Director, Automated Manufacturing Operations

Monarch Quantum•San Diego, CA

4d•$185,000 - $235,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Director, Automated Manufacturing Operations will lead the operationalization, scaling, and daily execution of automated assembly and optical packaging platforms at Monarch Quantum. This hands-on leadership role bridges hardware development and high-precision production, developing the strategy, architecture, and execution for automated manufacturing lines that assemble complex quantum optics modules, photonics components, and precision hardware. The director will lead a multidisciplinary team spanning operations, manufacturing engineering, equipment maintenance, and factory-floor execution, transitioning R&D prototypes into scalable, robust production processes. The role owns operational strategy and production delivery, factory operations and material flow, equipment performance, production quality, yield analytics, automated tooling, NPI scale-up, documentation, facility operations, vendor relationships, continuous improvement, and operational budgets. The position is 100% on-site at Monarch Quantum headquarters in San Diego, California, in cleanroom, optical assembly lab, and precision electronics manufacturing environments. Access to export-controlled information is required; employment is contingent on the applicant being a U.S. person as defined by 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3).

Requirements

Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechatronics, Operations Management, or a related technical discipline.
12 or more years of professional experience in automated manufacturing operations, high-precision assembly, or industrial engineering.
At least 5 years in direct operations management or manufacturing leadership.
A proven track record of scaling and managing fully automated manufacturing lines, industrial robotics, factory operations, or semiconductor/photonics packaging facilities.
Must be a U.S. person as defined by 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3), because the position requires access to export-controlled information.

Nice To Haves

Deep expertise in operating high-precision production lines for micro-optics assembly, active fiber coupling, photonic integrated circuit packaging, or laser manufacturing.
Familiarity with precision motion control, PLCs or industrial controllers, machine vision systems, and factory execution software integration such as MES, SCADA, and ERP.
Hands-on mastery of Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma tools, Root Cause Analysis methods such as 8D and Fishbone, SPC, GR&R, and Design of Experiments.
Experience scaling an advanced hardware startup’s operations into a mature, repeatable, high-volume manufacturing facility.

Responsibilities

Define and execute the operational roadmap for automated manufacturing, precision robotic assembly stations, and high-yield automated testing across photonics and quantum hardware product lines.
Recruit, mentor, and lead a high-performing operations team.
Own on-time delivery production planning and ensure production deliverables progress from known good parts to known good product.
Optimize production, monitor daily operations, manage material flow and work-in-progress tracking, and allocate operational resources.
Oversee production equipment maintenance, uptime monitoring, optimization, and first-level production failure troubleshooting.
Oversee production quality, in-process inspection, quality-control steps, and Material Review Board management.
Track and analyze yield, scrap rates, and equipment utilization to improve factory performance.
Deploy, maintain, and continuously optimize automated pick-and-place, optical alignment, micro-assembly, packaging, and high-precision laser alignment machinery.
Partner with R&D, Process Development, Optical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Firmware/Software teams on design for manufacturability and assembly, high-volume production, cycle-time reduction, and yield.
Oversee New Product Introduction manufacturing operations, converting benchtop research setups into standardized, automated factory-floor workflows.
Maintain work instructions, production documentation, and configuration management controls.
Oversee production lab management, cleanroom protocols, gowning-room consumables, and operational safety.
Identify, select, and manage capital equipment vendors, custom machine builders, contract manufacturers, and component suppliers; ensure equipment uptime and spare-parts availability.
Lead continuous improvement initiatives across manufacturing processes using data and lean principles.
Manage capital expenditure, operating budgets, factory labor, and operational metrics; deliver automation milestones on schedule and within budget.