Vice President of Manufacturing
Apply NowCompany: Karman Space and Defense
Location: Huntington Beach, CA 92647
Description:
SUMMARY
Provide executive leadership for Manufacturing across all sites, guiding General Managers to align strategy, optimize manufacturing operations, and ensure world-class quality and delivery performance. Includes boosting equipment and labor utilization, minimizing non-value-added activities, increasing first-pass yield, driving efficiency initiatives, and improving profitability. Implement advanced technologies, innovative software tools, and design-for-manufacturability practices. Assist with crafting and deploying digital transformation campaigns.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Responsible for manufacturing, quality and supply chain excellence across Karman
Strategic Leadership:
Operational Excellence:
Cost and Profitability:
Team Development:
MISSION
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
Provide executive leadership for Manufacturing across all sites, guiding General Managers to align strategy, optimize manufacturing operations, and ensure world-class quality and delivery performance. Includes boosting equipment and labor utilization, minimizing non-value-added activities, increasing first-pass yield, driving efficiency initiatives, and improving profitability. Implement advanced technologies, innovative software tools, and design-for-manufacturability practices. Assist with crafting and deploying digital transformation campaigns.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Responsible for manufacturing, quality and supply chain excellence across Karman
Strategic Leadership:
- Collaborate with General Managers to devise strategies that drive operational improvements at individual sites and foster a culture of unified, cross-functional excellence.
- Support sales and business development in identifying new opportunities - both for POR and for startup aerospace and defense companies.
- Go up the value chain by leveraging current capabilities and integrating new production technologies.
- Cultivate synergy, immense urgency, accountability, and a data-driven approach for all locations.
Operational Excellence:
- Enhance overall labor and asset utilization by eliminating inefficiencies and optimizing resource allocation.
- Track and improve First Part Yield, Scrap and delivered quality across Karman
- Drive Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and capital asset performance by implementing solutions that reduce downtime and defects while increasing throughput.
Cost and Profitability:
- Execute "should cost" analyses to minimize waste and enhance margins on ongoing and future programs.
- Incorporate advanced manufacturing solutions, to improve "buy to fly" ratios and lower labor requirements.
- Evaluate design for manufacturability with customer base to expedite lead times and decrease COGS.
Team Development:
- Enable General Managers to scale and optimize their sites while cultivating high-performance teams.
- Build and deploy robust Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering groups dedicated to value engineering.
- Drive collaboration with Design Engineering, Quality, and Supply Chain to implement innovative solutions.
- When required, lead site operations on an interim basis during focused implementation of manufacturing optimization efforts
MISSION
- Establish and accomplish targeted increases of equipment and labor utilization at each location.
- Achieve improvements in first-pass yield, total yield, and defect reduction while driving production efficiency.
- Realize cost savings and margin improvements through effective use of existing assets and personnel.
- Recruit and retain top talent by leveraging professional network and informed sourcing strategies.
- Evaluate the return on investment for new technologies and integrate capabilities to bolster competitiveness.
- Foster a team of professionals practicing extreme ownership, "better every day" mentality, and urgency.
- Maximize business profitability and growth through strategic leadership, tactical execution, and networking.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
- Required Education: B.S. in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering
- Preferred Education: M.S. in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering
- Preferred Experience: 10+ years in aerospace and defense industry
- Must be a U.S. Citizen