Manufacturing Operations Manager Jobs

Company Overview

We are a small but established Defense Electronics Power Supply design and manufacturing company supporting major aerospace, defense, and government programs. We specialize in the design, development, test, repair, and manufacture of high-mix, low-to-medium volume electronic and electromechanical assemblies, including custom power supplies, printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs), and complex box-build products.

Our products are designed for demanding military and aerospace applications where quality, reliability, traceability, schedule performance, and technical excellence are critical.

We are seeking an experienced operations leader who can work effectively in a small, technically sophisticated organization and directly influence production performance, quality, delivery, and customer satisfaction.

Position Summary

We are seeking a hands-on, experienced, and results-oriented Operations Manager to lead and oversee the company's manufacturing operations at our Southern California facility.

The Operations Manager will be responsible for translating company and customer objectives into effective operational execution. This individual will oversee production, manufacturing planning, scheduling, materials coordination, purchasing, manufacturing processes, and day-to-day operational performance, while working closely with Engineering and Quality.

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in high-mix, low-to-medium volume electronics manufacturing, with demonstrated experience manufacturing military or aerospace power supplies in the approximately 500 W to 5 kW range.

Experience with power electronics, PCBAs, magnetics, electronic testing, electromechanical box builds, and defense-industry quality requirements is highly desirable.

This is a hands-on leadership position requiring an individual who can move comfortably between the production floor, engineering, purchasing, quality, suppliers, and company leadership to identify problems, make decisions, and ensure customer commitments are met.

Key Responsibilities

1. Production Management & Scheduling

• Direct and oversee daily manufacturing operations to ensure products are built safely, efficiently, and in accordance with approved requirements.
• Develop, maintain, and manage production schedules to support customer delivery commitments.
• Balance labor capacity, material availability, equipment, engineering resources, and production priorities.
• Monitor production progress and proactively identify bottlenecks, shortages, technical issues, and schedule risks.
• Establish daily and weekly production priorities and communicate requirements to production personnel.
• Ensure manufacturing personnel have the necessary drawings, travelers, work instructions, materials, tooling, fixtures, and test equipment to perform their work.
• Coordinate production activities for prototypes, first articles, development units, production units, repairs, and rework.
• Work closely with Engineering to resolve manufacturing and technical issues that affect production.
• Monitor on-time delivery and develop recovery plans when production schedules are at risk.
• Improve production flow, labor utilization, throughput, and overall manufacturing efficiency.
• Ensure production equipment, tooling, fixtures, and manufacturing resources are available and maintained.

2. Power Supply & Electronics Manufacturing

• Oversee manufacturing of custom 500 W to 5 kW military and aerospace power supplies and associated electronic and electromechanical assemblies.
• Develop a working understanding of the company's products, manufacturing processes, test requirements, and production challenges.
• Work with Engineering and Production to resolve issues involving power electronics, PCBAs, magnetics, wiring, thermal management, mechanical assemblies, and electronic testing.
• Support manufacturing of AC/DC, DC/DC, and other power conversion assemblies as applicable.
• Oversee production involving:
• PCB assemblies
• Power electronic assemblies
• Transformers and inductors
• Wiring and cable assemblies
• Chassis and mechanical assemblies
• Complex electromechanical box builds
• Production test and burn-in
• Support troubleshooting and failure analysis of production and returned units when required.
• Ensure manufacturing processes are practical, repeatable, and appropriate for high-reliability aerospace and defense products.
• Support new product introduction and the transition of designs from Engineering into production.

3. Engineering & Manufacturing Coordination

• Work closely with Engineering to ensure new products and engineering changes can be effectively transitioned into manufacturing.
• Participate in design reviews, manufacturing readiness reviews, and NPI activities.
• Identify design features or requirements that may create manufacturing, test, cost, or schedule challenges.
• Coordinate Engineering, Production, and Quality activities associated with engineering changes and product revisions.
• Assist in developing manufacturing processes, work instructions, test procedures, fixtures, and tooling.
• Ensure production personnel understand and follow current engineering documentation and configuration requirements.
• Provide manufacturing feedback to Engineering regarding design for manufacturability, assembly, test, reliability, and production efficiency.
• Support investigation and resolution of recurring production and product issues.

4. Materials, Purchasing & Supply Chain

• Coordinate closely with Purchasing, Engineering, Production, and suppliers to ensure material availability.
• Monitor material requirements against production schedules and customer commitments.
• Identify and proactively address shortages, long-lead components, obsolete parts, allocation issues, and supplier risks.
• Review purchasing priorities and ensure critical materials are ordered in sufficient time to support production.
• Work with suppliers to resolve delivery, quality, pricing, and technical issues.
• Support supplier selection and evaluation.
• Coordinate alternate-source and component-substitution activities with Engineering and Quality.
• Monitor inventory levels and improve inventory accuracy and material availability.
• Support effective control of purchased products and outside processing.
• Evaluate make-versus-buy decisions when appropriate.
• Maintain awareness of supply-chain risks affecting aerospace and defense electronic components.

5. Quality & Regulatory Compliance

• Ensure manufacturing activities comply with applicable company procedures, customer requirements, and quality-system requirements.
• Ensure production personnel follow applicable workmanship and manufacturing standards, including IPC-A-610 and J-STD-001 where applicable.
• Maintain effective ESD controls throughout manufacturing and test operations.
• Ensure proper product traceability, configuration control, and manufacturing documentation.
• Work closely with Quality to investigate and resolve nonconformances, production defects, and process deviations.
• Participate in root cause analysis and corrective action activities.
• Support internal, customer, prime contractor, and government audits.
• Support compliance with ISO 9001 and, where applicable, AS9100 requirements.
• Maintain awareness of applicable military standards, customer-specific requirements, and government contract requirements.
• Support compliance with ITAR and other applicable defense-industry regulatory requirements.

6. Operational Excellence & Continuous Improvement

• Drive practical continuous-improvement initiatives throughout manufacturing operations.
• Identify opportunities to improve productivity, quality, delivery performance, and cost.
• Reduce production bottlenecks, scrap, rework, unnecessary labor, and material waste.
• Establish and monitor meaningful operational performance metrics.
• Analyze manufacturing data to identify trends and opportunities for improvement.
• Monitor metrics such as:
• On-time delivery
• Production throughput
• First-pass yield
• Scrap and rework
• Labor utilization
• Production cycle time
• Material shortages
• Quality performance
• Implement process improvements that increase manufacturing efficiency without compromising product quality or reliability.
• Establish scalable processes appropriate for a growing high-mix, low-volume defense manufacturer.

7. Team Leadership & Workforce Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop production supervisors, technicians, assemblers, and other manufacturing personnel.
• Establish clear expectations for productivity, quality, safety, and accountability.
• Assign personnel and resources based on production priorities and employee capabilities.
• Identify training and development requirements.
• Ensure employees are properly trained and qualified for their assigned responsibilities.
• Participate in hiring, onboarding, performance evaluations, and disciplinary processes as required.
• Foster a culture of teamwork, accountability, quality, safety, and continuous improvement.
• Maintain effective communication between Production, Engineering, Quality, Purchasing, and management.

8. Customer & Program Support

• Support company leadership in meeting customer and contractual commitments.
• Provide accurate information regarding production status, material availability, capacity, and delivery schedules.
• Identify and communicate operational risks that could affect customer commitments.
• Participate in customer and program meetings when appropriate.
• Coordinate internally to ensure customer priorities are clearly understood and executed.
• Support resolution of customer-related production, quality, and delivery issues.
• Maintain a strong focus on customer satisfaction while balancing quality, cost, capacity, and schedule requirements.

9. Safety & Facility Operations

• Promote a safe and organized manufacturing environment.
• Ensure employees follow applicable safety procedures and requirements.
• Identify and address workplace hazards.
• Coordinate maintenance of production equipment, facilities, tooling, and manufacturing infrastructure.
• Maintain an organized, clean, and efficient production environment appropriate for aerospace and defense manufacturing.
• Support implementation of appropriate ESD, material handling, and environmental controls.

Qualifications & Experience

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, or a related technical discipline preferred.
• Equivalent combination of technical education and significant industry experience may be considered.

Required Experience

• Minimum 5–10 years of progressive experience in electronics manufacturing, production management, manufacturing engineering, operations, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience managing high-mix, low-to-medium volume electronics manufacturing.
• Direct experience manufacturing or managing production of military or aerospace power supplies in the approximately 500 W to 5 kW range is strongly preferred.
• Experience with PCBA manufacturing and complex electronic assemblies.
• Experience managing production schedules, labor capacity, materials, and delivery requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and coordinate cross-functional teams.
• Experience working with suppliers and purchasing organizations.
• Experience interpreting engineering drawings, bills of material, assembly documentation, and manufacturing requirements.
• Experience working in a quality-controlled manufacturing environment.

Technical Expertise

Strong working knowledge of several of the following:

• Military and aerospace power supplies
• 500 W–5 kW power electronics
• AC/DC and DC/DC power conversion
• PCB assemblies and electronic components
• Power semiconductors and electronic circuits
• Transformers, inductors, and other magnetics
• Wiring and cable assemblies
• Electromechanical box-build manufacturing
• Electronic test and troubleshooting
• Production test equipment
• Burn-in and environmental testing
• Manual electronic assembly and repair
• Prototype and low-volume manufacturing
• Surface Mount Technology (SMT)
• Pick-and-place equipment
• Automated Optical Inspection (AOI)
• Through-hole and hand soldering processes
• Manufacturing tooling and test fixtures
• Engineering change control and configuration management

Quality & Compliance Knowledge

• Strong knowledge of IPC-A-610 requirements.
• Working knowledge of J-STD-001 and applicable soldering/workmanship requirements.
• Experience with ISO 9001 quality systems.
• Familiarity with AS9100 aerospace quality systems preferred.
• Experience with ESD control programs.
• Understanding of nonconformance and corrective-action processes.
• Familiarity with military/aerospace manufacturing standards and customer-specific requirements.
• Experience in ITAR-controlled or government-contract environments preferred.
• Familiarity with government/prime contractor audits and compliance requirements preferred.

Systems & Software

• Proficiency with ERP/MRP systems and production planning tools.
• Strong Microsoft Office skills, particularly Excel.
• Ability to analyze production, purchasing, inventory, and quality data.
• Experience using ERP systems to manage work orders, BOMs, inventory, purchasing, and production schedules.
• Ability to use data to identify operational problems and support management decisions.

Leadership Competencies

• Hands-on and highly accountable leadership style.
• Strong production and operational judgment.
• Ability to prioritize competing customer and manufacturing requirements.
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• Ability to work effectively with engineers, technicians, production personnel, suppliers, customers, and company leadership.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to identify problems early and take appropriate corrective action.
• Ability to lead a small organization where flexibility and direct involvement are required.
• Commitment to quality, customer satisfaction, schedule performance, and continuous improvement.

Physical & Work Environment

• This is an onsite position in Southern California.
• Frequent standing and walking throughout manufacturing, engineering, warehouse, and test areas.
• Ability to work effectively in a detailed, disciplined, and documentation-driven aerospace and defense manufacturing environment.
• Ability to occasionally handle or inspect electronic assemblies and manufacturing hardware.
• Must be comfortable working in both an office environment and on the manufacturing floor.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is an experienced electronics manufacturing and operations leader who understands how complex power supplies are actually designed, purchased, built, tested, and delivered.

This person should be comfortable working directly with Production, Engineering, Purchasing, Quality, suppliers, and customers and should be capable of identifying the root cause of operational problems rather than simply managing them administratively.

Experience with 500 W to 5 kW military/aerospace power supplies, high-mix electronics manufacturing, PCBAs, magnetics, electronic testing, and complex box-build assemblies is highly desirable.

The successful candidate will be comfortable working in a small, technically sophisticated organization where managers are expected to be hands-on, make timely decisions, solve problems directly, and take ownership of results.

The Operations Manager will play a key role in ensuring the company consistently delivers high-quality products on schedule while maintaining efficient and sustainable manufacturing operations.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $95,000.00 - $135,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Experience:

• Operations management: 5 years (Required)

Work Location: In person