About Us

Our mission is to reduce global human carbon emissions by 1%. To get there, we've created the tools needed to realize zero-waste production and circular reuse— a future where nothing becomes trash. The world's first 3D weaving tech, transforming yarn into clothes in minutes.

What We’re Building

We’ve developed a proprietary and patent-pending technology at the crossroads of 3D printing and automated textile manufacturing. By skipping the flat 2D fabric stage, we can additively build custom apparel products from the ground up- straight from yarn to final product. If additive manufacturing, industrial automation, and synchronized systems of hundreds of sensors & actuators gets you excited, we’d love to talk!

About You

You enjoy working on fast-paced and early-stage R&D, and you enjoy bringing high quality products to market. You enjoy wearing multiple hats and switching between different contexts. You are capable of working independently and in a team while being flexible, self-motivated, and curious. You thrive on the lack of clear instructions at the beginning of ambitious projects, and your ability to learn, understand, and communicate clear instructions to others about a complicated process is one of your strengths. You have strong interpersonal skills and can help manage a complex testing program with competing needs from multiple sides of the organization. You probably love thinking about the things immediately around us, especially yarns, fabrics, clothing and the machines that make them. You enjoy daily challenges and relish the successes.

What You’ll Do

This Textile Technician Lead role will support 3D weaving material development and production. You’ll work with the Product and Hardware teams to create the world’s first 3D woven products. We're looking for someone who has prior experience operating large machinery, but also is game to jump in and help with other work as needed.

As part of the early technician team at unspun, you will be a core member operating, building, and supporting a completely new manufacturing process. We’re looking for someone with a few years of hands-on industry experience already, and someone who is excited about the risks and rewards of joining an early-stage startup.

• Lead and manage our textile technician team, fostering a collaborative and high-performing environment across both shifts
• Meet 1:1 with team members to provide mentorship, develop career paths, and create individual growth plans
• Work closely with the Textile Engineers and Project Managers on staffing machine testing and production runs
• Operate and maintain our revolutionary robotic loom
• Ensure product outputs meet desired specifications and quality control standards
• Produce new woven outputs and coordinate product runs
• Maintain a safe and organized workspace
• Help identify limitations of technical approaches and provide insights about machine performance and reliability
• Test new machine subsystems
• Support machine and subsystem assembly
• Create and maintain documentation for internal communication and record keeping, including data collection during product runs and machine testing
• Collaborate with the engineering team on experiments and results
• Identify and communicate suggested improvements to designs, documentation, or processes

Ideal Qualities

• 5+ years of hands-on experience with textile machinery and production facilities, and ideally some hands-on experience with fabric production and/or development
• 2+ years of leading a team
• Be able to work on your feet and be comfortable working on a large machine for extended periods and perform occasional repetitive tasks; able to lift up to 30 lbs
• Some knowledge of textile fibers and yarns
• Experience and comfort working with industrial machinery and robotics
• Interested in testing and debugging
• Strong problem-solving abilities and attention to detail
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills... this is a team sport!
• Work on-site at our microfactory in Emeryville from 9am - 6pm, Monday to Friday

Bonus Points:

• Experience in Textiles, Design, Textile Engineering, Materials Science, or related fields
• Familiarity with industrial scale looms
• Energized by new ideas in apparel and product manufacturing. Comfortable in a fast-paced early-stage startup environment.
• Experience working on fast-paced early stage R&D projects
• Automation and robotics experience
• Manufacturing and factory experience
• Familiarity with hardware engineering design and implementation practices
• Familiarity with basic programming concepts

We don't expect you to have all of the listed qualities, and are looking for someone who hopes to learn those areas where they don't have as much experience. If you don't meet all of the requirements listed above, but can make up for it with a voracious passion to learn how to do so, we strongly encourage you to apply.

Our Philosophy

We won’t roll our eyes if your socks don’t match. We get it. But then, if you spend those extra few minutes in the morning matching your socks and shirt, we get that too. Our workspaces are sometimes spotless and sometimes chaotic, and we celebrate messy exploration. We work through complex problems but generate simple and elegant solutions. We strive to look at things differently, and never do anything solely because “that’s the way it’s always been done.”

We’re a team of designers and engineers, industry-veterans and serial entrepreneurs, artists and developers. We’re aspiring chess masters and climbers, bakers and photographers. Originally spun out of Stanford and the University of Colorado, we now call the SF Bay Area home, with strong ties to Hong Kong. We are looking for teammates who share our desire to work on ambitious problems, find deep meaning in their work, and leave the world better than we found it.

unspun is an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to being a diverse team that reflects a broad range of background, thought, and experience. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, status as an individual with a disability, status as protected veteran, or any other legally protected characteristics. Women, minorities, and people from underrepresented backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.