Who we are

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.

About the team

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 integrators to execute deployments on schedule while maintaining high standards for quality, safety, and repeatability.

About the role:

As Product Manager, Machine Tending, you will own the development, commercialization, and growth of Formic's machine tending offering across both tracks. You will decide which applications we pursue, define standard configurations and pricing, and lead the engineering work that makes them repeatable to deploy.

You will need enough engineering depth to make technical decisions and enough business sense to make commercial ones. You will set direction, get hands-on when needed, and serve as Formic's subject matter expert for the vertical. The goal is an offering Sales can confidently sell, Engineering can consistently deliver, and customers can rely on.

In this role you will

Own the machine tending product

Own the strategy, roadmap, and portfolio across third-party and internally developed solutions
Prioritize applications across CNC mills, lathes, machining centers, and press equipment, and define standard configurations and application boundaries
Set requirements for robots, CNC interfaces, workholding, EOAT, controls, software, and safety, favoring compact footprints, quick changeovers, and minimal programming
Develop a robust portfolio of offerings that span the common use cases of our customers. This will include systems to sport a full range of offerings in the High Mix / Low Volume and High Volume / Low Mix applications.

Develop third-party system integration and partnerships

Evaluate and select third-party machine tending platforms and integration partners against Formic standards for safety, uptime, serviceability, and cost
Define integration standards for partner systems (Formic telemetry, remote monitoring, safety review, documentation, and spares) so each one is supported like any other fleet asset
Negotiate and manage relationships with integrators, machine tool builders, and OEMs, including pricing, lead times, support terms, and co-marketing
Aggregate lessons from partner deployments into the requirements for Formic's internal product

Develop Formic-designed machine tending systems

Lead robot arm selection across collaborative and industrial platforms (FANUC, Yaskawa, Universal Robots, ABB, KUKA, Others), weighing payload, reach, cycle time, safety architecture, CNC integration support, cost, and serviceability
Scope a modular design framework that covers turning, milling, grinding, Swiss-type, and press applications from a common base of cell frame, controls, safety, and software
Define part presentation options (drawers, grids, carts, pallets) and EOAT libraries scaled to part size, weight, and batch volume