Junior Production Controller

Fibertek Inc; Herndon (VA); On-site; USD 55,000 - 72,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

Disability, life insurance, and AD&D

401(k) with company match

Flexible Spending Accounts and Health

Employee Assistance Program

Education assistance

Paid time off and holidays

Flexible work schedules

9/8/80 alternate workweek option

Job summary

Fibertek, Inc. in Herndon, VA is seeking a hands-on Junior Production Controller to drive flow on the shop floor and in cleanroom labs for spaceflight hardware.

You will manage work orders in Costpoint, verify materials, coordinate with technicians, and track progress from release to completion while identifying risks and blockers.

This role requires a proactive, cross-functional communicator with aerospace experience and a willingness to work in a physically active environment.

Qualifications

• 1-3 years of experience in production control or manufacturing planning for aerospace/spaceflight hardware.
• Hands-on work order tracking experience in Costpoint or equivalent ERP/MRP system.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing flows, routers, BOMs, travelers, and configuration management.
• Experience working in cleanroom environments.
• Ability to interpret engineering drawings and manufacturing documentation.
• Proactive mindset with strong cross-functional communication skills.
• Basic proficiency in MS Office applications
• U.S. Citizenship required (ITAR/export compliance).

Responsibilities

• Control cleanroom lab and shop-floor work orders, ensuring progress.
• Verify readiness by checking materials, tooling, travelers, and docs.
• Coordinate with technicians on next steps, priority, and quality gates.
• Manage and track work orders from release to completion in Costpoint.
• Identify schedule risks via daily in-person monitoring of WIP.
• Resolve blockers with Procurement, Quality, Engineering, and program team.
• Maintain accurate dates, serial numbers, routing, attachments, and status in ERP.
• Run daily shortage reviews and validate material presence.
• Track incoming parts, inspection status, and Non-Conformance impacts.
• Push cross-functional owners for recovery actions and escalate blockers.
• Documentation & Configuration Control
• Ensure assemblies use correct BOM, router, and work instructions.
• Collaborate on ECO/ECN cut-ins to minimize disruption to active builds.
• Ensure build records are up to date.
• Maintain daily dashboards for WIP aging, shortage status, and schedule adherence.
• Identify on-floor inefficiencies and propose layout/documentation improvements.

Skills

Costpoint

ERP/MRP

Cleanroom

Drawings

Cross-functional

MS Office

Citizenship

Education

Associate degree

Bachelor’s degree

Job description

Share this job as a link in your status update to LinkedIn.

Job Title

Location

Herndon, VA - Herndon, VA 20171 US (Primary)

Job Description

We are seeking a hands-on, proactive Junior Production Controller to support space flight hardware manufacturing in our ISO class 6-8 clean laboratory environments. This role requires daily physical presence on the shop floor and in cleanroom labs, actively driving work orders, removing blockers, coordinating materials, and keeping production flowing. The ideal candidate has experience with aerospace or space-flight systems and thrives in a dynamic, build-focused environment.

Key Responsibilities

Cleanroom Lab & Shop-Floor Work Order Control (≥50% in cleanroom labspace)

• Move between work centers and cleanroom labs constantly, ensuring work is progressing smoothly.
• Verify readiness by physically checking materials, tooling, travelers, and documentation.
• Partner directly with technicians to confirm next steps, priority sequencing, and quality gates.
• Manage and track work orders from release through completion using Costpoint.
• Identify schedule risks early through daily in-person monitoring of WIP.
• Drive immediate resolution with Procurement, Quality, Engineering, and program team when progress slows or stops.
• Maintain accurate dates, serial numbers, routing, attachments, and status updates within ERP.

Material Coordination & Shortage Management

• Run daily shortage reviews and physically validate material presence at assembly locations.
• Track incoming parts, inspection status, and Non-Conformance impacts.
• Push cross-functional owners for recovery actions and elevate blockers quickly.
• Documentation & Configuration Control
• Ensure every assembly being built is using the correct BOM, router, and work instructions.
• Collaborate with program team on ECO/ECN cut-ins to minimize disruption to active builds.
• Ensure build records are up to date.
• Maintain daily dashboards for work-in-progress aging, shortage status, and schedule adherence.
• Identify inefficiencies on the floor and propose improvements to layout, flow, or documentation.

Job Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• 1-3 years of experience in production control or manufacturing planning for aerospace/spaceflight hardware.
• Hands-on work order tracking experience in Costpoint or equivalent ERP/MRP system.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing flows, routers, BOMs, travelers, and configuration management.
• Experience working in cleanroom environments.
• Ability to interpret engineering drawings and manufacturing documentation.
• Proactive mindset with strong cross-functional communication skills.
• Basic proficiency in MS Office applications
• U.S. Citizenship required (ITAR/export compliance).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with space flight hardware (avionics, propulsion, mechanisms, structures, or payload subsystems).
• Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree

Salary Range:

The annual base salary range for this position is $55,000-$72,000. This range reflects the compensation Fibertek reasonably expects to offer for this role. Placement within the range will depend on factors such as the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s experience, education and training, key skills, and relevant market and business considerations.

Benefits offered:

• medical, dental, and vision coverage
• disability, life insurance, and AD&D
• a 401(k) plan with a company match and immediate vesting
• Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Savings Accounts
• an Employee Assistance Program
• education assistance
• paid time off and holidays
• flexible work schedules
• a 9/8/80 alternate workweek option

FIBERTEK, Inc. is a recognized leader in advanced lasers, lidars and laser communication systems providing our DoD, NASA and aerospace customers discriminating capabilities. We pride ourselves in our innovation and customer success focused culture enabled by a creative and relaxed work environment. Fibertek fosters a progressive learning environment that values inspiration, promotes professional challenge and encourages personal growth. We offer a competitive and incentivized compensation package with excellent benefits. Fibertek, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment based on individual merit, skills, and experience. Fibertek does not engage in nor permits any discrimination in the workplace.