Full-Time
Operations Program Manager
Hardware
Sandbar
51-200 employees
Develops private voice communication interface
Compensation Overview
$150k - $170k/yr
New York, NY, USA
In Person
 Business & Strategy (1) |
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- The candidate must have at least 7 years of experience in Operations Program Management, Manufacturing Program Management, or similar roles in hardware products.
- The candidate must have direct experience supporting Engineering Validation Test, Design Validation Test, Production Validation Test, and Mass Production transitions.
- The candidate must have a strong understanding of manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, and quality workflows.
- The candidate must have proven ability to manage external partners and contract manufacturers.
- The candidate must have excellent written and verbal communication skills and be able to drive clarity in ambiguous, fast-moving environments.
- The candidate must be comfortable operating in startup or early-scale environments.
- Own operations execution plans aligned to the Technical Program Management-led master schedule.
- Translate engineering milestones into concrete manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, and quality deliverables.
- Drive closure of operational dependencies required to support Production Validation Test, Mass Production ramp, and sustaining builds.
- Manage operational impacts of engineering changes in partnership with Technical Program Management.
- Lead factory readiness activities including line setup, capacity planning, pilot builds, and ramp execution.
- Ensure readiness of bills of materials, tooling, test flows, packaging, outgoing quality control plans, and work instructions.
- Partner with Quality and contract manufacturing teams to track yield and defect trends through ramp.
- Support daily and weekly factory execution reviews as needed.
- Coordinate with the Supply Chain Lead on material readiness, long-lead item tracking, risk buys, and supplier issue resolution.
- Work with the Logistics Program Manager to align inbound materials, outbound shipments, regional allocations, and delivery commitments to production plans.
- Ensure operational plans are executable against real-world supply and logistics constraints.
- Own field quality execution by tracking and triaging customer-reported issues, return merchandise authorizations, and early failure trends.
- Drive EFFA and Pareto analysis across factory defects, outgoing quality control failures, and field returns to focus teams on the highest-impact issues.
- Coordinate containment, root cause analysis, and corrective actions using 8D and Corrective and Preventive Action processes for systemic issues.
- Establish feedback loops between Customer Support, contract manufacturing, Quality, and Supply Chain so field learnings are reflected in production.
- Own sustaining readiness including engineering change order rollouts, rework planning, inventory disposition, and yield stability post-ramp.
- Own operational dashboards covering yield, defects, outgoing quality control, and field-quality Pareto metrics, as well as the Operations RAID log; ensure data accuracy with contract manufacturing, outgoing quality control, and Quality partners.
- Proactively surface execution gaps with clear options and tradeoffs.
- Run core Operations execution meetings and provide concise, decision-oriented updates to leadership.
- Act as the single point of accountability for day-to-day operational execution health.
Sandbar creates an interface built around Stream, a private voice space designed to hold and organize everything on your mind. It uses voice as the main input and workspace to capture thoughts, ideas, and notes in a private ring, rather than public posts or text-only tools. Users talk to Stream to record and manage what they’re thinking, and the interface guides how those thoughts are stored, recalled, and organized. Sandbar differentiates itself by focusing on a private, voice-first space rather than mass-market social feeds or public messaging, aiming to give people a personal, accessible way to capture and structure their inner thoughts. The company’s goal is to provide a simple, private voice interface that lets you express and organize everything on your mind through Stream.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
Series A
Total Funding
$36M
Headquarters
New York City, New York
Founded
2023
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Sandbar raised $23 million in March 2026, bringing total funding to $36 million.
- Preorders opened at $249 and $299, signaling consumer demand before first shipments.
- Amazon's Bee acquisition validated ambient AI wearables and expanded awareness of the category.
What critics are saying
- Stream ships in batches from summer 2026, leaving months for Amazon and Oura to copy.
- Sandbar depends on iPhone-first software and U.S. availability, blocking Android and global growth.
- If subscriptions stall, the $10 Stream Pro model collapses and hardware margins alone fail.
What makes Sandbar unique
- Sandbar's Stream ring targets voice capture, not fitness, unlike Oura and Samsung.
- Former Meta engineers Mina Fahmi and Kirak Hong built Stream from neural interface expertise.
- Stream pairs a ring with iOS software, turning whispers into searchable notes and tasks.
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Benefits
Health Insurance
Vision Insurance
Dental Insurance
Unlimited Paid Time Off
Company Equity
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↓ -1%1 year growth
↑ 7%2 year growth
↑ 27%Watch as Sandbar CEO Mina Fahmi joins Equity to discuss the future of AI wearables and what other AI hardware companies got wrong.
Sandbar, an AI hardware startup, has raised $23 million in a Series A round co-led by Adjacent and Kindred Ventures to launch Stream, an AI note-taking ring. The company previously raised $13 million from True Ventures, Upfront and Betaworks. Founded in 2023 by Mina Fahmi and Kirak Hong, who previously worked on Meta's neural wristband project, Sandbar's Stream ring allows users to capture notes and ideas through voice commands with a simple hand-to-mouth gesture. The device, priced between $249 and $299, combines hardware including a haptic motor with customised AI models to process audio inputs and resurface relevant past notes. The startup's 15-person team plans to release Stream this summer, initially focusing on note-taking and brainstorming capabilities. Sandbar envisions the ring serving as an interface for apps like Notion and potentially managing autonomous AI agents.
Sandbar, founded by former Meta engineers, has raised $13M to launch Stream, a voice-controlled smart ring. Stream, described as "a mouse for voice," is worn on the index finger and features built-in microphones and a touchpad. It allows users to capture notes, interact with assistants, and control media through gestures. The ring activates only when pressed, ensuring privacy, and transcribes even whispers into its companion iOS app with high accuracy.