supplier-industrialization-engineer-pcba-heron-power-scotts-valley-eva12vmsvtfh) — Scotts Valley, CA - [Head of People Operations](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-people-operations-heron-power-scotts-valley-w6j1waf56azk) — Scotts Valley, CA - [Hardware Validation Systems Developer](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-validation-systems-developer-heron-power-scotts-valley-rt7hhp0tqay6) — Scotts Valley, CA - [Test Engineer – Power Electronics](https://feeny.ai/job/test-engineer-power-electronics-heron-power-scotts-valley-68sp21xs5b1x) — Scotts Valley, CA - [Electrical / Electronics Design Engineer - PCBA Test Automation](https://feeny.ai/job/electrical-electronics-design-engineer-pcba-test-automation-heron-power-scotts-97hcjwyaz5kk) — Scotts Valley, CA - [Systems Integration Engineer, SST & BESS Applications](https://feeny.ai/job/systems-integration-engineer-sst-bess-applications-heron-power-scotts-valley-vgbkn6jhna14) — Scotts Valley, CA - [Senior Product Test Engineer, Energy Storage Applications](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-product-test-engineer-energy-storage-applications-heron-power-scotts-jpvdhkdth144) — Scotts Valley, CA