Production Director - CA Facility Security Clearance

Position: Production Director - CA Facility with Security Clearance
Production Director
Los Angeles, CA Area – Relocation Assistance Provided The Company
Our client is a rapidly growing startup defense company that brings a new and innovative approach to the development and production of defense systems. They focus on short, iterative design cycles, with rapid developmental testing and modern commercial manufacturing strategies for production at scale.
The Job
Our client is seeking a Production Director to lead their Los Angeles based manufacturing operations, delivering hypersonic capability at scale to deter future conflicts. In this pivotal leadership role, you will build and lead a world class manufacturing operation, pushing for innovation and operational excellence that positions our client as the nation’s premier hypersonics producer. Functions

• Define and execute strategy to scale all Los Angeles based production including avionics, sub-assemblies, mechanisms, and composites fabrication from prototype to scaled production

• Recruit, train/develop, and scale a diverse, high-performing 100+ employee manufacturing team (technicians, leaders, and manufacturing engineers)

• Support the implementation and refinement of production software systems and tools (MES, ERP, PLM, etc)

• Oversee facility planning (layout, flow optimization, and equipment selection and acquisition)
• Oversee day-to-day production and manufacturing operations — including production scheduling, capacity planning, resource allocation, inventory and supply-chain coordination, materials flow, and facility/equipment management

• Forecast and manage operational and capital expenditures.
• Develop, implement, and refine KPIs to measure performance.

• Lead continuous process development and improvement efforts to optimize yield, throughput, manufacturing cost, and production reliability across all production lines

• Establish and maintain a culture that prioritizes safety, quality, speed and continuous improvement.
Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering
• 10+ years in production/manufacturing operations or manufacturing engineering

• 5+ years in production/operations leadership
• Demonstrated success in scaling a production operation from development/prototype to high volume production
• Deep understanding of high-precision, complex aerospace hardware production — including metallic and composite fabrication, machining/welding/additive, tight-tolerance assembly, avionics, testing and acceptance, and NDE.
• Skilled at interpreting raw data, identifying trends or anomalies, and translating findings into clear, data-informed strategies.

• Demonstrated ability to lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing, cross-functional team — including production staff, manufacturing engineers, quality, supply-chain, and operations personnel — with emphasis on building culture, accountability, and continuous improvement

• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and cross-functional collaboration skills to interface with engineering, quality, supply-chain, leadership, and possibly external partners or customers.

• Demonstrated commitment to safety, quality, and compliance
Preferred Skills

• Comfort operating in a fast-paced, high-stakes, high-reliability environment typical of aerospace/defense startups — able to make decisions under ambiguity, handle programmatic/contract demands, and adapt as priorities shift

• Experience with manufacturing execution systems (MES/ERP/PLM), production data systems, material resource planning (MRP), and digital manufacturing workflows to manage operations, quality, change control, and configuration

• Strong background in manufacturing engineering practices, operations excellence, and continuous improvement methodologies (e.g., Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, process optimization, DFM/DFA, production flow and layout planning, tooling and automation)

• Deep knowledge of aerospace manufacturing standards and regulatory frameworks (e.g., AS9100, NADCAP, applicable military/defense manufacturing standards), including quality management, audit readiness, compliance, and export-control/ITAR requirements

• Extensive leadership experience (10–15+ years) in aerospace, defense, or…