Role Purpose: Lead LionsBot’s manufacturing-to-delivery chain from our China operations base. Own contract manufacturing, production engineering, quality, logistics, and operations SOP to deliver world-class autonomous cleaning robots at competitive cost, on-time, and at exceptional quality. Build the China operations team from zero and create the systems that scale LionsBot. Report directly to the CEO with high autonomy and fast decision-making authority.
Key Responsibilities• Own the CM relationship end-to-end: cost negotiation, capacity planning, quality governance, yield improvement, and daily production management at our Shenzhen-based contract manufacturer
• Drive COGS reduction within 12 months through BOM optimisation, production engineering improvements, and CM negotiations
• Build and enforce IQC, in-process, and OQC quality systems
• Qualify a second contract manufacturer in Southeast Asia (Vietnam/Malaysia) for supply chain resilience
• Establish global logistics and freight operations (EU, US, Asia) including customs, dangerous goods compliance, and 3PL management
• Build the China operations team (3–5 hires in Year 1): production engineers, quality engineers, and NPI coordinators
• Create the operations playbook from scratch: SOPs, escalation protocols, weekly reporting cadence, KPI dashboards, and CM scorecards
Required Qualifications• 8–12 years in hardware operations with 5+ years managing contract manufacturers in South China for a product/brand company
• Proven, quantifiable track record of COGS reduction on a hardware product through hands-on production engineering and BOM optimisation
• Experience shipping electromechanical product (robotics, consumer electronics, medical devices, or industrial equipment)
• Fluent in Mandarin and English
• Startup or scale-up experience (<500 people) with demonstrated ability to build systems from scratch in ambiguous, fast-changing environments
• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Industrial, or Manufacturing Engineering (or equivalent practical experience)
Preferred• Experience with IPC/embedded systems manufacturing
• Familiarity with lithium battery logistics and dangerous goods regulations
• Prior experience qualifying a backup contract manufacturer
• Network in the Pearl River Delta manufacturing ecosystem
Skills Required
- 8-12 years in hardware operations with 5+ years managing contract manufacturers in South China for a product/brand company
- Proven, quantifiable track record of COGS reduction on a hardware product through hands-on production engineering and BOM optimisation
- Experience shipping electromechanical product (robotics, consumer electronics, medical devices, or industrial equipment)
- Fluent in Mandarin and English
- Startup or scale-up experience (<500 people) with demonstrated ability to build systems from scratch
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Industrial, or Manufacturing Engineering (or equivalent practical experience)
- Experience with IPC/embedded systems manufacturing
- Familiarity with lithium battery logistics and dangerous goods regulations
- Prior experience qualifying a backup contract manufacturer
- Network in the Pearl River Delta manufacturing ecosystem
What We Do
Founded in 2018, LionsBot is a Singapore-headquartered smart robotics company providing deep technology solutions to the commercial cleaning industry. LionsBot has created a range of autonomous floor-cleaning machines designed and built in Singapore and equipped with LionsOS, its proprietary cloud operating system. The company’s first robot, the LeoBot, was awarded the prestigious Interclean Amsterdam Innovation Award in 2020 – the first Asian company to win this coveted prize. LionsOS was awarded the European Cleaning & Hygiene Award for technological innovation of the year in 2022 and the prestigious IF design award in 2023. The R3 Vac was awarded the Red Dot award – one of the world’s largest design competitions. Today, LionsBot has over 1,700 cleaning robots in 30 countries and counting across Europe, the US and Asia, with subsidiaries in India, the US and Netherlands.
