Engineering Operations Manager

About the role

Formic is on a mission to reshape American manufacturing by making automation accessible to every factory. As labor constraints rise, costs increase, and global competition intensifies, automation is no longer optional for manufacturers that want to stay competitive. We deliver automation through a Robotics-as-a-Service model that combines industrial robotics, proprietary software, and full-service support into a single, integrated solution. By removing the traditional barriers of cost, complexity, and risk, we enable manufacturers to deploy automation quickly and realize measurable gains in throughput, safety, and operational efficiency without large upfront capital investment. Backed by leading investors including Lux Capital, Initialized Capital, Blackhorn Ventures, and Mitsubishi HC Capital North America, Formic is scaling rapidly and building the foundation for a new era of high-performance, Made in America production. The Automation Engineering Team is responsible for delivering robotics-driven automation deployments across a wide range of customer applications. The team partners cross-functionally to translate customer requirements into deployed systems, ensuring solutions are integrated, commissioned, and validated to perform reliably in real manufacturing environments. Automation Engineering works closely with customers, internal technical teams, and external partners to ensure operations are on schedule and maintain high standards for quality, safety, and repeatability. As Engineering Operations Manager, you will play a critical role within Formic's Automation Engineering organization. You will be responsible for building the operational foundation that enables Formic to deliver automation solutions safely, efficiently, and at scale. You will serve as a key operational leader within Formic's Bolingbrook facility, working closely with the rest of the Automation Engineering Team, Supply Chain, Fleet Operations, Product, Software, Solutions Engineering, and Project Management teams, you will coordinate resources, align priorities, and drive execution across the organization. This role combines people leadership, operational excellence, and hands-on problem solving. You will develop technical talent, improve organizational effectiveness, establish scalable processes, and help create the structure and accountability required to support Formic's continued growth. We're looking for a leader who thrives in fast-paced environments, enjoys building systems and teams, and is excited by the opportunity to help shape the future of industrial automation. In this role you will: Serve as a key operational leader within Formic's Bolingbrook, Illinois facility, helping align priorities across engineering, inventory, logistics, and project execution activities Build and uphold a culture of ownership, accountability, urgency, and continuous improvement Lead daily standups and execution reviews to ensure priorities are clear, resources are aligned, and blockers are addressed quickly Act as an escalation point for operational issues impacting execution, quality, or readiness Drive accountability for operational performance, quality, safety, and organizational effectiveness Partner cross-functionally to align operational readiness with customer commitments and project timelines Collaborate with Supply Chain and Fleet Operations teams to ensure proper inventory levels, system availability, and future capacity requirements Forecast organizational capacity and proactively identify resource constraints before they impact execution Establish and improve SOPs, workflows, quality standards, and operational processes that support a scalable organization Ensure systems are built, tested, staged, and prepared to meet Formic and customer quality standards Track and improve key operational metrics including throughput, readiness, utilization, quality, and execution performance Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, eliminate bottlenecks, and strengthen cross-functional collaboration Partner closely with Product, Software, Solutions Engineering, Supply Chain, Fleet Operations, and Project Management teams to ensure successful execution across the automation lifecycle Communicate operational priorities, risks, and capacity needs across stakeholder groups Provide visibility into organizational performance, readiness, and operational health through regular reporting and reviews What makes you a great fit: 6+ years of experience leading operations, automation, manufacturing, engineering, or other technical teams in a fast-paced environment Demonstrated success leading teams directly while influencing and driving results across cross-functional organizations Experience working with industrial automation systems, robotics, or related manufacturing technologies Experience with industrial robots or cobots such as FANUC, KUKA, Yaskawa, ABB, or Universal Robots

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