R&D Lab Technician - Mechanical
Our Mission
At Span, we are building products to drive the rapid adoption of renewable energy by designing the infrastructure for a distributed, renewable grid. Our smart panel reinvents home electrical systems as part of the distributed grid and makes user-friendly renewable energy at the center of the smart home, presenting intelligent load-balancing and revolutionary edge-of-grid controls to homeowners through the Span mobile app.
The Role
The Team
Span’s Systems Engineering team is a cross-functional team that supports the Span engineering organization across the board. We are responsible for Span’s lab space and physical test infrastructure, run hardware and software tests, and create hardware and software for automated testing. As part of Systems Engineering you’ll get to work with teams across the company, and will get to work with a high degree of autonomy and ownership.
Role
As one of the first dedicated engineering technicians on the Span team, we will look to you for a variety of hands-on tasks, including assembling prototypes, building test rigs, stocking the lab, and managing shipping and receiving. You’ll help us design, build, and maintain our next-generation lab; help with a variety of fabrication and facilities projects; and generally support the engineering team.
Your responsibilities will include:
Designing + building mechanical test fixtures and electrical test setups for the Span lab
Building test harnesses and putting together prototypes
Helping set up the Span lab, organizing materials and tools, and otherwise maintaining order
Being an owner for the critical shipping/receiving department including setup, implementation, and continual process improvement
Ensure on time delivery to internal and external customers
Perform packing/unpacking tasks and documentation as required
Coordination of courier service to and from manufacturing site
Asset management and inventory control
Provide key support for the FW, RMA, customer support, test, and product deployment teams by owning and tracking processes for inventory
Use of warehouse equipment (pallet jacks, straddle stacker, etc) and ability to lift heavy objects
Required Qualifications
2+ years of experience in a fast-paced engineering development environment
Ability to operate and maintain a wide variety of hand and power tools, shop tools, and lab equipment
Experience assembling 80/20, Unistrut, or similar mechanical systems
Experience with electrical assembly (soldering, wire harnesses) or willingness/ability to learn
Comfort reading + building from mechanical drawings
Comfort with Atlassian Suite (Jira, Confluence)
Strong interpersonal and communications skills
Remain engaged, proactive and positive in tough circumstances, owning assignments and taking full accountability for their success
Positive attitude, eagerness to learn and ability to change direction quickly
- Local Bay Area candidate (this is an in-office position)
Bonus Qualifications
5S experience
Experience with home electrical wiring
Experience using electrical instrumentation (DMM, oscilloscope, logic analyzer)
Experience using 3D CAD (Solidworks) and rapid prototyping tools (3D printer, laser cutter)
Familiarity with fabricators, prototype houses, machine shops etc. in the Bay Area
Experience outsourcing work, hiring and managing contractors, supervising projects
First aid / AED / CPR training
Life at Span
Span is a startup based in the SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco. We are a small, diverse team of creative thinkers. We value open communication, teamwork, and a make-it-happen attitude - no job is too big or too small. We strive to make change by imagining what the future could be and building a product to complete that vision. We are looking to grow our team with talented people who are on the same mission to shape the future of energy.
Working at Span, you can expect:
Competitive compensation at a well-funded, venture-backed company
Comprehensive benefits including a choice of medical plans; dental, vision, life and disability insurance
A sunny, airy office located close to BART and Caltrain public transit
Regular team lunches, brown bag learning opportunities, board games nights, and other opportunities to connect with teammates - in-person and now virtually
Equity grants at a quickly-growing startup
Flexible hours and vacation time - we simultaneously work hard and make space for the important stuff
To be a part of a team and culture that is hard-working, has a good sense of humor, values collaboration, and is just a little bit nerdy
Span embraces diversity and equal opportunity in a serious way. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.
Note on COVID-19
Span takes the health of our employees very seriously. During the COVID pandemic our employees are working from home as much as possible, with just a 2-4 person skeleton crew operating the office. For employee safety, we follow strict in-office mask guidelines and have put in place air movement/filtration systems.
With that said, this role will be very hardware-centric, so we expect you will need to be in the office the majority of the time.