Head of Manufacturing

Wardstone; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Wardstone in Los Angeles is seeking a seasoned Manufacturing Leader to build and scale our production capability from prototype to high-volume interceptor manufacturing. You’ll own the facility, processes, tooling, quality, and the team that makes it all happen; you’ll report to the CEO.

This role partners with founders, engineering, and supply chain to ensure designs are manufacturable, cost-effective, and deliver targets.

Qualifications

• B.S. in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial, or Aerospace Engineering, or related field.
• 7+ years manufacturing experience in aerospace/defense/complex hardware, including at least 5 years in leadership.
• Has scaled a hardware product from prototype to production.
• Experience building and leading manufacturing teams.
• Strong knowledge of quality systems such as AS9100 and production processes.
• Experience planning facilities, equipment, and tooling.
• Must be a U.S. person as defined by ITAR; eligible to obtain a U.S. security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead manufacturing and build the manufacturing team.
• Own manufacturing strategy including insourcing/outsourcing decisions.
• Set manufacturing priorities with founders and engineering leads, and make the tradeoffs clear.
• Support prototype builds with fast, quality builds.
• Plan and build production facility, equipment, and tooling.
• Develop production processes for structures, electronics, final assembly, and test; plan path to low-rate and full-rate production.
• Own cost per unit and production rate; drive targets.
• Work with engineering on design-for-manufacturing and design-for-test from early in each design.
• Build a quality system scalable to AS9100 and manage safety.
• Ensure manufacturing meets customer, contract, and regulatory requirements.

Skills

Leadership

AS9100 knowledge

Production planning

Facility planning

Cross-functional collaboration

Regulatory compliance

Education

B.S. in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial, or Aerospace Engineering

Job description

Overview

You will build Wardstone’s manufacturing capability, from the prototypes we fly this year to the production line that delivers our interceptors at volume. You’ll own how our hardware gets built: the facility, processes, tooling, quality, and the team that does the work. You’ll report to the CEO.

Interceptors are only useful if they can be built reliably, affordably, and in quantity. You’ll work directly with the founders, engineering leads, and the Supply Chain Manager to make sure the vehicle is designed to be manufactured, and that we can build it at the rate and cost our customers need.

What You’ll Do

Lead manufacturing

• Build and lead the manufacturing team, including hiring technicians and manufacturing engineers as we grow.
• Own the manufacturing strategy, including what we build in-house, what we outsource, and when.
• Set manufacturing priorities with the founders and engineering leads, and make the tradeoffs clear.

Support prototype builds

• Keep prototype and test hardware builds moving fast without giving up quality.
• Create build procedures, work instructions, and records that capture what we learn on every build.

Plan for production

• Plan and build out the production facility, equipment, and tooling.
• Develop production processes for structures, electronics, final assembly, and test, and plan the path to low-rate and full-rate production.
• Own cost per unit and production rate, and drive both toward our targets.
• Work with engineering on design-for-manufacturing and design-for-test from early in each design.

Own quality and safety

• Build a quality system that scales with the company, including inspection, nonconformance handling, and corrective action, with the goal of AS9100 certification.
• Own manufacturing safety, including safe handling and storage of energetic materials in our facility.
• Make sure manufacturing meets customer, contract, and regulatory requirements.

Required Qualifications

• B.S. in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial, or Aerospace Engineering, or a related field.
• 7+ years of manufacturing experience in aerospace, defense, or complex hardware, including at least 5 years in leadership.
• Has scaled a hardware product from prototype to production.
• Experience building and leading manufacturing teams.
• Strong knowledge of quality systems, such as AS9100, and production processes.
• Experience planning facilities, equipment, and tooling.
• Must be a U.S. person as defined by ITAR (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual). [Must be eligible to obtain a U.S. security clearance.]

Nice to Have

• Experience manufacturing missiles, munitions, rockets, or other flight vehicles.
• Experience with energetics manufacturing or explosives safety programs (e.g., DoD 4145.26).
• Experience with low-rate initial production (LRIP) on defense programs.
• Experience with lean manufacturing, automation, or high-volume production.
• Experience setting up ERP or manufacturing execution systems.
• Prior early-stage startup experience.

Compensation

The base pay range for this role is $170,000 – $200,000 per year.