Operations Program Manager

A1J Technologies LLC•San Jose, CA

14d

About The Position

The Operations Program Manager (OPM) is responsible for executing assigned customer programs and manufacturing orders from purchase order acceptance through production, final inspection, shipment, and delivery. As A1J Technologies transitions from a traditional precision machining job shop to a scalable Tier 1 supplier supporting commercial aerospace and defense customers, the role strengthens program accountability, cross-functional coordination, customer communication, and on-time delivery performance. The OPM is the primary internal coordinator for assigned programs, aligning Engineering, CNC Programming, Master Scheduling, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, and Shipping with contractual requirements, approved delivery commitments, and operational priorities. The position maintains accurate program status, identifies and escalates execution risks, coordinates recovery plans, monitors milestones, and ensures customer commitments are supported by realistic manufacturing schedules and available resources. It requires manufacturing knowledge, disciplined program execution, strong customer communication, and the ability to drive accountability across departments without direct functional authority. The position is primarily office-based, with frequent interaction with manufacturing personnel, department managers, and customers. It requires regular presence on the manufacturing floor to validate progress and coordinate operational issues, as well as participation in customer meetings, production reviews, and cross-functional program discussions. The role also involves extended periods of computer-based reporting, schedule review, and analysis. Schedule flexibility may be required to support urgent customer programs, production recovery, and operational priorities.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management, or a related field; equivalent relevant manufacturing experience may be considered.
At least 5 years of progressive experience in manufacturing program management, operations coordination, production control, or related manufacturing functions.
Demonstrated experience managing customer programs or complex manufacturing orders in a high-mix manufacturing environment.
Strong understanding of manufacturing processes, production scheduling, material planning, engineering readiness, and quality requirements.
Experience coordinating cross-functional activities involving Engineering, Manufacturing, Planning, Supply Chain, Quality, and customer-facing teams.
Ability to manage multiple customer programs, competing priorities, and delivery commitments.
Experience developing and maintaining program schedules, milestone trackers, risk registers, and recovery plans.
Working knowledge of ERP/MRP systems and manufacturing work-order tracking.
Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Office applications.
Strong analytical, organizational, problem-solving, and communication skills.
Ability to communicate effectively with customers, department managers, and executive leadership.
Ability to identify risks, drive action-item closure, and influence results without direct functional authority.
Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced manufacturing environment with changing priorities.

Nice To Haves

Experience in aerospace, defense, precision CNC machining, or high-mix, low-volume manufacturing.
Familiarity with CNC milling, turning, EDM, grinding, lapping, and outside manufacturing processes.
Experience managing complex aerospace manufacturing programs involving multiple operations, outside processing, and customer-specific requirements.
Familiarity with AS9100, AS9102 First Article Inspection, customer quality clauses, and aerospace documentation requirements.
Experience with JobBoss ERP or comparable manufacturing systems.
PMP certification or equivalent program management training.
Experience developing customer milestone schedules, delivery recovery plans, and operational dashboards.
Experience coordinating programs involving engineering changes, material shortages, inspection constraints, and manufacturing capacity limitations.
Demonstrated success improving program delivery performance, customer communication, and cross-functional execution.
Experience supporting organizational growth and standardized manufacturing program management processes.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary operational point of contact for assigned customer programs and manufacturing orders, maintaining end-to-end visibility from order acceptance through delivery.
Review purchase orders, contractual delivery commitments, program requirements, and milestones with relevant internal teams; establish program execution plans and track deliverables, dependencies, risks, and action items.
Monitor program progress, identify delays and resource constraints, escalate unresolved issues, and coordinate recovery plans and corrective actions.
Coordinate manufacturing readiness across Engineering, Process Engineering, CNC Programming, Supply Chain, Quality, and Master Scheduling, including engineering reviews, routing, travelers, programming, materials, tooling, and inspection planning.
Track preproduction milestones and resolve readiness issues; participate in readiness reviews and support first-article and new product introduction activities.
Partner with the Master Scheduler and Production Manager to monitor jobs against approved schedules, assess capacity and delivery risks, and support realistic delivery projections without independently changing the master schedule or machine-level priorities.
Maintain visibility of manufacturing progress across machining, outside processing, inspection, and shipping; validate job status using JobBoss and/or shop-floor checks when needed.
Prepare and maintain customer program trackers, milestone schedules, delivery recovery plans, operational reports, and documented customer commitments and action items.
Provide timely, accurate status updates and participate in customer program reviews, production status meetings, customer visits, and delivery recovery discussions, ensuring external commitments are properly approved.
Coordinate cross-functional execution, assign action-item ownership and due dates, conduct program reviews, follow up on commitments, and escalate unresolved issues through the appropriate management structure.
Coordinate with Quality and Engineering on specifications, drawing revisions, quality clauses, first-article requirements, nonconformances, rework, corrective actions, deviations, concessions, and technical changes; respect Quality’s independent acceptance and release authority.
Support program documentation, traceability, risk management, and AS9100 compliance in accordance with the Quality Management System.
Identify and track technical, manufacturing, material, supplier, quality, capacity, and delivery risks; assess impacts, maintain risk registers, develop milestone-based recovery plans, and report required decisions and expected outcomes to management.
Monitor program value and potential financial exposure, including revenue timing, manufacturing costs, rework, expedite costs, and outside processing delays; escalate commercial impacts without independently authorizing pricing or contract changes.
Develop standardized program tracking, milestone reporting, risk management, dashboards, and exception reporting; improve cross-functional handoffs and ERP data accuracy.
Identify recurring causes of delays and support Lean Manufacturing, continuous improvement, lead-time reduction, on-time delivery, and scalable program management processes.
Support Operations leadership in resolving competing program requirements and delivery priorities.
Track and report performance measures including on-time delivery, milestone attainment, risk identification, recovery-plan execution, status-reporting timeliness and accuracy, manufacturing readiness, action-item closure, status accuracy, past-due backlog, outside-processing visibility, customer escalation response, and execution improvement.