Operations and Program Manager

Veteran Firm Seeking an Operations and Program Manager for an Onsite Assignment in San Jose, CA My name is Stephen Hrutka. I lead a Veteran-Owned management consulting firm in Washington, DC. We specialize in Technical and Cleared Recruiting for the Department of Defense (DoD), the Intelligence Community (IC), and other advanced defense agencies. At HRUCKUS, we support fellow Veteran-Owned businesses by helping them recruit for positions across organizations such as the VA, SBA, HHS, DARPA, and other leading-edge R&D-focused defense agencies. We seek to fill an Operations and Program Manager role in San Jose, CA. The ideal candidate is a San Jose resident with 8+ years of experience in manufacturing operations, production management, and program execution, along with familiarity in aerospace, defense, or photonics industries. If you’re interested, I’ll gladly provide more details about the role and further discuss your qualifications. Thanks, Executive Summary: HRUCKUS is looking for an experienced Operations and Program Manager to own the day-to-day operating execution of a small, technically focused manufacturing company, successfully connecting production schedules, R&D demands, supply chain, labor, program budgets, and contractual milestones into a clear and executable operating plan. Position Description: This is a hands-on operating leadership role focused on driving execution, not merely supervising employees or reviewing status reports. You will initially lead a team of approximately ten employees and work closely with the CTO and Quality Manager. You will be responsible for building and maintaining the tools, schedules, analyses, and operating rhythms necessary to monitor the business, establish priorities for shared wafer fabrication resources, and keep both production and R&D activities on track. Position Responsibilities: Own day-to-day execution of manufacturing operations and lead an initial team of approximately 10 employees. Establish clear priorities and accountability across production activities. Work directly with employees, engineers, and the Quality Manager to resolve production bottlenecks and keep work moving. Build and improve practical operating processes appropriate for a small manufacturing company without adding unnecessary bureaucracy. Balance near-term execution with improvements in throughput, predictability, and scalability. Maintain visibility into key direct and indirect materials, including inventory, open orders, consumption, lead times, and shortages. Personally build, own, and maintain a visible integrated schedule covering all active production and R&D programs. Translate contractual milestones, customer demand, engineering needs, labor availability, material availability, and equipment capacity into executable operating priorities. Understand the details behind the schedule and identify conflicts, constraints, and risks before they affect customer commitments. Lead regular operating reviews and drive decisions and follow-through when priorities or resources conflict. #J-18808-Ljbffr