Operations Manager

Job Title: Operations Manager

Operating Company: McFarlane Alaska

Reports To: Site Leader

Location: Palmer, AK

Travel: Up to 10%

Victor Sierra Aviation (VSA) — a Trans Digm Group company — is the parent of McFarlane Aviation, McFarlane Alaska, Tempest Aero Group®, AV8, and Aviation Products Systems. We acquire and build businesses that lead in engineering, manufacturing, and distribution of exceptional aerospace products, with 450 employees across Kansas, North Carolina, Alaska, Washington, and Texas.

McFarlane Alaska

Based in Palmer, McFarlane Alaska specializes in parts and performance modifications supporting bush flying (STOL), designing, manufacturing, and distributing high-quality aircraft parts for the aviation market. With over 50 years of combined experience, the team is committed to delivering superior parts with exceptional, old-fashioned customer service.

As Operations Manager, you'll play a pivotal role in shaping McFarlane Alaska's operations, leading a dedicated team of colleagues who are passionate about aviation and community. You'll own the entire value stream — from raw material intake through precision-machined components, assembly, and delivery — driving operational excellence, inspiring a cross-functional team, and ensuring the highest standards of safety, quality, and delivery in aviation manufacturing.

• Shop Floor Leadership: Lead day-to-day shop floor operations with a sharp focus on Safety, Quality, Delivery, and Cost in a high-mix machining environment

• Team Oversight: Oversee production teams — supervisors, engineers, planners, buyers, and operators — to achieve Value Stream goals
• Resource Alignment: Use historical data, customer demand, and future projections to align the Value Stream, including resource planning, machine utilization, employee productivity, and machine uptime
• Product Launches: Coordinate cross-functional efforts to launch new aviation products and integrate new technologies
• KPI Development: Support development of Value Stream KPIs for Safety, Quality, Delivery, and Cost; track and refine to ensure business objectives are met
• Budget Accountability: Ensure the Value Stream achieves budget through accountability, labor management, tooling & consumable spend, and material costs
• Performance Reporting: Generate and communicate performance metrics
• Issue Resolution: Troubleshoot and collaborate with technical experts to resolve operational issues and limit production downtime

• Team Building: Build, mentor, and empower a team of supervisors, leads, and individual contributors, developing skills that match our ambition
• Floor Presence: Be a visible leader on the floor — motivate, coach, celebrate wins, and correct course when needed
• Growth & Accountability: Set clear expectations, conduct performance reviews, and create upskilling and growth opportunities that enable career pathways for your team

• Standards
  
  Collaboration:
  
  Collaborate with Quality Assurance and Engineering to ensure every part meets or exceeds aviation standards and regulatory requirements
• Regulatory Compliance: Ensure compliance with aerospace regulations and customer-specific requirements, including FAA standards
• Corrective Action: Proactively address non-conformances and ensure effective corrective actions
• Precision Support: Support calibration, inspection, and programming to maintain top-tier accuracy and quality

• Production Alignment: Collaborate with planning teams to align production with demand and product milestones
• Schedule Management: Monitor schedules, adjust for constraints, and keep production agile and responsive
• Bottleneck Forecasting: Forecast bottlenecks before they ground us — and solve them before they're even noticed

• Associate or bachelor’s degree in engineering, business, or a related field — or equivalent hands-on experience in a complex, high-mix manufacturing environment
• At least 3 years of leadership experience in manufacturing operations
• Proven ability to optimize workforce planning — aligning labor, skills, and schedules to meet…