Director of Operations

Interested in joining one of the top providers of exhibit project management, production and technology services to museums, educations institutions, and so much more? Want to leave your mark on some of the top exhibits across the United States and abroad?

As we continue to grow, D&P is looking for new team members to join our team, and you are maybe just what we are looking for.

Position:Director of Operations

Location: 7110 Rainwater Place

Lorton, VA

Job :369

# of Openings:1

Design and Production Inc. is a renowned builder of museum experiences, offering a comprehensive range of specialty services for museums and high-profile institutions. D&P’s expertise lies in prefabrication consulting, project management, exhibit engineering, detailing, prototyping, installation, media, and lighting systems. Projects are custom, large scale, complex, multi-year experiences. Based in Lorton, Virginia.

The Role

We are looking for a high-impact Director of Operations to lead the operational engine of D&P. This is a pivotal leadership role with responsibility for the entire delivery chain — detailing, shop operations, fabrication, facilities and field installation — ensuring that ambitious, highly customized projects move seamlessly from design intent to fabrication and final installation. You will bring together people, processes and resources to create an operation that is fast, disciplined, scalable and consistently delivers exceptional quality.

This is a role for someone who wants to lead, improve and transform operations, not simply manage them.

Lead the operational engine:

• Take ownership of day-to-day operations across production, detailing, shop and field teams.
• Build an operating rhythm that gives teams clear priorities, anticipates bottlenecks and keeps multiple complex projects moving simultaneously.
• Drive accountability around schedule, cost, quality, productivity and safety.
• Own the critical transition from design intent and shop drawings through fabrication and installation.
• Ensure detailing is accurate, coordinated and fabrication-ready, while strengthening collaboration between project management, technical teams, the Shop and the field.
• Challenge processes and solve problems before they affect production or installation.
• Build a high-performance Shop
• Lead production planning and resource allocation across concurrent projects.
• Continuously improve workflows, capacity planning, productivity and quality.
• Make smart decisions about people, equipment, technology and infrastructure to increase D&P's ability to deliver increasingly ambitious projects.
• Oversee field operations and installation teams across active job sites.
• Lead and support site supervisors and field leads, ensuring seamless coordination between what happens in the shop and what happens on site.
• Set high expectations for execution, safety, quality and client experience through final installation and closeout.
• Develop the operation for the future.
• Identify where D&P can operate faster, smarter and more efficiently.
• Develop capital investment plans for equipment, tools and facilities.
• Oversee preventative maintenance, repairs and upgrades across shop equipment, facilities and the company vehicle fleet.
• Create scalable processes and operating standards that support D&P's next stage of growth.
• Lead people:
  Build, develop and challenge strong operational teams.
• Partner closely with Project Management and company leadership to anticipate resource requirements, resolve delivery issues and ensure operational priorities remain aligned with the business.

We are looking for a builder and an operator.

Someone who understands how complex, bespoke projects actually get made — from technical drawings and procurement through…