Manufacturing Operations Director

Northrop Grumman • Salt Lake City, UT

9d • $160,200 - $240,200 • Onsite

About The Position

Northrop Grumman Mission Systems is hiring a Manufacturing Operations Director based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Director will establish and lead all Salt Lake City Manufacturing operations, supporting the NACS business unit within the Navigation, Intelligence & Connectivity division. As a member of the site leadership team, the Director will oversee a site operation of 600 employees and lead a Manufacturing team of up to 250 employees in a high-mix, high-volume job-shop environment.

The role is accountable for manufacturing execution and results across Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, and Culture. It leads day-to-day operations, production control and scheduling, manufacturing support organizations, capital planning, financial management, employee development, and continuous improvement. The Director will oversee manufacturing and testing of complex navigation and inertial systems and work with internal customers, suppliers, program management, and functional partners to improve throughput, delivery, lead times, cost, process capability, and employee engagement.

The position reports to the Salt Lake City Site Director. The role requires a bachelor's degree and at least 10 years of relevant experience, or a master's degree and at least 8 years of relevant experience, along with senior management and manufacturing-related experience. U.S. citizenship is required, and the candidate must be able to obtain a U.S. Government Secret clearance. Relocation assistance may be available, and travel is 25% of the time.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree with 10 or more years of relevant work experience, or a master's degree with 8 or more years of relevant work experience.
• At least 5 years of experience in a manufacturing or related environment.
• At least 5 years of senior management experience.
• Progressive leadership experience in manufacturing or production, operations, program management, testing, or related areas.
• Experience with continuous-improvement manufacturing methodologies such as ISO 9000, Total Quality Management, or Six Sigma.
• Demonstrated experience leading high-volume or high-mix job-shop operations, including accountability for throughput, on-time delivery, and cost performance.
• Product-line-based production experience and understanding of process controls.
• U.S. citizenship.
• Ability to obtain a U.S. Government Secret security clearance.
• Ability to lead large, diverse groups, set clear expectations, inspire commitment, build teams, value diversity, and put people first.
• Experience improving organizational health through alignment, effective execution, and meaningful employee connection.
• Ability to improve throughput, on-time delivery, and cost in a high-mix, high-volume job-shop or complex discrete manufacturing environment.
• Knowledge of lean principles and tools, such as Value Stream Mapping, Kaizen, 5S, SMED, visual management, and A3 problem solving.
• Experience managing process variation.
• Ability to formulate and execute complex project plans and initiatives.
• Strong interpersonal, communication, writing, presentation, and critical-thinking skills, with a commitment to open communication and customer satisfaction.
• Business acumen, including understanding high-volume operations cost drivers and making data-driven trade-off decisions.
• Ability to build effective customer relationships and earn customer trust and respect.
• Understanding of large-organization cultures and how to work through formal and informal channels.
• Ability to communicate an inspiring vision and motivate organizational units.
• Experience assigning challenging, developmental tasks to key talent.
• Commitment to achieving company goals and upholding the Company's Business and Ethics Code of Conduct.

Nice To Haves

• Experience across the program or product lifecycle, including new business pursuit, design, supply chain management, receiving, inventory control, production control, product test and evaluation, reliability, root cause analysis, product sell-off, shipping, and product support as they relate to quality.
• Financial management experience in project and process control and budgets, with familiarity with DCAA and FAR regulations and EVMS methodologies.
• Experience with ERP tools such as SAP and MRP, including scheduling, finite-capacity planning, and dispatching tools for job-shop flows.
• Experience implementing and sustaining job-shop planning and control systems, such as visual dispatching, queue management, takt or throughput-based management, and appropriate kanban or supermarkets.
• Demonstrated success integrating lean manufacturing and Six Sigma in a job-shop environment to reduce cycle time, WIP, and rework while improving yield and productivity.
• Active U.S. Government Secret clearance or higher.

Responsibilities

• Champion a proactive safety culture focused on hazard identification, mitigation, and continuous improvement.
• Lead daily operations in a high-volume job-shop manufacturing environment with varied product configurations, order sizes, and customer schedules.
• Take overall responsibility for operational execution across Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, and Culture, meeting customer commitments while protecting people and products.
• Establish an effective organization structure and improve processes and adherence to process discipline.
• Build an empowered, engaged workforce and a positive work environment centered on problem solving and celebrating success.
• Develop and implement the organization's vision, strategy, goals, and metrics, with a focus on throughput, on-time delivery, lead-time reduction, and WIP management.
• Oversee production control and scheduling, including finite-capacity scheduling, dispatching, and constraint management.
• Create and sustain visual management systems, including tiered daily management and SQDCC boards and indicators, to support real-time performance management and problem resolution.
• Standardize work while maintaining flexibility for changeovers, engineering changes, and changing customer demand.
• Maintain accountability and communication with internal customers, including program and segment organizations, and provide status, recovery plans, and performance updates.
• Contribute to the site leadership team and align manufacturing operations with company goals and values.
• Lead lean continuous improvement, standard work, waste reduction, line balancing, cell and flow design, and material presentation improvements.
• Attract, retain, develop, and engage employees, including creating multi-skilled, cross-trained teams that can flex across work centers.
• Develop, prioritize, communicate, and execute Manufacturing capital expenditure plans, including capacity modeling and equipment justification.
• Manage direct and indirect costs through metrics, staffing plans, improvement initiatives, and accountability mechanisms.
• Build trust and open communication with employees and maintain collaborative relationships with customers, program management, and support organizations.
• Oversee manufacturing and testing of complex navigation and inertial systems, ensuring process capability, test throughput, and first-pass yield.
• Lead support organizations for manufacturing engineering, planning and scheduling, production control, inventory management, transportation, training, compliance, and MRP activities.
• Drive job-shop inventory and WIP control, including stocking strategies, appropriate kanban or supermarket design, cycle counting, and reconciliation.
• Manage staffing and development for non-exempt touch-labor roles and exempt professional and management positions, partnering with Talent Acquisition on hiring needs.
• Provide financial management leadership for EVM, rates, budgets, overhead budgets, and strategic funds for capital equipment and manufacturing technical activities.
• Collaborate with Manufacturing Engineering, Quality and Mission Excellence, Global Supply Chain, Business Management, Production Control, Human Resources, and other functional organizations.
• Recruit and mentor future leaders, direct training and skills development, and promote engagement and inclusion activities.
• Drive operational efficiency through SQDCM, tiered accountability, and continuous-improvement pipelines addressing job-shop constraints such as shared resources, batch sizes, and variability.

Benefits

• Relocation assistance may be available.
• Health insurance coverage.
• Life insurance.
• Disability insurance.
• Savings plan.
• Company-paid holidays.
• Paid time off for vacation and/or personal business.
• Employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus, depending on the position.
• Vice President or Director employees may be eligible for long-term incentives.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director