VP Foundry Ops: Scale Battery Cell Manufacturing

NextGenEnergyJobs; California (MO); Hybrid; USD 234,000 - 308,000; Full time

Job summary

Sila is seeking a VP of Foundry Operations to build and lead battery cell manufacturing from pilot capability to full industrialization and GWh scale. You will own site selection, plant construction, equipment specification, product offerings, and vendor ecosystem development.

Reporting to the COO, you will manage capital projects, drive KPI-based operations, and align with commercial and R&D teams to ensure high yield, safety, and cost-down roadmaps in a fast-paced, pre-IPO environment.

Qualifications

• 15+ years in operational, manufacturing, or engineering leadership.
• 5+ years in director-level role leading teams.
• Proven scale-up from pilot to giga-scale serial production.
• Battery manufacturing experience across process blocks.
• CapEx/OpEx budgets of $100M+ and international supplier ecosystems.
• Cross-functional with commercial and R&D alignment.
• Strong hiring and multisite team building.
• Agile, growth-oriented in fast-paced environments.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute end-to-end industrialization strategy for battery foundry operations.
• Lead site selection, facility delivery, and infrastructure design for pilot to gigafactory scale.
• Direct equipment specification, line layouts, RFQ/tendering, and commissioning.
• Build and mentor an automotive-quality manufacturing engineering and operations team.
• Collaborate with Product and R&D to translate cell specs into manufacturable designs.
• Align plant capacity roadmaps with market demand and customer commitments.
• Engage with executive leadership and Board on CapEx/OpEx and risk mitigations.
• Implement KPI-driven operations, SPC, and continuous improvement.

Skills

Executive leadership

Scale-up experience

Battery manufacturing

Capex management

Cross-functional

Agile mindset

Education

Engineering degree

PhD preferred

Job description

Sila is seeking a VP of Foundry Operations to build and lead battery cell manufacturing from pilot capability to full industrialization and GWh scale. You will own site selection, plant construction, equipment specification, product offerings, and vendor ecosystem development.

Reporting to the COO, you will manage capital projects, drive KPI-based operations, and align with commercial and R&D teams to ensure high yield, safety, and cost-down roadmaps in a fast-paced, pre-IPO environment.