Senior Director, Plant Manager - Prototyping & System Integration

Leidos•Huntsville, AL

4d•$139,100 - $251,450•Onsite

About The Position

The Plant Manager provides overall leadership, performance management, and operational oversight for a manufacturing facility supporting system prototyping, advanced developmental machining, and integration and testing of large defense systems. This brown-field facility start-up will support growing programs within Leidos’ Defense portfolio. The role leads production, manufacturing engineering, quality, materials management, facilities, and talent acquisition to ensure safe, compliant, efficient, and predictable execution of customer commitments. The Plant Manager will lead the non-recurring effort to acquire and activate equipment at a recently acquired facility in the Huntsville area. The role establishes operational excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement while addressing the requirements of defense product integration and testing alongside the throughput, process control, and scalability demands of high-volume electronics production. The leader drives safety, quality, cost, delivery, inventory, and productivity performance while building organizational capability for current programs and future growth. The candidate must be a resident of the North Alabama area or willing to relocate to the Huntsville–North Alabama area. The candidate must be a U.S. citizen and be able to obtain and maintain a Secret Clearance.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations Management, Business, or a related discipline, plus 12 or more years of relevant experience; equivalent relevant experience may be considered in lieu of educational credentials.
Significant progressive leadership experience in manufacturing operations, with responsibility for production performance, workforce leadership, and operational results.
Experience managing complex manufacturing environments with demanding quality, delivery, cost, and compliance requirements.
Experience leading production teams and cross-functional organizations in a factory or multi-workstream manufacturing operation.
Ability to develop and execute production plans, manage constraints, allocate resources, and recover performance against challenging delivery commitments.
Understanding of manufacturing quality systems, root-cause analysis, corrective action, process control, and continuous improvement.
Experience managing operating budgets, labor costs, productivity, capital requirements, and manufacturing performance metrics.
Strong leadership, communication, problem-solving, and organizational skills, with the ability to engage effectively from the production floor through senior leadership.
Must be a U.S. citizen and able to obtain and maintain a Secret Clearance.
Must reside in North Alabama or be willing to relocate to the Huntsville–North Alabama area.

Nice To Haves

Experience in defense, aerospace, or other highly regulated manufacturing environments.
Direct experience with complex machining or complex system assembly, integration, and testing in a high-mix, low-volume manufacturing environment.
Experience leading facility start-ups, capital activation, and site construction planning and execution.
Experience implementing lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, statistical process control, Theory of Constraints, or other structured operational excellence methodologies.
Experience scaling production, activating manufacturing facilities, introducing new products, expanding capacity, or transitioning programs from development and low-rate initial production to higher production rates.
Experience with ERP/MRP systems, manufacturing execution systems (MES), production scheduling, and data-driven performance management.
Experience leading capital equipment investments, facility modernization, test-capacity expansion, and manufacturing layout optimization.
Experience managing multiple product lines with differing production volumes, process requirements, technical complexity, and customer priorities.

Responsibilities

Lead manufacturing and production activities, including missile subsystem integration, system-level assembly, test operations, and high-volume electronics manufacturing; establish operating rhythms, production priorities, and performance reviews to meet delivery commitments.
Promote a zero-harm culture and ensure compliance with environmental, health, safety, hazardous-material handling, and facility requirements.
Partner with Quality and Engineering to maintain process controls, product traceability, configuration management, workmanship standards, test documentation, and nonconformance resolution; ensure compliance with customer, contractual, and regulatory requirements.
Translate program demand and customer commitments into production plans, staffing requirements, material priorities, equipment capacity, and test schedules; identify constraints and implement recovery plans.
Lead lean manufacturing, root-cause analysis, corrective and preventive actions, waste reduction, standard work, and production-flow improvements to improve yield, cycle time, productivity, equipment effectiveness, and operational performance.
Manage plant operating budgets, labor and overhead performance, manufacturing costs, capital planning, and resource utilization; execute initiatives to improve cost competitiveness without compromising safety, quality, or delivery.
Partner with Supply Chain, Procurement, and Planning to improve material availability, inventory accuracy, supplier performance, work-in-process flow, and shortage resolution; establish escalation mechanisms for material and component constraints.
Lead and develop an organization spanning production supervisors, manufacturing personnel, technicians, engineers, and support functions; establish accountability, workforce development, cross-training, succession planning, and staffing strategies.
Ensure production equipment, test assets, utilities, infrastructure, and workspaces can meet current and projected demand; prioritize maintenance, equipment acquisition, facility modifications, and capital investments.
Establish and monitor key performance indicators, including safety, quality, delivery, throughput, yield, scrap and rework, labor productivity, inventory, schedule attainment, and cost; communicate risks, recovery actions, and business results to senior leadership.
Collaborate with Program Management, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, and customer representatives to align production execution with contractual requirements, program milestones, technical readiness, and business objectives.