Director of Manufacturing - Space Technologies

Job description

Job responsibilities

• Lead all aspects of space product manufacturing across a portfolio of ~10 products, including production readiness, rate ramp, quality, and delivery performance.
• Own tactical execution across manufacturing operations, including PCBA production and space-qualified hardware fabrication.
• Manage material planning, production scheduling, supply chain coordination, and supplier performance oversight.
• Oversee quality execution, compliance, and defect reduction within high-reliability manufacturing environments.
• Maintain daily/weekly operating cadence to ensure commitments are met.
• Drive the transition from engineering development to full-rate production, implementing design-for-manufacturability, producibility, and cost optimization.
• Partner closely with engineering to mature designs and implement robust build-to-print, configuration control, and production release processes.
• Ensure full compliance with space manufacturing standards, including IPC J-STD requirements and applicable space addenda, mission assurance, and reliability expectations.

Job requirements

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations, or a related technical field (or equivalent combination of education, training, and experience).
• Experience: Minimum 10 years of progressive experience in manufacturing or operations, with at least 6 to 8 years of direct managerial experience.
• Core Technical Expertise: Proven experience leading space hardware manufacturing organizations.
• Required: Direct, hands-on experience manufacturing PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assemblies) .
• Required: Direct experience manufacturing Space-Qualified hardware .
• Transitions & Standards: Demonstrated success transitioning products from engineering development into production at scale;
• Operations & Systems: Understanding of material planning, supply chain operations, and quality systems in high-reliability environments; experience operating within enterprise ERP/MRP systems (such as Oracle Fusion).
• Experience working with Space Optics .