Director, Aerospace Materials Testing

Element has an opportunity for a visionary Director to lead our Huntington Beach laboratory. This role is a senior leadership position responsible for defining and executing long-term strategy, driving sustainable growth, and fostering a culture of collaboration and operational excellence across the laboratory.

The Director will work closely with General Managers and key stakeholders to shape strategic direction, optimize capital investments, and elevate performance across safety, operations, customer engagement, and financial outcomes. This is a Leadership role with full P&L responsibility and accountability for executing on customer delivery, leadership, operations, innovation, and strategy that will drive business growth and profitability in line with strategic goals.

Salary: $200,000 – $260,000 base / year DOE + Management Bonus Plan

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute long-range strategic plans aligned with corporate growth objectives, translating enterprise and sector goals into actionable business strategies across the division
• Own full P&L performance (greater than $60M), driving disciplined execution of annual operating plans to achieve revenue, profitability, working capital, quality, delivery, and investment targets
• Lead growth initiatives to expand market share, penetrate new markets, and strengthen key customer relationships through effective commercial strategy, pricing discipline, and executive engagementLead and execute a growth strategy to double laboratory revenue within a two-year period
• Champion a forward-thinking, customer-centric culture that drives innovation, differentiation, and high levels of customer satisfaction
• Ensure operational excellence by integrating front-end and back-end functions, optimizing efficiency, resource utilization, and cost leadership across the organization
• Drive continuous improvement across safety, quality, delivery, and productivity, embedding a culture of accountability and high performance
• Ensure full compliance with corporate policies, aerospace standards, and regulatory requirements (e.g., ISO 17025, Nadcap, AS9100)
• Lead, develop, and inspire a high-performing leadership team, fostering a culture of safety, integrity, inclusion, and operational excellence
• Build strong cross-functional alignment with Safety, Quality, Finance, HR, Sales, and Operational Excellence teams to deliver business objectives
• Oversee capital planning and capability expansion to support growth and evolving customer needs
• Represent the organization externally at industry forums, customer engagements, and professional associations, while leveraging market insights to inform strategy

Skills / Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (Engineering, Science, Business); MBA or advanced degree preferred
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive leadership experience, with a strong background in managing full P&L operations
• Proven track record of driving profitability, improving EBITDA, and leading business turnarounds or expansions, in a fast paced, agile environment
• Strong financial acumen with the ability to interpret data, drive strategic decision-making, and take action to maximize performance
• Experience in workforce planning and managing labor productivity to meet business needs and financial targets
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to lead teams and influence outcomes across all levels
• Knowledge of safety, quality, and compliance in an industrial or laboratory setting is a plus

Company Overview

Element is one of the fastest growing testing, inspection and certification businesses in the world. Globally we have more than 9,000 brilliant minds operating from 270 sites across 30 countries. Together we share an ambitious purpose to ‘Make tomorrow safer than today’.

When failure in use is not an option, we help customers make certain that their products, materials, processes and services are safe, compliant and fit for purpose. From early R&D, through complex regulatory approvals and into production, our global laboratory network of scientists, engineers, and technologists support customers to achieve assurance over product quality, sustainable outcomes, and market access.

While we are proud of our global reach, working at Element feels like being part of a smaller company. We empower you to take charge of your career, and reward excellence and integrity with growth and development.

Industries across the world depend on our care, attention to detail and the absolute accuracy of our work. The role we have to play in creating a safer world is much bigger than our organization.

Diversity Statement

At Element, we always take pride in putting our people first. We are an equal opportunity employer that recognizes diversity and inclusion as fundamental to our Vision of becoming “the world’s most trusted testing partner”.

All suitably qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment on the basis of objective work related criteria and without regard for the following: age, disability, ethnic origin, gender, marital status, race, religion, responsibility of dependents, sexual orientation, or gender identity or other characteristics in accordance with the applicable governing laws or other characteristics in accordance with the applicable governing laws.

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)