Space Manufacturing Director: Productization & Scale

avav; Albuquerque (NM); On-site; USD 148,000 - 237,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision benefits

401K with company matching

9/80 work schedule

Holiday shutdown

Job summary

AeroVironment seeks a senior leader to oversee space product manufacturing, taking end-to-end responsibility from engineering transition to scalable production. You will drive material planning, supply chain coordination, and quality performance while aligning with Global Operations to enforce enterprise standards.

The role demands strategic vision and hands-on execution across multi-site operations, ensuring cost, schedule, and performance targets are met in a fast-moving aerospace environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, or related technical or equivalent combination of education, training, and experience.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing or operations required with minimum 6-8 years of direct managerial experience
• Strong track record in leading multi-site or complex manufacturing operations in the aerospace, defense, or high-technology industries.
• Proven experience leading space hardware manufacturing organizations, including responsibility for both strategic leadership and tactical execution
• Experience operating within ERP/MRP systems (e.g., Oracle Fusion or equivalent)

Responsibilities

• Lead all aspects of space product manufacturing across a portfolio of ~10 products, including production readiness, rate ramp, quality, and delivery performance
• Own tactical execution across manufacturing operations, including:
• Material planning and production scheduling
• Supply chain coordination and input on supplier performance
• Quality execution, compliance and defect reduction
• Daily/weekly operating cadence to ensure commitments are met
• Drive the transition from engineering development to full-rate production, ensuring design-for-manufacturability, producibility, and cost optimization
• Partner closely with engineering to mature designs and implement robust build-to-print, configuration control, and production release processes
• Ensure full compliance with space manufacturing standards, including IPC J-STD requirements and applicable space addenda, as well as mission assurance and reliability expectations
• Establish and scale manufacturing processes that meet high-reliability, low-defect, and traceability requirements for space systems
• Lead cross-functional coordination across engineering, quality, supply chain, programs, and finance to deliver on cost, schedule, and performance commitment
• Partner with Global Operations to:
• Ensure alignment to enterprise initiatives, policies, and governance
• Drive adoption of standard tools and systems, including Oracle Fusion
• Implement consistent processes, metrics, and reporting across sites
• Support enterprise-wide continuous improvement and operational excellence initiatives
• Champion lean manufacturing and continuous improvement, improving throughput, reducing cycle time, and optimizing cost structure
• Build and develop a high-performing organization across manufacturing, material planning, supply chain, and quality functions
• Align manufacturing strategy with broader company direction to accelerate commercialization and productization, consistent with evolving government and market priorities
• All other relevant duties as assigned

Skills

Leadership

Manufacturing leadership

Space manufacturing knowledge

ERP/MRP experience

Cross-functional collaboration

Quality systems

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Operations or related field

Tools

Oracle Fusion

Job description

AeroVironment seeks a senior leader to oversee space product manufacturing, taking end-to-end responsibility from engineering transition to scalable production. You will drive material planning, supply chain coordination, and quality performance while aligning with Global Operations to enforce enterprise standards.

The role demands strategic vision and hands-on execution across multi-site operations, ensuring cost, schedule, and performance targets are met in a fast-moving aerospace environment.