Head of Manufacturing — Scale Clean-Energy Hardware

Arbor Energy; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k)

Health insurance

Unlimited PTO

Annual learning stipend

Earth Day holidays

Job summary

Arbor Energy is seeking a Head of Manufacturing to build the systems, processes, and partnerships that will take our hardware from development builds to repeatable production. This is a hands-on leadership role blending strategy with practical industrialization and build challenges.

Based at Arbor Energy’s headquarters in El Segundo, CA, this role requires regular in-person work at HQ, test sites, supplier locations, and future facilities.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in manufacturing, industrialization, production engineering, or operations for complex hardware systems, including meaningful leadership responsibility.
• Experience taking first-of-a-kind or early-stage hardware from prototype or first article into repeatable production.
• Experience building manufacturing systems from the ground up, including process design, facility planning, supplier strategy, production systems, and operating cadence.
• Production or production-intent experience with additive manufacturing, including qualification, inspection, repeatability, yield, and downstream process integration.
• Strong working knowledge of machining, fabrication, welding, assembly, test, quality systems, and production readiness for complex hardware.
• Experience evaluating and implementing make-versus-buy, vertical-integration, and manufacturing-partner decisions.
• Ability to build cost, capacity, and capital models and connect manufacturing choices to technical, commercial, and company milestones.
• Strong cross-functional leadership and communication skills, including the ability to make complex manufacturing tradeoffs clear to technical and executive audiences.
• Comfort working hands-on in an early-stage environment while building the processes, partnerships, and team needed to scale.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead Arbor's manufacturing strategy and scale-up roadmap from development builds through repeatable production.
• Translate product and system designs into practical manufacturing plans that improve manufacturability, cost, quality, reliability, serviceability, and production readiness.
• Evaluate and recommend make-versus-buy, vertical-integration, supplier, manufacturing-partner, and facility strategies as Arbor grows.
• Lead the production strategy for critical components, including additive manufacturing, machining, post-processing, inspection, qualification, and downstream integration.
• Establish approaches for process qualification, repeatability, yield improvement, and cost reduction across production-critical workflows.
• Build ramp and capacity plans covering equipment, tooling, staffing, supplier readiness, qualification cycles, inventory, spares, throughput, and project-delivery needs.
• Implement the production systems, work instructions, quality controls, traceability, configuration management, and change-control practices appropriate for each stage of scale.
• Coordinate an integrated manufacturing plan across Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, Finance, Facilities, test operations, suppliers, and manufacturing partners.
• Build manufacturing cost and capacity models, and partner with Finance to translate equipment, facility, supplier, and staffing needs into phased capital and operating plans.
• Create a clear operating cadence for manufacturing, surface tradeoffs early, and bring decision-ready recommendations to company leadership.
• Help define Arbor's manufacturing organization and priority capability gaps, building the team and partner network as production needs grow.

Job description

Arbor Energy is seeking a Head of Manufacturing to build the systems, processes, and partnerships that will take our hardware from development builds to repeatable production. This is a hands-on leadership role blending strategy with practical industrialization and build challenges.

Based at Arbor Energy’s headquarters in El Segundo, CA, this role requires regular in-person work at HQ, test sites, supplier locations, and future facilities.