Head of Manufacturing

LeoLabs•Menlo Park, CA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

LeoLabs is seeking a Head of Manufacturing to lead the next phase of production scaling for its radar systems. This leader will own manufacturing strategy, the industrialization roadmap, quality management, facility scaling, and cross-functional execution to increase production capacity beyond 10x. The role may be leveled as Senior Director or Vice President depending on the candidate’s experience, leadership scope, and demonstrated ability to own the function. It reports directly to the SVP, Radars and is a full-time, in-person position at LeoLabs’ headquarters in Menlo Park, California, with regular domestic travel expected. The Head of Manufacturing will turn advanced radar designs from low- and medium-rate initial production into repeatable, scalable, high-rate production systems. The role works with Product, Supply Chain, Radar Systems and Hardware Engineering, Program Management, Finance and Accounting, and executive leadership to build manufacturing capacity for more reliable, large-scale radar deployment to U.S. Government, allied, and commercial customers. The preferred candidate has built and sustained manufacturing systems, teams, and facilities rather than only managed an existing operation, and brings hands-on leadership experience from a high-performance production environment. The position owns manufacturing and industrialization strategy for radar systems, subsystems, and associated high-reliability hardware; establishes production lines and operating models; industrializes new designs; matures quality and reliability practices; and builds a manufacturing organization and production system capable of supporting 10x growth over two years. It also develops production planning, capacity, cost, delivery, and performance metrics, while connecting manufacturing and field-sustainment feedback to product and process improvement.

Requirements

15+ years of experience in manufacturing, production operations, industrialization, factory operations, manufacturing engineering, or related operational leadership roles.
Demonstrated experience implementing and leading a mature Lean manufacturing or production operating system, such as the Toyota Production System, including standard work, visual management, daily accountability, structured problem solving, flow, built-in quality, waste reduction, and continuous improvement.
Demonstrated experience scaling production capacity, standing up production lines or facilities, and improving throughput, quality, cost, and delivery performance.
Experience manufacturing complex, high-reliability hardware in industries such as aerospace, defense, automotive, advanced electronics, robotics, industrial automation, energy systems, RF systems, communications, space systems, or mission-critical infrastructure.
Experience with quality management systems and standards such as AS9100, ISO 9001, IPC standards, ESD controls, supplier quality, and first-article inspection.
Strong technical fluency with hardware product development, NPI, configuration control, test operations, production readiness, and root-cause corrective action.
Excellent communication, leadership, organizational, and stakeholder management skills.
Eligibility to obtain and maintain required U.S. security clearances, as applicable to the role.
Bachelor’s degree in engineering, manufacturing, operations, industrial engineering, supply chain, business, or a related discipline, or equivalent experience.

Nice To Haves

Formal training or demonstrated practitioner experience in Toyota Production System, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, or an equivalent operating system.
Black Belt, Master Black Belt, TPS practitioner/trainer, or comparable credentials.
Experience developing greenfield or brownfield production facilities, production lines, integration sites, or manufacturing cells.
Experience with radar, RF systems, antennas, communications systems, sensors, satellites, ground systems, aerospace systems, or other complex electromechanical products.
Experience supporting Department of War, Space Force, NASA, or allied government customers.
Experience working with classified, export-controlled, ITAR/EAR-controlled, or otherwise sensitive hardware programs.
Master’s degree in engineering, operations, business administration, manufacturing, supply chain, or a related discipline.

Responsibilities

Own the high-rate manufacturing and industrialization strategy for radar systems, subsystems, and associated high-reliability hardware across manufacturing, assembly, integration, and test operations.
Build and scale a production system and team capable of supporting 10x growth in radar production over the next two years while maintaining quality, reliability, integration, and deployment readiness.
Define the operating model across internal manufacturing, external suppliers, contract manufacturing, and integration partners.
Own the high-rate production footprint plan, including facility needs, equipment, tooling, staffing, and capital investment.
Stand up scalable production lines, work cells, fixtures, test stations, documentation, and acceptance processes for radar hardware, RF systems, electronics, electromechanical assemblies, power systems, compute infrastructure, and system-level integration.
Establish production planning, throughput management, capacity planning, cost analysis, quality, and delivery execution for scaled manufacturing.
Own the transition from engineering builds to production-ready designs; establish and mature release and readiness gates, first-article processes, and build documentation.
Partner with Radar Systems and Hardware Engineering to industrialize new radar designs for manufacturability, testability, serviceability, configuration control, and production readiness.
Partner with the engineering NPI manufacturing team to improve manufacturability, design for X (DfX), and cost reduction opportunities.
Ensure new radar products have validated build plans, test procedures, tooling, factory acceptance testing criteria, and supplier plans before production ramp.
Create a feedback system from manufacturing and sustainment into product and engineering.
Build and mature the quality management system for high-reliability radar systems serving mission-critical customers.
Establish standards for configuration control, traceability, inspection, nonconformance management, corrective action, supplier quality, and production acceptance.
Improve yield, first-pass quality, rework, scrap, field defects, and schedule performance.
Build review mechanisms for failures, escapes, production risks, and systemic issues.
Partner with Technical Program Management to align production readiness and execution with program, contract, customer, and deployment commitments.
Partner with Supply Chain on supplier readiness, long-lead planning, cost reduction, and risk mitigation.
Partner with the Radar Operations Center and Global Infrastructure to turn field performance and maintenance data into product and process improvements that increase performance and reduce operational impacts and maintenance costs.
Develop manufacturing KPIs and dashboards covering throughput, schedule, yield, labor, cost, quality, rework, scrap, supplier performance, and field reliability.
Establish and lead the LeoLabs Production System, creating a common operating model for safety, quality, delivery, cost, and people.
Implement tiered daily management, visual controls, standard work, structured problem solving, leader standard work, production flow, capacity management, and continuous improvement.
Recruit, develop, and lead a manufacturing organization spanning manufacturing operations, production, test operations, quality, facilities, and related functions.
Set clear ownership and metrics across the manufacturing organization and build a culture of execution, urgency, accountability, safety, quality, and continuous improvement.