Director, Site & Operations - SRA

Location:

Overland Park, United States of America. Thales people architect solutions that are relied upon to deliver operational advantage at every decisive moment throughout the mission. Defence and armed forces customers rely on us to deliver the full range of defensive systems for land, sea, and air. From early warning, to threat neutralisation, our platforms cover all levels from very short‑range systems, to extended protection across the entire battle‑space including Airspace Mobility Solutions, Vehicles and Tactical Systems and Missile Defence, Optronics, and Radar.

Greater Kansas Area (Fully onsite)

Thales is looking for a Director, Site & Operations – SRA US
, who will be responsible for leading day‑to‑day site operations and operational execution for a critical US Federal Government program. This role carries overall responsibility for the Kansas City site and serves as a key operational interface across the SRA US organization, ensuring alignment with both domestic and international stakeholders. In this position, you will leverage a strong background in operations and site leadership to drive efficiency, performance, and business growth, while acting as a self‑motivated, strategic leader who partners closely with the SRA US Business Segment Director and collaborates with the ATC and Coastal Radars (ACR) Operations Director in France to support global operational alignment.

• Must be a US Person as defined in applicable law.
• Must be a U.S. Person as defined in applicable law, or otherwise authorized or eligible for authorization, to access to hardware, software, technology or technical data controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and/or the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

• Provide day‑to‑day leadership and management of the Kansas City site, with overall responsibility for site operations, facility budget, and ensuring a safe and positive working environment; the Facility Manager reports to this role and manages site and facility functions.
• Ensure site operations comply with Thales policies and government regulations, including Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE), security aspects, OSHA compliance, and Public Trust requirements.
• Enhance, maintain, and enforce site security systems and policies to meet DOT, DoD, Customer, and Thales needs, including access control systems and conducting audits to ensure compliance with security protocols.
• Drive operational and quality performance across SRA US, anticipating risks, reducing cost of poor quality, establishing key performance indicators, ensuring a holistic quality management approach, supporting ISO 9001 certifications, and managing the Quality Manager who reports to this position.
• Lead business planning, operational execution, and transformation activities, including Sales and Operations planning, workload coordination, forecasting with cross‑functional leaders, supervising estimates for offer reviews, supporting US bids and projects, and implementing transformation plans to increase competitiveness and profitability.
• Collaborate across the Global Business Unit and SRA France, optimizing operational processes, sponsoring continuous improvement, supervising sourcing policy and supplier performance, coordinating outsourcing and obsolescence management, optimizing inventory management, implementing Group ESG and HSE practices, leading common tool implementation, and supporting annual risk assessments, audits, and action tracking.

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in engineering, science, or a relevant discipline, with a minimum of 8 years of proven experience in a similar role within a manufacturing organization, including direct experience managing operations, production, or after‑sales support.
• Experience working within an organization supporting the US Federal Government, with demonstrated ability to operate in regulated and compliance‑driven environments.
• Demonstrated experience managing a quality organization in a production environment, with accountability for…