Plant Manager

Position Summary

KrateoSky is hiring a Manufacturing/Operations Director to build our Denton facility operations from the ground up, serving as the laboratory and prototype for manufacturing systems that will scale across our enterprise of acquired drone and AI companies. This is not a traditional management role—you are a builder, learner, and future teacher creating replicable operational excellence that supports our $12–15B valuation trajectory while maintaining defense-grade quality and compliance.

Player‑coach role: execute foundationally while designing scalable manufacturing governance. Work closely with SVP of Operations Excellence & Supply Chain, Quality, Engineering, and portfolio company leadership. You will establish production processes, daily management systems, and continuous improvement practices that embed LEAN principles from day one. Your primary accountability is developing manufacturing systems mature enough to teach, document, and replicate across future KrateoSky acquisitions. Embody our values and behaviors—deliver precision and quality, challenge how things are done, break problems into fundamentals, automate relentlessly, hold yourself accountable, and deliver together no matter the obstacles.

Key Responsibilities

AI‑Native Manufacturing Operations & Visibility

Lead the adoption of AI‑enabled tools to replace manual tracking, predict bottlenecks, and automate quality exception management. Build executive dashboards for OEE, FPY, cycle‑time variance, and equipment health. Configure production systems with automation rules and anomaly detection. Decisions must be data‑driven—not opinion‑driven. We need a leader whose instinct is to automate verification and apply predictive models, not add inspectors.

Manufacturing System Development (Prototype Lab)

Build Denton’s manufacturing operations from the ground up: layout, workflows, workstation setup, tooling, and standard work aligned with Lean flow. Serve as the testing ground for enterprise standards—refine, document, and validate before rolling out to acquired sites. Partner with the SVP to design the daily management system (huddles, SQDC boards, production metrics, escalation). Establish takt time, flow principles, mixed‑model production, rapid changeovers, and AI‑augmented performance monitoring.

Quality & Compliance Foundation

Develop quality systems that meet CMMI, AS9100, and SMS; create inspection standards, corrective action processes, and traceability systems. Ensure manufacturing aligns with defense contract requirements and own internal audits. Implement poka‑yoke, first‑time quality, and COPQ visibility. Maintain aerospace‑grade safety systems and a strong safety culture. Use automation to track audits, corrective actions, and compliance documentation.

Lead kaizen to reduce cycle time, eliminate waste, improve ergonomics, and raise throughput. Coach production teams in daily problem‑solving and continuous improvement. Implement SQDC visual management and facilitiate tier huddles. Participate in business reviews using automated analytics. Drive OEE gains through structured problem‑solving and predictive reliability practices.

Production Planning & Capacity Management

Partner with supply chain, engineering, and program teams on schedules that balance demand, materials, and capacity. Build scalable capacity models and staffing plans. Recommend equipment, layout, and process changes using predictive analytics. Establish production control systems—heijunka, kanban, WIP limits—combined with AI‑driven demand signals and real‑time constraint management.

Team Development & Cultural Integration

Recruit and develop supervisors and operators; build a culture grounded in respect, problem‑solving, and continuous learning. Deliver training that embeds standard work, quality practices, and Lean thinking. Reinforce KrateoSky values and Coach/Creator/Challenger leadership. Foster psychological safety and strong operator engagement in improvement and decision‑making.

M&A Integration & Teaching Readiness

Document systems and lessons learned to support teaching and rollout to acquired companies. Create SOPs, training materials, and implementation guides. Mentor teams during integration and support due diligence through manufacturing maturity assessments. Lead harmonization of production systems and tools. Apply a PDCA mindset to refine and scale the enterprise operating model.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years in manufacturing/operations management with hands‑on system‑building experience (startups, greenfield facilities, or turnaround environments preferred).
• Demonstrated success building production processes, training teams, and implementing quality systems in regulated industries (aerospace, defense, medical devices, automotive, electronics).
• Working knowledge of LEAN manufacturing principles (standard work, 5S, visual management, flow, pull systems); ability to learn and apply kaizen methodology.
• Experience with daily management systems, tiered huddles, and performance metrics (OEE, TAT, COPQ, productivity).
• Strong collaboration skills—able to work across functions (engineering, supply chain, quality, program management) and influence without direct authority.
• Builder mentality: Comfort with ambiguity, resourcefulness, and "figure it out" problem‑solving.
• SQDC discipline: Commitment to safety, quality, delivery, and cost as non‑negotiable priorities.
• PDCA orientation: Willingness to experiment, learn from failure, and iterate toward better systems.
• Above the Line behaviors: Operate as a Coach (develop others), Creator (build solutions), and Challenger (question assumptions) rather than slipping into Victim, Hero, or Villain dynamics.
• Automation‑first thinking: Default instinct is "how do we eliminate this manual task" not "who can I assign this to."
• Respect for people: Deep belief that frontline operators are the source of wisdom; humble leadership that listens, learns, and empowers.
• Humble teacher: Recognize that your job is to build systems others can replicate—ego‑free knowledge sharing and documentation discipline.
• Aligned with company values and behaviors: delivers customer outcomes, challenges assumptions with data, solves from first principles, embraces AI/automation, owns accountability, resourceful/persistent, integrates at all levels.

Desired Qualifications

• Familiarity with AS9100, CMMI, SMS, or defense manufacturing compliance requirements.
• Experience with mixed‑model production, rapid changeover (SMED), or mistake‑proofing (poka‑yoke) implementation.
• Prior involvement in M&A integration or post‑acquisition operations consolidation.
• Continuous improvement certification (Lean, Six Sigma) or demonstrated CI project leadership.
• Experience in drone, robotics, electronics assembly, or precision manufacturing environments.
• Experience with AI‑enabled manufacturing tools (predictive maintenance, computer vision quality inspection, automated production monitoring, real‑time OEE analytics).
• Comfort with industrial IoT sensors, data visualization platforms, and manufacturing execution systems (MES).
• Bonus for building (not just buying) manufacturing automation—examples: custom dashboards with predictive equipment failure models, automated quality inspection workflows using vision systems, production control integrations with real‑time constraint optimization.
• Experience operating within a product line engineering environment with platform‑based production strategies.
• Exposure to mixed‑model assembly, configure‑to‑order manufacturing, or high‑mix low‑volume production systems.
• Experience with TPM (Total Productive Maintenance), autonomous maintenance, or equipment reliability engineering.

Reports To: Senior Vice President of Operations Excellence & Supply Chain