Manufacturing Leader: Scale Ops for Defense Tech

CX2; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

CX2 is seeking a Head of Manufacturing to lead and scale our manufacturing organization for complex defense hardware. The role blends hands‑on production floor leadership with strategic, cross‑functional collaboration across engineering, supply chain, and quality to deliver high‑volume, reliable systems.

The ideal candidate has built or scaled manufacturing in defense, aerospace, autonomous systems, or related complex hardware, with a track record on DFMA, process discipline, and rapid problem

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in manufacturing, operations, manufacturing engineering, or production leadership, preferably within defense, aerospace, autonomous systems, robotics, or complex electromechanical hardware
• Demonstrated experience building or scaling a manufacturing operation, ideally from prototype or low‑rate production into repeatable production
• Strong understanding of manufacturing complex electromechanical systems, including mechanical assemblies, electronics, wiring/harnessing, integration, and system‑level test
• Experience working closely with engineering organizations to transition products from R&D/NPI into production
• Strong understanding of production planning, manufacturing engineering, quality systems, supply chain, and inventory management
• Experience developing production processes, work instructions, tooling, fixtures, test equipment, and manufacturing documentation
• Familiarity with aerospace and defense quality and compliance environments, such as AS9100, ISO 9001, configuration management, and product traceability
• Experience managing manufacturing schedules and delivering hardware against aggressive program milestones
• Strong analytical skills and experience using manufacturing data and KPIs to drive operational improvements
• Demonstrated ability to recruit, develop, and manage manufacturing engineers, production personnel, and technicians
• Ability to operate effectively in an environment where priorities move quickly and leaders are expected to be hands‑on problem solvers rather than purely organizational managers
• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent relevant experience

Responsibilities

• Own the overall manufacturing strategy, production operations, and execution across the organization
• Build and scale manufacturing capabilities to support the transition from prototype and LRIP to higher‑volume production
• Establish production processes, workflows, tooling, work instructions, and manufacturing standards that improve quality, throughput, and repeatability
• Lead manufacturing teams across areas such as production, manufacturing engineering, technicians, integration, and test
• Partner closely with Mechanical, Electrical, RF, Systems, Test, and other engineering teams to ensure products are designed for manufacturability, assembly, and test
• Drive Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA) into the product development lifecycle
• Own production planning and capacity planning to ensure manufacturing can meet aggressive customer and program schedules
• Develop manufacturing KPIs around yield, throughput, cycle time, quality, cost, schedule performance, and capacity
• Identify production bottlenecks and implement processes, automation, tooling, or equipment to improve manufacturing efficiency
• Establish strong configuration control, documentation, traceability, and production discipline appropriate for defense and aerospace products
• Stand up and enable Quality to establish inspection, acceptance, non-conformance, corrective-action, and continuous‑improvement processes
• Work closely with Supply Chain to identify critical suppliers, mitigate material constraints, and ensure production readiness
• Develop make‑versus‑buy strategies for critical components, assemblies, and manufacturing capabilities
• Own manufacturing facility planning, including production layout, equipment, tooling, lab space, ESD‑controlled environments, and future capacity requirements
• Support customer deliveries, production readiness reviews, audits, and other manufacturing‑related customer or government requirements
• Recruit, develop, and lead a high‑performing manufacturing organization while maintaining a culture of accountability, urgency, quality, and continuous improvement

Skills

Leadership

Manufacturing

DFMA

Production Planning

Quality Systems

Lean Six Sigma

Cross-functional

Team Development

Troubleshooting

Program Management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering / Electrical Engineering / Manufacturing Engineering / Industrial Engineering

Job description

CX2 is seeking a Head of Manufacturing to lead and scale our manufacturing organization for complex defense hardware. The role blends hands‑on production floor leadership with strategic, cross‑functional collaboration across engineering, supply chain, and quality to deliver high‑volume, reliable systems.

The ideal candidate has built or scaled manufacturing in defense, aerospace, autonomous systems, or related complex hardware, with a track record on DFMA, process discipline, and rapid problem