Head of Manufacturing Operations

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Location: Brooklyn Navy Yard, NY (On-Site)

Employment Type: Salaried (Annual, Exempt)

Salary Range: $140,000 – $175,000

Company Overview: Easy Aerial is a leading military-grade autonomous Drone-in-a-Box designer and manufacturer headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. Our advanced UAV solutions are designed to meet critical security needs, serving clients across defense, security, public safety, and critical infrastructure sectors. With a team composed of former military personnel and seasoned aerospace and robotics engineers, we pride ourselves on delivering innovative drone technologies built in the USA. We are seeking a Head of Manufacturing Operations to build the operating system that allows Easy Aerial to scale production, improve execution, and deliver high-quality systems on schedule.

Who You Are: You are an operations leader who thrives in a fast-moving hardware environment. You are equally comfortable building a capacity model, walking the production floor, driving a vendor issue to closure, and creating the SOP that prevents the issue from happening again.,You are highly organized, analytical, and action-oriented. You know how to turn ambiguity into structure, create accountability across teams, and improve production without adding unnecessary complexity.,You are not afraid to get into the details, but your real strength is building systems, processes, and operating rhythms that let the team scale.

How You'll Make An Impact

• Own manufacturing operations planning across in-house production, contract manufacturing, supply chain, quality coordination, and delivery readiness.
• Build and maintain capacity planning models to identify labor, material, process, vendor, and production bottlenecks.
• Create the weekly operating cadence for production, supply chain, contract manufacturing, and shipment readiness.
• Develop SOPs, production workflows, handoff processes, and accountability structures across manufacturing operations.
• Establish clear KPIs for production output, build cycle time, shortages, rework, supplier issues, inventory accuracy, and on-time delivery.
• Drive continuous improvement projects that increase throughput, reduce rework, improve quality, and reduce dependence on ad hoc heroics.
• Partner with production leadership to improve internal assembly, integration, test, and finalization processes.
• Partner with contract manufacturing leadership to improve outsourced production readiness, schedule adherence, and issue resolution.
• Coordinate with engineering, quality, supply chain, and finance to ensure production plans are realistic and executable.
• Create dashboards, trackers, and operating tools that give leadership clear visibility into what is on track, what is blocked, and what decisions are needed.
• Help Easy Aerial scale from low-volume production toward repeatable, higher-volume manufacturing.
  
  

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Business, or a related field.
• 6 years of experience in manufacturing operations, production management, industrial operations, hardware operations, supply chain operations, or a related field.
• Experience managing or coordinating production in a hardware, aerospace, defense, robotics, electronics, automotive, or other complex manufactured-product environment.
• Strong understanding of capacity planning, production scheduling, inventory constraints, manufacturing workflows, and operational KPIs.
• Demonstrated ability to create SOPs, dashboards, operating cadences, and process improvements in a fast-moving environment.
• Experience working cross-functionally with engineering, production, supply chain, quality, finance, and external manufacturing partners.
• Strong communication skills and ability to drive accountability without relying on formal authority alone.
• Comfortable operating in both strategic and hands-on modes.
  
  

Why Join Easy Aerial?

• Be part of a pioneering company at the forefront of autonomous drone technology.
• Help build the operational backbone for a rapidly scaling U.S. hardware manufacturer.
• Work in a collaborative and innovative environment with a talented multidisciplinary team.
• Competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package.
• Opportunities for professional development and career advancement.
• Direct impact on products used in defense, security, public safety, and critical infrastructure missions.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in UAVs, aerospace, defense, robotics, electronics, or complex electro-mechanical systems.
• Experience with contract manufacturers, outsourced production, or supplier production readiness.
• Familiarity with ERP/MRP systems, production planning tools, inventory systems, or manufacturing dashboards.
• Experience with Lean, Six Sigma, continuous improvement, or operational excellence methods.
• Experience in a high-growth startup or scaling hardware company.
• Familiarity with quality systems, receiving inspection, production QC, or supplier quality processes.