Director of Manufacturing Operations

Job Description

Job Description

Company Description

Inspired Flight’s Purpose Statement says it all - Conserving resources, creating jobs, and saving lives by innovating the American drone manufacturing.  Founded in San Luis Obispo, California our entirely U.S. based team designs, builds and supports highly capable and flexible drone platforms for both commercial and government customers. 

Our purpose driven team exemplifies our Core Values. We are:

Collaborative: We harness the collective intelligence and energy of our team to surpass individual potentials and achieve shared goals.

Resilient: We approach obstacles with flexibility and creativity, supporting one another to stay focused, resourceful, and determined.

Diverse: We place a high value in people of all heritages, genders, sexual orientations, and points of view to spark innovation and solutions, enriching our work environment and outputs.

Continuously Improving: We are committed to ongoing learning and innovation by always seeking ways to enhance our processes, products, and personal expertise.

Underlying all of this is our deeply rooted belief that the cutting-edge aerial tools we create are advancing an industry that is good for people, good for our planet and good for the United States of America.

Job Description

The Director of Operations owns the end-to-end operation that turns engineering designs into delivered aircraft. Reporting to the VP of Operations, you will lead five teams — Production Manufacturing, Manufacturing Engineering, Production Flight Quality Control, Operations Coordination (fulfillment and work orders), and Shipping & Receiving / Warehousing — and hold accountability for safety, quality, on-time delivery, and cost across all of them. This is a builder’s role: as Inspired Flight scales, you will roughly double the size of the operations organization, stand up the processes and systems a larger production floor requires, and develop the frontline leaders who run it day to day.

You will balance hands-on, shop-floor leadership with the organizational discipline of a growing company — running production cadence and removing blockers today, while building the headcount plans, standard work, and cross-training depth that let the operation scale tomorrow. The role partners closely with Engineering, Customer Success, and Finance to meet build schedules and delivery commitments.

This role will report directly to the VP of Operations within the Operations department. This is a prime opportunity for a highly motivated and creative professional who thrives in a high-growth environment and is looking for career development and advancement.

Teams You Will Lead:

• Production Manufacturing — through the Production Manager, the assembly leads and technicians who build, integrate, and test every platform.
• Manufacturing Engineering — tooling, fixtures, test stations, standard work, and the industrialization of new products for volume production.
• Production Flight Quality Control — the pilots and technicians who test-fly every production aircraft, run acceptance flights, and sign off airworthiness and flight performance before it ships.
• Operations Coordination — order fulfillment, work order flow, and the day-to-day scheduling that keeps the floor fed and orders moving.
• Shipping & Receiving / Warehousing — inbound material, inventory accuracy, kitting, stockroom organization, and outbound shipments.

For each team you will set goals, build staffing and cross-training plans, hire and develop the next layer of leaders, and put in place the structure required to support a rapidly growing build rate.

Typical Responsibilities

Team Leadership & Organizational Scaling

• Lead, coach, and hold accountable the leaders of Production Manufacturing, Manufacturing Engineering, Production Flight Quality Control, Operations Coordination, and Shipping & Receiving / Warehousing.
• Build and execute the operations staffing plan as the company scales — forecasting headcount, defining roles, and partnering with People/HR to recruit, onboard, and ramp new hires ahead of demand.
• Establish clear roles, training paths, certifications, and cross-training depth so the operation is resilient to absence and growth.
• Set goals and review cadences for each team, manage performance, and develop the next generation of supervisors and leads from within.
• Champion a strong safety culture and Inspired Flight’s core values across all operations teams.

Manufacturing & Assembly Execution

• Lead day-to-day production operations for all Inspired Flight platforms, subassemblies, payload integrations, and accessories
• Translate build plans into clear shop-floor schedules, priorities, and standard work.
• Monitor throughput, labor utilization, task time, and constraints; surface risks early and drive mitigation plans.
• Lead daily operational routines, including tiered stand-ups, Gemba walks, and corrective action reviews focused on safety, quality, and productivity.
• Partner with the Production Manager to ensure all Manufacturing and Assembly Leads/Technicians are properly trained, certified, and held accountable to best-practice standards.
• Drive tight coordination with Engineering and Quality on ECO integration, NPI rollout readiness, DFM feedback loops, and root-cause corrective actions for defects.

Production Flight Test & Acceptance

• Own the production flight-test program: every aircraft completes its required acceptance flights and passes all checks before it is cleared to ship.
• Define and maintain flight-test procedures, pass/fail acceptance criteria, and serialized flight records and logs for each aircraft.
• Staff, train, and certify production flight-test pilots/operators, and ensure all flight operations are conducted safely and in compliance with FAA, airspace, and site-safety requirements.
• Drive fast feedback loops from flight-test findings back to Manufacturing, Manufacturing Engineering, and Engineering to resolve defects and improve first-pass flight yield.

Order Fulfillment, Shipping & Logistics

• Own the full order-to-ship workflow: kitting and staging, final configuration, system-level testing, QA handoff, packaging, and outbound logistics.
• Own communication channels for backlog tracking & planned shipments to key stakeholders
• Ensure all compliance documentation is complete before shipment (export controls, QA records, customer contract deliverables, serialized records, etc.).
• Coordinate cross-functionally with Customer Success to ensure readiness for fleet deployments, dealer shipments, and service/support loops.

Planning, Systems & Continuous Improvement

• Lead Inspired Flight’s production planning cadence to align inventory, labor, and build priorities to delivery targets and strategic bookings.
• Maintain ERP/MRP accuracy in NetSuite, including BOMs, routings, work orders, inventory locations, shrinkage, and cycle count discipline.
• Champion Lean principles and continuous improvement initiatives: 5S, standard work, waste reduction, workstation optimization, and line balancing.
• Develop and maintain simple, reliable KPI dashboards (throughput, shortages, schedule adherence, QC pass rates, RMAs, labor efficiency).
• Identify tooling, fixtures, and capital equipment required for scaling; support procurement and implementation under executive guidance. (in conjunction with the Manufacturing Engineering Team)
• Improve test station workflows, documentation, and hardware/software readiness with the Manufacturing Engineering Lead.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Act as the primary point of contact for short-range operational execution across Engineering, Quality, Programs, and Customer Success.
• Participate in S&OP, delivery reviews, and program update meetings, providing accurate status, risks, and recovery plans.
• Coordinate repair and service loops with Customer Success to maintain fleet readiness and spares availability.
• Ensure operational feedback is consistently captured and delivered back to Engineering to support product reliability and manufacturability.

Success Metrics (KPIs)

• On-time delivery (OTD)
• Schedule attainment and build throughput
• Yield / first-pass quality and defect containment
• Inventory accuracy, shortages, and kitting performance
• Labor productivity and unit cost vs. targets
• Safety compliance and audit performance

You’ll excel in this role if you have:

• Experience in UAV, aerospace, defense, or regulated manufacturing environments, with a strong understanding of quality discipline, documentation control, and repeatable production processes.
• Hands-on experience with NetSuite ERP for production planning, inventory management, BOM/routing accuracy, work order execution, and material transactions.
• A track record of supporting NPI and industrialization of electro-mechanical products, including tooling/fixture development, DFM collaboration, ECO integration, verification/validation workflows, and readiness for volume production.

Education/Experience Requirements: 

• 5–9+ years of operations experience in manufacturing, aerospace, robotics, electronics, or other high-reliability hardware environments.
• Demonstrated ownership of manufacturing + supply chain + fulfillment execution.
• Strong practical knowledge of ERP/MRP, production scheduling, and inventory control.
• Experience driving continuous improvement (Lean, Kaizen, 5S, structured problem solving).
• Proven ability to lead multiple teams and frontline supervisors, manage competing priorities, and build organizational structure in a fast-moving, high-growth environment.
• Experience scaling a manufacturing or operations team through a period of rapid growth — hiring, onboarding, and standing up new processes as volume increases.
• Strong communication and organizational habits; comfortable coordinating across functions.
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, or related field (or equivalent experience).

Salary & Benefits Offered

• Unlimited Paid Time Off
• World Class Health, Dental, Vision Insurance Plan
• 401k w/ 6% company match
• Quarterly Team Bonus Plan

Physical Demands :  The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee may need to sit and stand for long periods; talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and telephone.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Inspired Flight is deeply committed to building a workplace where inclusion is not only valued, but prioritized. We pride ourselves on being an equal opportunity employer that seeks to create a welcoming and diverse environment. All applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, or expression, family status, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, neurodiversity, age, or veteran status, or any other non-merit based or legally protected grounds.

The above job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow any other instructions, and perform any other related duties, as assigned by their supervisor.