Solar Operations Manager Jobs

About The Position

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Industrial, Electrical, or Systems Engineering, or a closely related field.
• At least 10 years of progressive manufacturing or production operations experience, including ownership of facility setup, equipment deployment, or factory infrastructure programs.
• Verifiable experience supporting mid- or high-rate production lines.
• Hands-on MES configuration, deployment, or administration experience, including routing, electronic work instructions, and traceability.
• Experience creating and managing mBOMs in a PLM or ERP system such as Windchill, Arena, SAP, Oracle, or equivalent.
• Experience leading engineering and/or technician teams in a production setting.
• Experience with equipment FAT/SAT, production qualification, and OEE or uptime improvement.
• Strong project-management skills, including scheduling, risk tracking, stakeholder communication, and cross-functional coordination.
• Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Nice To Haves

• Aerospace, defense, or space manufacturing experience, such as AS9100, MIL-SPEC, or equivalent.
• Solar module, solar array, or photovoltaic (PV) production experience.
• Capital equipment installation and commissioning in a precision or clean manufacturing environment.
• Digital manufacturing infrastructure experience, including ERP-MES integration, IoT equipment monitoring, SCADA, or digital twins.
• Lean or Six Sigma certification (Green Belt or Black Belt); experience with VSM or similar methods.
• NPI experience in an operations capacity, including DFM/DFA, pilot builds, and PRRs.
• Proficiency with MS Project, Smartsheet, JIRA, and PLM, ERP, and MES systems.
• PMP or equivalent certification, a Master’s degree in Engineering or Engineering Management, or an MBA.

Responsibilities

• Own Solar COE production-floor facility setup, including space planning, utilities, ESD, cleanroom zoning, and phased buildout aligned with ramp milestones.
• Maintain the Facility Readiness Matrix and track civil, MEP, and infrastructure deliverables against equipment installation schedules.
• Partner with Facilities, EHS, and Site Operations to meet safety and workmanship standards; define zone acceptance criteria and lead walk-downs, punch-list closure, and handoff to Production.
• Own the lifecycle of Solar COE production assets, including sourcing support, Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), shipping, installation, Site Acceptance Testing (SAT), and production qualification.
• Maintain the Equipment Master Register, including asset status, warranty, calibration, preventive maintenance, and spares for production and metrology equipment.
• Develop Equipment Installation Plans and coordinate utilities, personnel, software, and tooling to achieve on-schedule first-article capability; track deliveries and mitigate critical-path risks.
• Lead setup and deployment of the Solar COE Manufacturing Execution System (MES), including traveler workflows, genealogy and traceability, electronic work instructions, and production data collection.
• Integrate MES, ERP, PLM, and quality systems to support paperless data flow from order release through final test and shipment.
• Work with IT and Digital Manufacturing to prioritize Solar COE system enhancements and resolve integration issues.
• Define and monitor system KPIs, including traveler completion rate, data-entry cycle time, genealogy completeness, and MES-ERP sync accuracy.
• Partner with Manufacturing Engineers to translate eBOMs into manufacturing BOMs (mBOMs), including routings, work centers, and labor standards.
• Establish and own the Solar COE Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) framework, set baselines, and lead cross-functional OEE improvement.
• Build a preventive and predictive Planned Maintenance (PM) program for production, metrology, and test equipment; set availability targets, track compliance, and escalate gaps.
• Lead root-cause analysis of repetitive equipment failures using methods such as 5-Why, Fishbone, and Fault Tree Analysis, and verify corrective-action effectiveness.
• Manage critical spares and supplier service-level agreements to minimize mean time to repair (MTTR).
• Provide operations-readiness input at NPI gate reviews, covering facility, equipment, tooling, and systems against milestones.
• Own the critical-path equipment schedule within the NPI program plan and report delivery progress.
• Escalate compliance issues and bottlenecks, including EHS, FOD, calibration, and quality escapes, that could delay NPI transition or production release.
• Provide Development with capacity, cycle-time, and equipment-utilization data to inform Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA) decisions.
• Own the operations-readiness checklist for Production Readiness Reviews (PRR) and support pilot-line builds with staffing, equipment access, and process documentation.
• Manage Operations Engineers and Production Technicians supporting facility operations, equipment maintenance, and system administration.
• Set performance expectations and development goals, and conduct regular one-on-ones and formal reviews.
• Foster continuous improvement, safety ownership, and data-driven decision-making.

Benefits

• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Basic and supplemental life insurance
• Paid parental leave
• Short- and long-term disability
• 401(k) with company match of up to 5%
• Education Support Program
• Stock options for regular employees working at least 20 hours per week
• Paid time off of up to four weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours
• Up to 14 company-paid holidays
• Depending on role type and job level, employees may be eligible for benefits and bonuses based on individual contributions or company results; bonus amounts and eligibility are not guaranteed and may change or be canceled.
• Relocation provided