Engineering Manager, Data Systems Hardware & Operations

Reality Labs is looking for an Engineering Manager to lead our Data Systems Hardware & Operations team. This team supports Codec Avatars, Input, and Health programs across all RL devices. You'll manage a multi-disciplinary engineering team (mechanical, electrical, systems engineering, and firmware/embedded software) that designs, builds, and tests complex, large-scale data capture systems: multi-camera rigs with sophisticated lighting, synchronization, high-bandwidth data capture, and storage infrastructure. You'll also own the data collection operations that deploy these systems across North America, enabling the algorithm development and research that powers all of our devices. In this role, you will combine hands-on technical work with people leadership. You'll get hands-on with critical hardware challenges, represent and advocate for the hardware engineering craft, and develop the overall data collection strategy with program leaders and stakeholders. That means translating product and research roadmaps into collection plans, defining system requirements, and making sure operational capacity keeps up with program needs. You will coordinate across researchers, engineers, and operations teams, determining project priority, feasibility, and resource allocation across programs with competing timelines.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the hardware, electrical, and embedded software engineering craft for complex data capture systems across multiple RL programs
• Own the design and evolution of large-scale capture rigs, including multi-camera arrays, structured lighting systems, hardware synchronization, high-bandwidth data pipelines, and on-site storage infrastructure
• Manage a team of mechanical, electrical, and firmware engineers; mentor, grow, and develop leaders and individual contributors
• Represent and advocate for the hardware engineering craft by developing the right culture, processes, and people to accomplish the team's work
• Own the team's systems for designing, simulating, prototyping, and testing capture hardware
• Drive architecture and design reviews for hardware and firmware across device programs
• Provide individual technical contributions by implementing electro-mechanical and firmware solutions on critical projects
• Recruit engineering talent for open roles on the team
• Develop the overall data collection strategy with program leaders and stakeholders across Codec Avatars, Input, and Health
• Translate research roadmaps into collection plans: system requirements, site needs, and operational capacity targets
• Own the operational capacity of data collection sites across North America, including planning, deployment, and sustained operations
• Build and manage site operations teams (technicians, coordinators, contingent workers) executing capture protocols
• Drive vendor and partner engagement to scale collection efforts
• Manage hardware inventory, logistics, maintenance, and equipment standards across distributed sites
• Define and implement operational processes including privacy/data compliance and participant safety
• Manage operational budgets and resource allocation across programs
• Serve as liaison between researchers, engineering, operations, and software teams across programs
• Coordinate complex projects with key partners, managing team allocation, schedules, milestones, and delivery
• Influence leaders and key partners to gain alignment, build virtual teams, and accomplish cross-team goals
• Drive operational improvements through measurement, feedback loops, and continuous iteration
• Balance priorities across Codec Avatars, Input, and Health programs with competing timelines and resource needs

Minimum Qualifications

• BS or higher in Mechanical, Electrical, or Systems Engineering (or equivalent experience)
• 12+ years experience as a hardware engineer working across one or more of: electrical, mechanical, systems engineering, and embedded software or a similar domain
• 5+ years of experience as a people manager with a track record in recruiting and developing teams
• Direct experience shipping consumer hardware or working in technology R&D organizations
• Demonstrated expertise with complex data capture systems, including multi-camera rigs, lighting systems, hardware synchronization, and high-bandwidth data pipelines
• Experience with compute platform selection, system architecture, and integration for data capture or similar technical systems
• Experience operating or managing multi-site technical operations (labs, data collection, manufacturing, or similar)
• Experience leading design development from schematic capture, PCB layout through assembly

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with AR/VR systems and motion capture systems
• Experience working with CM and EMS partners in design, manufacture, testing, and delivery of hardware solutions
• Experience in developing data collection or research operations strategies across multiple sites and programs
• Experience with embedded computing and wearable devices
• Background in health/medical devices, input devices, or biometric sensing systems
• Experience with digital circuit design and communications protocols (I2C, UART, SPI, USB, MIPI, I2S)
• Experience with camera systems, structured/controlled lighting, time synchronization (PTP/genlock), and high-speed data ingest/storage architectures
• Experience managing distributed teams and vendor partnerships across multiple geographies
• Experience with 3D design modeling (NX or SolidWorks) and physical prototyping
• Experience with high-bandwidth data transport (10 Gb/s/25 Gb/s/100 Gb/s Ethernet, PCIe, NVMe, high-speed serial interfaces)
• Experience with privacy and data compliance protocols for participant studies

$208,000/year to $289,000/year + bonus + equity + benefits