Director of Manufacturing – Mission Microwave

Company: Mission Microwave Technologies
 Location: Cypress, California
 Industry: Aerospace, Defense, RF Electronics Manufacturing

Director of Manufacturing – Job Summary

The Director of Manufacturing Operations is responsible for leading all manufacturing execution, production, engineering, quality, and operational performance for a high-mix, low-volume aerospace/RF electronics manufacturing environment.

This is a senior leadership role focused on building structure, discipline, and scalability in a growing, technically complex factory, while remaining hands-on and connected to the production floor.

Key Responsibilities

Manufacturing & Operations Leadership

• Lead day-to-day manufacturing execution across the production floor in a high-mix / low-volume environment

• Build and implement scalable manufacturing processes, including process sheets, standard work, visual instructions, and repeatable training methods

• Standardize critical manufacturing knowledge into practical documentation and training tools

• Partner with Supply Chain and Planning to improve material flow, schedule adherence, floor readiness, and inventory/system accuracy

• Establish and manage KPIs including on-time delivery, throughput, bottlenecks, and process compliance

• Drive Lean, continuous improvement, and practical digital tool adoption

Engineering & Quality Integration

• Partner with Engineering to improve manufacturing readiness, build transfer, and practical floor execution

• Partner with Quality to strengthen process compliance, defect visibility, corrective action follow-through, and manufacturing discipline

• Support design for manufacturability (DFM) and new product introduction (NPI)

Business & Strategy

• Develop the manufacturing roadmap aligned with company growth and scalability

• Manage budgets, capital equipment, and staffing plans

• Track KPIs (on-time delivery, yield, cost, cycle time, efficiency)

• Report to executive leadership and support program planning, proposals, and forecasting

Leadership

• Lead manufacturing managers, engineers, and supervisors

• Build a scalable manufacturing organization

• Develop staff through hiring, training, and performance management

• Act as a visible, hands-on leader who identifies problems, removes barriers, coaches the team, and keeps work moving

Typical Requirements

Most Mission Microwave director roles require:

• Bachelor’s in Engineering or Manufacturing

• 10 years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience in technically complex environments

• Strong experience in high-mix / low-volume manufacturing

• Aerospace / defense / RF / electronics manufacturing experience strongly preferred

• Experience improving factory discipline, standardized work, process documentation, and execution cadence

• Experience with:

  • AS9100 / ISO9001 compliance

  • ERP / MRP systems

  • Lean Manufacturing / Six Sigma

  • NPI (New Product Introduction)

• Experience managing teams, cross-functional collaboration, and production operations

• Hands-on, floor-oriented leadership style with strategic capability to scale operations