Head of Engineering Operations

About this job

Human Archive is a research lab backed by Y Combinator that builds custom hardware and models human embodied intelligence to recover it as a learned model. As the Head of Engineering Operations at humanarchive in India, you will own the technical layer underneath the large-scale data ingestion pipeline for camera and sensor devices deployed in the field. Your daily work involves managing ingest stations, tooling, hardware inventory, quality control, and ensuring data reaches cloud storage securely and traceably. You will spend your time being hands-on with hardware and software, visiting deployment sites, writing scripts to automate manual tasks, and acting as the primary technical escalation point for the operations team when issues arise. You will work alongside a lean, technical team on problems that impact model capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Build, configure, and maintain ingest stations and replicate their build reliably across locations.
• Manage ingest tooling in the field, deploy updates, and communicate requirements to the software team.
• Define verification and media lifecycle rules and audit that the defined processes are followed.
• Act as an escalation point for failed ingests to fix underlying hardware, media, or procedure issues.
• Maintain an inventory of capture devices, memory cards, and drives with full chain of custody.
• Investigate recording failures using controlled tests and define capture configuration standards.
• Produce reports on recording yield, data loss, and operator performance.
• Write Python and shell scripts to automate manual steps in the operational workflow.

Requirements

• A technical background with a degree in engineering or computer science, or equivalent hands-on experience.
• Comfort in Linux including mounting, formatting media, filesystems, permissions, and reading logs.
• Working Python knowledge for scripting batch jobs, walking directory trees, or calling APIs.
• Fluent use of AI tools like Claude, Claude Code, or Cowork to write scripts and draft procedures.
• Strong hardware troubleshooting instinct to form hypotheses, test them, and eliminate causes.
• Care about data integrity, chain of custody, and the discipline to follow verification steps.
• Clear written English to author procedures that others depend upon.
• Willingness to work with physical equipment and travel to deployment sites.

Good to have

• Experience with cameras or sensor hardware.
• SQL experience or ability to query an internal API for reporting.
• Knowledge of storage systems such as RAID, ZFS, or network-attached storage administration.
• Prior work in data collection, field operations, logistics, or laboratory operations.
• Familiarity with barcode or asset-tracking systems.

Who should apply

This role suits a deeply technical candidate who is equally comfortable working with a Linux terminal and a screwdriver in the same afternoon. You should have a meticulous attitude toward data integrity, a strong instinct for hardware troubleshooting, and the ability to define processes where none currently exist. The position requires someone who can build reliable systems, write automation scripts, and travel to deployment sites as needed. The posting does not mention whether freshers can apply, so candidates should possess the stated technical background and hands-on experience.

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