Vice President Operations

VP of Operations/GM - Confidential

(changes to General Manager position in approx. 1 year)

Location: West Covina area, CA (Onsite)

The VP of Operations will lead all aspects of a multi-site aerospace manufacturing operation specializing in precision machining, fabrication, and assembly supporting both space and defense programs. This leader will be accountable for driving operational excellence, scalable growth, and organizational performance within a technically complex, highly regulated environment.

This is a high-impact leadership role within a business experiencing strong commercial growth, requiring a leader who can enhance operational discipline, optimize systems and processes, and elevate team performance while maintaining alignment with existing culture and customer expectations.

Responsibilities

• Own full business performance, including growth, profitability, cash flow, delivery, quality, and customer satisfaction across multiple sites.
• Lead and optimize multi-site manufacturing operations with a focus on precision machining, fabrication, and assembly in support of aerospace, space, and defense programs.
• Drive operational excellence initiatives through lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, standardization, and disciplined execution.
• Establish and maintain robust performance management systems, including KPIs, reporting cadence, and operating reviews to enhance visibility, accountability, and decision-making.
• Lead the implementation and optimization of ERP systems and enterprise infrastructure, ensuring improved operational control, reporting, and scalability.
• Strengthen process discipline, capacity planning, and execution consistency across sites to support sustained growth.
• Assess organizational structure, develop leadership capability, and identify opportunities for talent upgrades, succession planning, and team development.
• Lead change management initiatives to improve operational and employee performance while maintaining stability and customer confidence.
• Partner closely with commercial leadership to support customer relationships, program execution, and business expansion within aerospace and defense markets.
• Ensure compliance with DoD, aerospace, quality, safety, and regulatory standards, including customer-specific requirements.
• Foster a culture of employee engagement, accountability, and continuous improvement, while aligning with existing organizational values and standards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
• Progressive leadership experience within aerospace, defense, space, or other high-spec industrial manufacturing environments.
• Demonstrated success with full P&L ownership in a plant, business unit, or multi-site leadership role.
• Experience leading ERP implementations or major systems transformations.
• Strong operational background in precision machining, fabrication, and/or assembly-based manufacturing.
• Proven ability to drive operational improvements across quality, delivery, productivity, and cost performance.
• Demonstrated success in change management, including improving team performance, structure, and operational execution.
• Experience leading in multi-site environments strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with government/DoD programs, compliance, and customer expectations a plus
• Strong leadership, communication, and decision-making skills, with the ability to influence at executive, customer, and plant levels.

Preferred Profile

• Hands-on, metrics-driven operational leader with a strong continuous improvement mindset.
• Collaborative leadership style with a strong focus on culture, engagement, and team development.
• Commercially aware operator capable of supporting high-growth environments while maintaining execution discipline.
• Proven ability to implement best practices, processes, ERP, systems, and accountability without disrupting performance.
• Experience leading teams in customer-driven, highly regulated manufacturing environments where precision, responsiveness, and quality are critical.