Head of Manufacturing

LeoLabs, Inc.•Menlo Park, CA

2d•$225,000 - $248,000•Onsite

About The Position

LeoLabs is seeking a Head of Manufacturing to lead the next phase of scaling production of its radar systems. This leader will own manufacturing strategy, the industrialization roadmap, quality management, facility scaling, and cross-functional execution to increase production capacity by more than 10x. The role may be leveled as Senior Director or Vice President based on the successful 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. Regular domestic travel is expected. The Head of Manufacturing will transform 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, higher-scale deployment to U.S. Government, allied, and commercial customers. The preferred candidate has built and sustained manufacturing systems, rather than only managed an existing operation. They will bring hands-on executive or emerging-executive leadership from a high-performance production environment, having scaled production systems, built teams, improved quality, established facilities or production lines, and operated in settings where reliability, repeatability, and mission success are critical.

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, establishing 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.
Eligibility to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State under ITAR.

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 are preferred.
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 scaled manufacturing operations, including production planning, throughput and capacity management, cost analysis, quality, and delivery execution.
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, ensuring manufacturability, testability, serviceability, configuration control, and production readiness.
Partner with the engineering NPI manufacturing team to improve manufacturability, design for excellence (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 required 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.
Drive measurable improvements in 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 use field performance and maintenance data to improve products and processes, increase performance, reduce operational impacts, and decrease maintenance costs.
Develop manufacturing KPIs and high-level dashboards covering throughput, schedule metrics, yield, labor tracking, 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 encompassing manufacturing operations, production, test operations, quality, facilities, and related functions.
Set clear ownership and metrics across the manufacturing organization.
Build a culture of execution, urgency, accountability, safety, quality, and continuous improvement.