Lead Technician / SSF R&D Lab Manager

Job Description

Job Description

Overview

Lightship is the first American all-electric recreational vehicle manufacturer currently developing an aerodynamic, battery-powered trailer for the electric age. As the macro transition to an all-electric transportation ecosystem accelerates, Lightship is bringing the increased convenience and superior performance that electrification offers to a pastime enjoyed by over 11 million American families.

 

Honoring Diverse Perspectives

Lightship is committed to hiring and developing top talent from diverse backgrounds. We believe representing and supporting diverse groups is key to the success of our team members, customers, shareholders and the achievement of our mission and vision. We operate in a collaborative environment with a flat organizational structure and expect a high degree of integrity, autonomy and creativity from all members of the team.

About the Role
As our lab manager, you will be responsible for running a safe, effective, and flexible R&D lab in our South San Francisco facility. This includes managing a small team of technicians, ensuring the lab has all the needed safety gear, equipment, and tools needed to develop the technologies in the most advanced RV on the market. You will also have individual responsibilities to build, troubleshoot, and test hardware and software in the lab from vehicle, power systems, and controls engineering teams.

Responsibilities

• Manage and mentor a small team of technicians in an R&D lab environment.
• Fill the role of a site safety lead to ensure safe operation of the lab and the South SF facility. Implement safety protocols, proper training, and precautionary activities to ensure the lab runs safely and smoothly.
• Work with engineering leadership to set priorities for the lab and the technician team. 
• Create training and usage protocols for the lab to facilitate accessible and functional use for all members of the engineering and design staff.
• Maintain all tools and equipment in the lab and continue to acquire and install new equipment to increase lab capabilities.
• Support and coordinate the fabrication and assembly of engineering test assets, vehicle bucks and prototypes including electronics assemblies (wire harnesses, PCBAs, power distribution modules), thermal systems and control modules.  
• Set up and run engineering experiments, including safety tests, characterization tests, field tests, durability tests, and functional tests.
• Support sales and marketing activities by ensuring marketing vehicles are in functional condition.
• Maintain test assets (vehicles, bucks, mules and test rigs) and prepare them for testing, evaluation and demonstration. Travel (including occasional weekend travel) will be required at times.
• Help with troubleshooting and failure analysis of components.
• Instrument test articles with sensors, such as strain gauges, thermocouples, accelerometers and aid engineering with data acquisition.
• Support tests in the field and at outside tracks by towing test vehicles.
• Occasionally support development vehicle builds and testing in our CO facility.
• Manage company vehicles and maintenance.
• Interface with contractors for building and lab upgrades.

Minimum Qualifications

• 2+ years of experience as a lab manager and/or leading teams of technicians
• 10+ yrs experience working as a technician in the automotive/EV, cleantech, or aerospace industries
• Experience with data acquisition systems
• Experience creating test fixtures and instrumenting test articles with sensors such as accelerometers, thermocouples, electrical sensors, etc
• Experience creating custom wire harnesses
• Experience towing trailers
• Experience with one or more of the following systems is required: batteries, power electronics, power distribution and switchgear, electric motors, gearboxes or solar arrays

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with 5S methodology a plus
• Experience troubleshooting software, CAN messaging and calibration testing of control algorithms
• Metal fabrication experience including machining using a knee mill, sheet metal fabrication, and MIG/TIG welding
• Experience using Deweysoft DAQs
• Experience soldering and instrumenting circuit boards
• Forklift operator experience
• Experience with RVs

Equity

Lightship compensation consists of the stated base pay range plus equity, which gives you a stake in the company.

Employee Benefits & Philosophy - Applies to Full Time Employees only

- Healthcare, Dental, Vision

- 401k

- Flexible Paid Time Off - that we actually want you to use!

- 13 Company Holidays: 8 throughout the year + the company observes a week of scheduled downtime during the end of the year, allowing all employees to enjoy a break

- 12 weeks paid parental leave

- Yearly LightTrip stipend for an RV trip &/or professional development opportunities 

 

Lightship offers all of its full time employees and their dependents full benefits including health, dental and vision insurance. We are on a mission to create a more healthful all-electric experience for a pastime that millions of families enjoy and believe strongly that our team should not have to worry about quality healthcare for themselves or their loved ones along the way.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.