Sr. Director of Operations

Velo3D • Fremont, CA

3d • $220,000 - $270,000

About The Position

The Sr. Director of Operations provides enterprise leadership across manufacturing, supply chain, quality, and facilities to enable scalable, disciplined, and high-performing operations in a dynamic additive manufacturing environment. This role is accountable for translating business strategy into operational execution, building the systems, processes, and organizational capabilities required to support growth, improve performance, and consistently deliver high-quality products to customers. Serving as a strategic partner to the executive team, the Sr. Director drives operational excellence, organizational alignment, and execution rigor across the end-to-end value chain.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 10–15+ years of progressive operations leadership experience, including senior-level responsibility across manufacturing and supply chain functions.
• Direct experience in additive manufacturing, advanced manufacturing, or industrial technology environments strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting customers or operations within Defense, Space, and Oil & Gas environments is highly valued.
• Experience operating in a public company or public-company-ready environment, with strong process discipline, controls, and governance expectations.
• Demonstrated success scaling operations, improving gross margin performance, and driving sustainable operational efficiency.

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for manufacturing operations, including additive manufacturing production, post-processing, quality, and facilities, to ensure operational readiness, scalability, and execution excellence.
• Shape and execute an operations strategy that expands capacity, strengthens process discipline, and improves cost efficiency while maintaining high standards of quality and reliability.
• Establish and institutionalize operating standards, production controls, and management systems appropriate for customer-critical and regulated applications.
• Lead enterprise-level continuous improvement initiatives to enhance throughput, yield, cycle time, and overall operational performance.
• Provide leadership over additive manufacturing processes, materials, and workflows, ensuring strong alignment across R&D, engineering, and production.
• Partner cross-functionally to transition new technologies and products from development into stable, scalable production with clear operational ownership.
• Set the strategy for equipment reliability, preventive maintenance, and capital planning to support operational continuity and long-term growth.
• Advance the adoption of automation, digital manufacturing capabilities, and data-driven monitoring to strengthen visibility, control, and decision-making.
• Lead supply chain strategy across sourcing, materials planning, inventory management, and supplier qualification to ensure resilience, continuity, and operational agility.
• Mitigate supply chain risk through supplier diversification, strategic negotiations, and inventory optimization aligned to business priorities.
• Ensure dependable availability of critical materials, consumables, and components while balancing cost, quality, and service performance.
• Provide executive oversight of quality systems, certifications, and compliance requirements relevant to additive manufacturing and target end markets.
• Ensure robust product quality, traceability, and documentation practices that support customer confidence, audit readiness, and regulatory compliance.
• Partner with finance and legal stakeholders to align operational controls with governance expectations, risk management priorities, and public company standards.
• Own operational performance against key business metrics, including cost of goods sold, gross margin, on-time delivery, scrap, capacity utilization, and service levels.
• Partner with finance leadership on budgeting, capital allocation, and cost transformation initiatives that improve operating leverage and business performance.
• Guide forecasting and production planning processes to align operational execution with revenue objectives, demand signals, and growth priorities.
• Build and lead a high-performing operations organization across manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and facilities, with a strong focus on capability building and accountability.
• Establish clear operating rhythms, performance expectations, and succession strategies to strengthen organizational effectiveness and leadership depth.
• Champion a culture of safety, continuous improvement, collaboration, and disciplined execution.
• Partner closely with commercial, engineering, and product leaders to align operations with customer commitments, product roadmaps, and strategic growth plans.
• Contribute to Board and investor narratives by clearly communicating operational performance, scalability, execution priorities, and business risks.
• Participate in strategic planning and earnings preparation activities related to operations, capacity expansion, and execution readiness.

Benefits

• healthcare coverage
• 401(K) employer contributions
• monthly all-hands meetings
• team member appreciation awards
• bonus and equity program

What This Job Offers

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