Production Manager

Aalo Atomics; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Paid Time Off

Job summary

Aalo Atomics in Austin, TX is seeking a Production Manager to own the production department end-to-end, ensuring on-time shipping, cost control, and first-time quality. You will lead Production Supervisors and technicians, drive ramp, hire and develop leaders, and make resourcing calls on the floor.

This role collaborates with Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and Design Engineering to resolve systemic issues, implement lean practices, and scale operations as the company moves

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, manufacturing, business, or related field OR high school diploma and 8+ years of progressive manufacturing experience.
• 5+ years of experience in a manufacturing or production operations environment.
• 3+ years of experience directly managing people, including managing supervisors, leads, or other people managers.

Responsibilities

• Own production output for the department — safety, quality, throughput, cost, and on-time delivery
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Production Supervisors; build a leadership bench that can scale with the company
• Translate the master production schedule into an executable plan; own capacity, staffing levels, and shift structure to meet it
• Drive consistency of standards, process, and performance across all shifts and lines
• Set and track departmental metrics; use data to identify constraints and eliminate them permanently rather than repeatedly working around them
• Own the department’s labor and operating budget; make and defend build‑vs‑buy, repair‑vs‑replace, and capital investment decisions
• Partner closely with Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and Design Engineering to resolve systemic issues in process, tooling, materials, and design for manufacturability
• Lead root cause investigations and corrective actions on significant quality escapes, safety events, and schedule misses
• Plan and execute production ramp — hiring, training pipelines, layout, tooling, and process readiness ahead of demand
• Champion a strong safety culture and full compliance with regulatory, quality system, and documentation requirements
• Recruit, hire, and manage performance across the department
• Report department status, risks, and recovery plans clearly to senior leadership

Skills

Lean manufacturing

Operational excellence

Value stream mapping

Takt

Standard work

TPM

Statistical problem solving

P&L ownership

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering or related field

High school diploma with 8+ years manufacturing experience

Tools

MES/ERP systems

Shop floor data capture

Job description

About this position

About Aalo Atomics

Aalo Atomics is pioneering a new era in clean energy with factory-fabricated microreactors designed to deliver affordable, scalable, and reliable nuclear power. Our mission is to make nuclear energy globally accessible, starting with the Aalo-1, a 10 MWe reactor leveraging cutting‑edge safety, modularity, and efficiency. Based in Austin, TX, we’re rapidly growing as we work to deploy the world’s first fleet of advanced microreactors. Join us and help revolutionize energy for a sustainable future.

About the Role

Aalo is scaling from building reactors to building them in volume. The Production Manager owns that outcome. You will lead a team of Production Supervisors and their technicians, own the performance of the production department end to end, and be personally accountable for whether hardware ships on time, on cost, and right the first time. You will spend your days making resourcing calls, killing recurring problems permanently, and building the leaders who run the floor. This role is for someone who takes total ownership of a number and does not accept that the current rate is the best possible rate.

Key Responsibilities

• Own production output for the department — safety, quality, throughput, cost, and on‑time delivery
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Production Supervisors; build a leadership bench that can scale with the company
• Translate the master production schedule into an executable plan; own capacity, staffing levels, and shift structure to meet it
• Drive consistency of standards, process, and performance across all shifts and lines
• Set and track departmental metrics; use data to identify constraints and eliminate them permanently rather than repeatedly working around them
• Own the department’s labor and operating budget; make and defend build‑vs‑buy, repair‑vs‑replace, and capital investment decisions
• Partner closely with Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and Design Engineering to resolve systemic issues in process, tooling, materials, and design for manufacturability
• Lead root cause investigations and corrective actions on significant quality escapes, safety events, and schedule misses
• Plan and execute production ramp — hiring, training pipelines, layout, tooling, and process readiness ahead of demand
• Champion a strong safety culture and full compliance with regulatory, quality system, and documentation requirements
• Recruit, hire, and manage performance across the department
• Report department status, risks, and recovery plans clearly to senior leadership

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, manufacturing, business, or a related field; OR high school diploma or equivalency certificate and 8+ years of progressive manufacturing experience
• 5+ years of experience in a manufacturing or production operations environment
• 3+ years of experience directly managing people, including managing supervisors, leads, or other people managers

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience managing production in a regulated or high‑consequence industry (nuclear, aerospace, defense, medical device, ASME code fabrication)
• Demonstrated record of ramping a product from low‑rate to serial production
• Strong command of lean manufacturing and operational excellence — value stream mapping, takt, standard work, TPM, statistical problem solving
• Experience owning a departmental P&L or operating budget
• Experience implementing or scaling MES/ERP systems and shop floor data capture
• Familiarity with nuclear quality assurance requirements (10 CFR 50 Appendix B, NQA-1) or equivalent regulated QMS (AS9100, ISO 13485)
• Experience hiring and building teams quickly in a high‑growth environment
• Track record of developing supervisors into higher levels of responsibility

Additional Requirements

• Willingness to work extended hours and weekends as needed to support production milestones
• Must be able to work on an active manufacturing floor and wear required PPE

Requirements:

• Based in the United States
• Willing to work on‑sitein Austin, TX

What We Offer:

• Competitive salary based on technical level
• Paid Time Off

Additional Information:

Aalo Atomics provides a collaborative and supportive work environment, opportunities for professional growth, intellectually challenging careers, and competitive compensation. Aalo Atomics is an equal opportunity employer and considers all employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Applicants must be U.S. Citizens or U.S. Persons in compliance with 10 CFR Part 810 and may not hold non‑compliant foreign citizenships.

Direct applicants only. No recruiters or staffing agencies, please.