Director of Manufacturing -- UAS / One-Way Attack Platforms
1 day ago
Clearwater
Job Description Job Description: You will own everything that happens between raw stock and a serialized, flight-accepted aircraft on a pallet. This is not a caretaker role for an existing line. You are being hired to take us from low-rate build to sustained rate production, to design and stand up the additional capacity that gets us there, and to build the manufacturing organization that runs it. You'll own throughput, yield, unit cost, on-time delivery, and the production floor itself. Because our platforms are attritable, cost per unit isn't an accounting concern — it's a mission requirement. A platform that costs too much to build is a platform commanders won't spend. You will be measured on rate and on driving cost out of every aircraft we ship. If you have taken a complex aerospace or weapons product from "we can build a few in the back" to "we ship hundreds a month on a repeatable line," this is the role you've been waiting for. What You'll Own Rate Production & Throughput • Own daily, weekly, and monthly production output against contractual delivery schedules, • Build and maintain the master production schedule; run S&OP with program management, engineering, and supply chain, • Line balancing, takt time definition, WIP control, bottleneck identification and elimination, • Shift structure, staffing models, and surge planning for urgent operational needs, • Own the production P&L: labor hours per unit, scrap, rework, overtime, and cost-per-aircraft targets Standing Up New Capacity • Design, justify, and stand up additional production lines and cells — layout, tooling, fixtures, test stations, capex, • Lead build-out of additional production facilities, including site selection support, fit-out, and hiring plans, • Model capacity against forecast demand and long-lead procurement; tell leadership what we can commit to and what we can't, • Qualify and manage contract manufacturers and outsourced partners where make/buy analysis favors it, • Develop learning curves and drive them down deliberately, not accidentally Manufacturing Engineering & Process • Own manufacturing work instructions, travelers, routers, and process documentation for every operation, • Drive design-for-manufacturability feedback into engineering — you get a real seat at the design table, and we expect you to use it, • Tooling, fixture, and jig design and fabrication, • Test station and acceptance bench design, including hardware-in-the-loop and functional test infrastructure, • Lean and continuous improvement: value stream mapping, 5S, standard work, kaizen, root cause and corrective action Full Build Scope You own all of it, end to end: • Machining & fabrication — CNC machining (3- and 5-axis), sheet metal, in-house and outsourced fabrication, tolerance and process capability management, • Composites & structures — layup, bonding, cure cycles, foam core, molded structures, trim and finish, structural inspection, • Airframe assembly — mate operations, fastening and torque control, bonding, kitting, sub-assembly flow into final assembly, • Wire harness & cabling — harness fabrication to IPC/WHMA-A-620, crimp and solder process control, connector potting, strain relief, shielding, routing, continuity and hipot verification, • Propulsion — electric propulsion build and integration (motors, ESCs, prop balancing, thrust-stand characterization, run-in); turbine propulsion installation, fuel system plumbing, leak check, and engine acceptance runs for jet platforms, • Avionics & electronics integration — flight computer and autopilot install, ESD-controlled handling, firmware and software load, configuration and provisioning, serialization, • Calibration — IMU, gyro, accelerometer, and magnetometer calibration; airspeed and static systems; camera intrinsic and extrinsic calibration and boresight alignment critical to vision-based navigation performance, • Tuning & characterization — control loop tuning at unit level, verification against golden-unit standards, repeatability across serial numbers, • Seeker & payload integration — EO/IR seeker installation, boresight and alignment verification, terminal guidance functional checkout on bench, gimbal integration where applicable, payload interface verification, • Payload handling compliance — ensure all ordnance and energetic material handling, storage, siting, transport, and documentation is executed in full compliance with applicable DoD, DOT, and ATF requirements, in coordination with our safety and compliance leads, • Test & acceptance — develop and own acceptance test procedures, environmental stress screening, functional and flight acceptance, first article inspection, government source inspection and DD-250 delivery Quality, Configuration & Compliance • AS9100-aligned quality management system on the production side, • Configuration management and engineering change control — no undocumented builds, ever, • Serialization, lot traceability, and IUID/UII marking, • Nonconformance, MRB, and 8D corrective action processes, • First Article Inspection (AS9102) and production readiness reviews, • Interface with government quality representatives, • Maintain ITAR, export control, and DFARS/CMMC compliance on the floor Supply Chain & Materials Interface • Partner with supply chain on long-lead identification, second-sourcing, and supplier qualification, • Enforce NDAA Section 848/889 and Blue UAS component compliance across the BOM, • Own the ERP/MRP implementation from a production standpoint: BOM accuracy, routings, inventory accuracy, kitting, cycle counting, • Drive supplier quality and incoming inspection standards Team • Hire, train, and lead production supervisors, manufacturing engineers, technicians, assemblers, and quality inspectors, • Build the training and certification program that lets us onboard technicians fast without sacrificing quality, • Capture tribal knowledge into documented, transferable process before it walks out the door, • Set the floor culture: safe, disciplined, fast, and accountable How Success Is Measured • Units delivered per month vs. commitment, • On-time delivery to contract, • First pass yield and rework hours per unit, • Cost per aircraft and its trend line, • Scrap and material variance, • Schedule confidence — leadership can quote a delivery date and trust it, • Safety record and quality escapes to the field (target: zero) Required Qualifications • 8+ years in manufacturing or production operations, with 4+ years leading teams, in aerospace, defense, weapons, automotive, or comparable high-reliability hardware manufacturing, • Demonstrated experience taking a complex electromechanical product from prototype or LRIP into sustained rate production — this is the single most important qualification, • Hands-on ownership of mixed-discipline builds spanning structures, electronics, wiring, and electromechanical integration, • Proven track record designing and standing up new production lines, cells, or facilities, • Working fluency with lean manufacturing and structured problem solving, • Experience operating within AS9100, ISO 9001, or equivalent quality systems, • Practical experience with ERP/MRP and PLM systems, including BOM and change control discipline, • Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, GD&T, schematics, and wiring diagrams, • Must be eligible and able to obtain a US Security Clearance, • Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance, • Willing to work on-site in Clearwater, FL Preferred Qualifications • Production experience with Group 2 or Group 3 UAS, loitering munitions, missiles, or precision-guided weapons, • Experience standing up a greenfield or second production facility, • Composite airframe production experience, • Small turbine engine integration or production experience, • IPC/WHMA-A-620 certified environment experience; IPC trainer or CIS certification, • Experience with ordnance and energetic material handling compliance in a production environment, • Prior DoD contract execution: DD-250, DCMA interface, government source inspection, production readiness reviews, • Startup or scale-up experience where you built the system rather than inherited it, • Six Sigma Black Belt or equivalent, • Military service, particularly with exposure to unmanned systems or precision fires, • BS in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial, or Aerospace Engineering — or equivalent experience earned on a real production floor Equal Opportunity Nokturnal AI is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Company DescriptionNokturnal AI builds self-contained autonomous strike platforms that work when GPS and comms don't.Nokturnal AI builds self-contained autonomous strike platforms that work when GPS and comms don't.