Who We Are:

At Formic, we’re on a mission to revolutionize American manufacturing and create more abundance in the world. We believe in continuing the American legacy of innovation by making automation accessible to all manufacturers and increasing their factory productivity by 10x.

Built upon deep expertise in robotics and manufacturing, our unique full service automation solutions combine the best automation technology, software, and analysis tools for manufacturers with best in class uptime, support, and maintenance services. We are creating a new era of supercharged efficiency and competitiveness for US manufacturers. As the world faces growing pressure from tariffs, rising costs, and labor shortages, Formic is uniquely positioned as the industry leading solution to overcome these challenges. Fueled by our vision for a re-industrialized domestic supply chain, everything we do is aimed at growing “Made in America” products. And we’re growing fast - achieving 7x growth in production hours YoY.

Supporting us in our mission, with investments thus far totaling over $60 million, are backers including Lux Capital, Initialized Capital, Blackhorn Ventures, Mitsubishi HC Capital NA, and CEOs and founders of multiple Fortune 50 companies.

Formic Cortex is an initiative to help Formic scale not just technology, but judgment, execution, and operational clarity as the company grows. The unifying goal is leverage: making it easier for teams to make good decisions and execute reliably as Formic scales. This role is ideal for someone energized by ambiguity, motivated by building something new, and excited by the opportunity to influence how an organization operates at its core.

As Product Lead, Operational Intelligence (Formic Cortex), you will focus on how Formic works as a system - how decisions are made, how information flows across teams, and how complex operational work becomes repeatable at scale. Rather than owning a fixed product surface or roadmap, you will identify where complexity, ambiguity, or fragmentation slow the organization down and design mechanisms that improve consistency, leverage, and speed over time.

This is a first-of-its-kind role at Formic. The Cortex team does not yet exist, and neither does a predefined blueprint for what it becomes - you will help shape both. You’ll work across deployment, solutions, production optimization, and adjacent teams to surface patterns that aren’t visible from within any single function, and translate those insights into durable ways of working - sometimes through tools or automation, often through clearer structure, decision frameworks, or redesigned handoffs.

Over time, the systems, mechanisms, and tooling that emerge from Formic Cortex are expected to coalesce into a cohesive internal product - the operational backbone of the company. As Cortex matures, it will increasingly function as Formic’s operating system: the place where operational knowledge lives, decisions are supported, and execution is coordinated across the organization. Early on, however, the focus is on discovery, design, and leverage, ensuring that what ultimately becomes productized is grounded in how the company actually works.

In this role you will:

Observe how work actually happens across deployment, solutions, production optimization, and adjacent teams, and surface patterns that limit speed, clarity, or consistency.
Translate complex, experience-driven decision-making into clear structures, frameworks, and mechanisms that scale beyond individuals.
Identify points where information breaks down, handoffs degrade, or judgment is overly concentrated, and redesign those flows to improve reliability.
Introduce systems - process, tooling, automation, or decision frameworks as appropriate - that reduce friction and increase operational leverage.
Partner closely with engineering to shape and deliver internal capabilities when software or automation is the right solution.
Establish feedback loops that make it easier to learn from deployments, maintenance, and operational outcomes over time.
Drive initiatives from discovery through execution in environments with limited precedent or definition.
Align stakeholders across functions around priorities, tradeoffs, and shared understanding of how work should operate.
Evaluate new technologies, methods, or approaches and assess where they meaningfully improve how the organization functions.
Help define what “good” looks like for Formic Cortex as a capability and, over time, shape the team and operating model around it.

What makes you a great fit:

4+ years of experience in product, operations, systems design, technical program management, robotics, automation, or similarly cross-functional roles.
Demonstrated ability to work in ambiguous environments where problems must be discovered, framed, and shaped before they can be solved.
Strong systems thinking skills, with the ability to reason about organizations, workflows, and decision-making as interconnected systems.
Experience working closely with engineers, operators, or technical subject-matter experts to turn real-world complexity into scalable solutions.
Comfort moving between observation, synthesis, and execution without a predefined roadmap.
Strong communication skills and the ability to build alignment across teams with different incentives, languages, and constraints.
A track record of owning outcomes, not just deliverables.
Willingness to spend time close to the work - whether in the field, on the factory floor, or embedded with operational teams - when insight requires it.
4+ years of experience in product, operations, systems design, technical program management, robotics, automation, or similarly cross-functional roles.
Demonstrated ability to work in ambiguous environments where problems must be discovered, framed, and shaped before they can be solved.
Strong systems thinking skills, with the ability to reason about organizations, workflows, and decision-making as interconnected systems.
Experience working closely with engineers, operators, or technical subject-matter experts to turn real-world complexity into scalable solutions.
Comfort moving between observation, synthesis, and execution without a predefined roadmap.
Strong communication skills and the ability to build alignment across teams with different incentives, languages, and constraints.
A track record of owning outcomes, not just deliverables.
Willingness to spend time close to the work - whether in the field, on the factory floor, or embedded with operational teams - when insight requires it.

Bonus points if you have:

Hands-on experience deploying robotics or automation systems in real production or field environments.
Experience building internal tools or platforms that support technicians, field engineers, or operational teams.
Background in controls, industrial robotics, PLCs, or hardware-in-the-loop testing.
Experience applying AI or machine learning to physical-world problems such as predictive maintenance or anomaly detection.
Familiarity with simulation frameworks or digital-twin environments used for validation or commissioning.

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Our Total Rewards

At Formic, we believe you perform your best when you're supported in caring for yourself and your loved ones. That's why we've thoughtfully designed a comprehensive benefits and perks package for our full-time, U.S.-based team members, including:

Equity in Formic: Own a meaningful stake in a fast-growing Series A startup, backed by leading global investors
Comprehensive Healthcare Coverage: 99% covered Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance plans, with 75% coverage for dependents, provided by Blue Cross Blue Shield and Guardian
Additional Fully Covered Insurance Benefits: FSA & DCFSA, Life Insurance, Short-Term Disability, and Long-Term Disability through Guardian, all 100% employer-paid
Employee Assistance Program (EAP): Fully funded by Formic and provided via Guardian, offering support when you need it most
Paid Parental Leave: Generous parental leave to support our employees and their growing families
Company-sponsored 401(k): Invest in your future with our company-backed retirement savings plan
Home Office Stipend: A one-time allowance for fully remote employees to set up your ideal at-home or on the road work environment
Monthly Cell-Phone Reimbursement: Monthly stipend toward phone and internet expenses
Flexible Time-Off: Take the time you need, when you need it, supported by our flexible PTO policy
Paid Company Holidays: Celebrate important dates with paid time off

Compensation Philosophy

Formic’s compensation packages - including salaries and equity - are thoughtfully benchmarked against peer companies at a similar growth stage. Equity represents a critical part of our mutual investment: when Formic succeeds, so do you.

Final compensation packages are carefully customized based on candidate preference for cash and equity balance, experience, geographic location, and market considerations. Our goal is to attract and reward top talent who will significantly impact our organization. We're open to meaningful discussions about compensation structure to secure exceptional team members.

The anticipated base pay range for this position is detailed below.

Base Salary Range:

$135,000 - $175,000USD

What we look for:

We’re building a company from the ground up, so every single person we hire has a massive impact on our team, culture, and ability to accomplish our mission. While each individual brings their own unique skills and perspectives to Formic, we look for people who share our vision and act in alignment with our Operating Principles. If this sounds like you, Formic could be the place for you!

Fearless Optimism: You share our ambitious vision of what we can accomplish. You’re aware of the challenges we will face as a startup doing new things in an old space, but you’re energized by the incredible opportunity we have to drive change for our customers, and for the manufacturing industry at large.
Factories First: You have a strong customer focus, no matter who your customer is. You seek to make things easier and better for our customers, even if it makes your job a little harder.
Today, Not Tomorrow: There are always plenty of projects to tackle in a startup, but you prioritize, take accountability for work, and have a bias toward action.
Be Right Often: You don’t do things just because that’s how they’ve always been done. You keep looking for ways to improve, seek out feedback along the way, and back your decisions up with data.
Made of Rubber: Just like rubber, when you fall you bounce back up. You know there’s going to be a lot of challenge and change in our work ahead but you are adaptable, resilient, and ready to thrive through it all.
Good Baton Passes: You work with a desire to make things easier and better for your team members. You use empathy to understand the needs and goals of others and support each other so Formic can be successful together.

Equal Opportunity

Formic is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion or religious creed, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, marital status, family or parental status, disability, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. All employment decisions are based on a person’s merit, business needs, and role requirements. If you require further accommodations or have questions regarding accessibility of our roles, please reach out to careers@formic.co.

AI Use

At Formic, fairness and transparency are at the heart of our hiring process. We use AI-powered tools in some interviews to help our teams evaluate candidate responses, but all final hiring decisions are made by humans. You can learn more about how AI is used in our recruitment process by reviewing our AI Hiring Disclosure linked here.