Manufacturing Operations Director

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: No

CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret

TRAVEL: Yes, 25% of the Time

Description

At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work — and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history.

Northrop Grumman Mission Systems is a trusted provider of mission-enabling solutions for global security. We have a wide portfolio of secure, affordable, integrated, and multi-domain systems and technologies. Our differentiated battle management and cyber solutions deliver timely, mission-enabling information and provide superior situational awareness and understanding to protect the U.S. and its global allies.

We are looking for you to join our team as a Manufacturing Operations Director based out of Salt Lake City, UT.

The Manufacturing Operations Director is responsible for establishing and leading all Salt Lake City Manufacturing operations. This organization supports the NACS business unit, a key element of the Navigation, Intelligence & Connectivity (NIC) division within the Mission Systems sector. As a key leader, partner, and essential member of the MS Salt Lake City site leadership team overseeing an operation of 600 employees, the Director will lead the high-performing Manufacturing team of up to 250 employees in a high-mix, high-volume job-shop environment.

Qualified candidates will have demonstrated success leading broad manufacturing organizations within cost and schedule while achieving a high level of product quality, delivery performance, and employee engagement. The position requires a solution-based orientation, unwavering ethics and values, and the demonstrated ability to be a trusted partner. Candidates must demonstrate a proven track record of solving complex problems through systematic and objective evaluation of information, effective communication, and championing and leading change with a diverse set of internal and external customers and suppliers. The Manufacturing Operations Director reports to the Salt Lake City Site Director.

Major Responsibilities

• Safety. Number one priority. Champion a proactive safety culture with emphasis on hazard identification, mitigation, and continuous improvement.
• Operational Excellence in meeting our customer commitments and protecting our people and products. This includes execution excellence and overall responsibility for Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, and Culture (SQDCC) across multiple value streams.
• Lead day-to-day operations in a high-volume, job-shop manufacturing environment that supports a wide variety of product configurations, order sizes, and customer schedules.
• Ensure an effective organization structure and team, working together to improve our processes and discipline to our processes.
• Build and sustain a culture of empowered leaders and engaged employees focused on problem solving in an enjoyable work environment (fun, competitive, proud, visual, celebrating successes).
• Develop, communicate, and implement vision, strategy, goals, and metrics that drive business objectives and priorities for tangible improvements, with particular focus on throughput, on-time delivery, lead-time reduction, and WIP management.
• Oversee production control and scheduling practices suitable for a job-shop environment (e.g., finite capacity scheduling, dispatching rules, constraint management) to ensure efficient flow across multiple product lines and shared resources.
• Create and sustain visual management systems (tiered daily management, SQDCC boards, and on, takt/throughput indicators) that enable real-time performance management and rapid problem resolution.
• Drive standardization of work while enabling flexibility to support frequent changeovers, engineering changes, and variable customer demand.
• Maintain excellent relationships and accountability to internal customers (programs/segments), communicating status, return-to-green plans, and performance to objectives.
• Serve as an integral part of the MS Salt Lake City leadership team, providing candid, respectful feedback and aligning to the goals and values of NGC.
• Lead continuous improvement, performance to standard work, least waste way, and a never-ending lean mentality throughout the organization, including line balancing, cell/flow design, and material presentation improvements.
• Utilize effective talent management strategies to attract, retain, develop, and engage the right people for the organization, including building multi-skilled, cross-trained teams that can flex across work centers based on demand.
• Responsible for executing the development, prioritization, communication and execution of our capital expenditure plans within Manufacturing for the business unit, including capacity modeling and justification for new equipment in a high-volume environment.
• Manage both direct and indirect costs through weekly metrics, staffing plans, improvement initiatives, and clear accountability mechanisms.
• Establish and maintain effective relationships with employees throughout the Manufacturing organization to foster a culture of trust and open communication.
• Form and maintain collaborative working relationships with customers, program management, and other support organizations.
• Oversee the manufacturing and testing of complex navigation and inertial systems, ensuring robust process capability, test throughput, and first-pass yield in a job-shop context. Good understanding of process controls, and variations
• Lead operations support organizations comprised of manufacturing engineering, planning and scheduling, production control, inventory management, transportation, training, and compliance. This encompasses Material Requirements Planning (MRP) activities on all major programs across the organization.
• Drive inventory and WIP control tailored to a job-shop environment, including stocking strategies, kanban/supermarket design where appropriate, and disciplined cycle-count and reconciliation processes.
• Manage staffing and employee development in a challenging environment for unique skill sets in both touch labor (non-exempt) and professional (exempt individual contributor and management) positions. Collaborate and partner with Talent Acquisition to ensure current and future hiring requirements are met.
• Provide financial management leadership including knowledge and understanding of Earned Value Management (EVM), rates and budgets, and associated overhead budgets to support manufacturing activities, as well as the planning and execution of strategic funds for capital equipment and machinery and manufacturing technical activities.
• Work closely with functional organizations (including Manufacturing Engineering, Quality and Mission Excellence, Global Supply Chain, Business Management, Production Control, Human Resources) across the organization and site as necessary to achieve desired results and outcomes.
• Recruit and mentor future leaders, direct training and skill development initiatives, and promote Engagement & Inclusion activities.
• Drive operational efficiency through the elements of Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, and Morale (Engagement) (SQDCM), with robust tiered accountability and continuous improvement pipelines that specifically address job-shop constraints such as shared resources, batch sizes, and variability.

The Ideal Candidate Will Possess

• Demonstrated ability to lead a large and diverse group, establish clear expectations, and inspire commitment; build teams, value diversity, and put people first.
• Demonstrated ability to improve organizational health through alignment, effective execution, and meaningful connection with employees.
• Proven experience improving throughput, on-time delivery, and cost in a high-mix, high-volume, job-shop or complex discrete manufacturing environment.
• Ability to further continuous yet controlled improvements in organizations and processes and strengthening of workforce skills through application of lean thinking principles and tools (e.g., Value Stream Mapping, Kaizen, 5S, SMED, visual management, problem solving/A3).
• Experience designing and managing job-shop layouts, routing strategies, and capacity plans to optimize flow and resource utilization.
• Demonstrated ability to manage process variation.
• Ability to formulate and execute complex project plans and initiatives.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, writing, presentation, and critical thinking skills. Clear, demonstrated commitment to open communication and customer satisfaction.
• Demonstrated business acumen, including understanding of cost drivers in high-volume operations and the ability to make data-driven trade-off decisions.
• Demonstrated dedication to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers and to establishing and maintaining effective relationships with customers to gain their trust and respect.
• Understanding of the culture of large organizations and how to get things done through formal and informal channels.
• Ability to communicate an inspired vision that motivates entire units and the organization.
• Proven track record of providing challenging and stretching tasks and assignments to key talent in the organization.
• Steadfast drive to push self and others to achieve company goals.
• Commitment to championing the Company’s Business and Ethics Code of Conduct.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 10 or more years of relevant work experience; OR Master's degree with 8 or more years of relevant work experience
• 5 or more years in a manufacturing or related environment
• 5 or more years of senior management experience
• Progressive leadership experience in manufacturing/production, operations, program management, testing, or related areas.
• Experience with industry and management methodologies focused on continuous improvement in manufacturing, such as ISO 9000, Total Quality Management, or Six Sigma.
• Demonstrated experience leading high-volume or high-mix job-shop operations, including responsibility for throughput, on-time delivery, and cost performance.
• Product line-based production experience with the understanding of process controls
• U.S. Citizenship is required
• Ability to obtain a U.S. Government Secret security clearance

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with the program/product lifecycle in the areas of new business pursuit, design, supply chain management, receiving operations, inventory control, production control, product test & evaluation, reliability, root cause analysis, product sell-off, shipping, and product support as they apply to quality.
• Financial management experience, including project and process control and budgets, with familiarity with DCAA and FAR regulations and EVMS methodologies.
• Experience with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tools such as SAP and Materials Requirement Planning (MRP), including configuration or use of scheduling, finite capacity planning, and dispatching tools to manage job-shop flows.
• Experience implementing and sustaining job-shop planning and control systems (e.g., visual dispatching, queue management, takt/throughput-based management, kanban/supermarkets where appropriate).
• Demonstrated success integrating lean manufacturing and Six Sigma techniques in a job-shop environment to reduce cycle time, WIP, and rework while improving yield and productivity.
• Active U.S. Government Secret Clearance or greater

Primary Level Salary Range: $160,200.00 - $240,200.00

The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions.

Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.

The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.

Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO and pay transparency statement, please visit U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.