Senior Director of Manufacturing Operations

Job Title: Senior Director of Manufacturing Operations

Location: On-Site – Monroe Township, NJ

Reports to: VP of Operations

About Us:

Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (OPT) provides intelligent maritime solutions and services that enable safer, cleaner, and more productive ocean operations for the defense and security, oil and gas, science and research, and offshore wind markets, including Merrows™, which provides AI-capable seamless integration of Maritime Domain Awareness Systems across platforms. Our PowerBuoy® platforms provide clean and reliable electric power and real-time data communications for remote maritime and subsea applications. We also provide WAM-V® unmanned surface vehicles (USV’s) and marine robotics services. The Company’s headquarters is located in Monroe Township, New Jersey and has an additional office in Richmond, California.

The Role: 

The Senior Director of Operations will lead and oversee the company’s manufacturing operational activities, ensuring that manufacturing, maintenance, and service operations are executed efficiently, safely, and in alignment with company strategic goals. This role reports directly to the Vice President of Operations and will play a key role in scaling OPT’s operations as it advances its wave-energy, unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), and offshore power platforms.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead operations strategy: develop and implement operational plans (manufacturing, shipping and logistics, service & maintenance) to support OPT’s product lines (e.g., PowerBuoy® systems, WAM-V® ASVs) and business growth.
• Oversee manufacturing, project management, and supply chain: manage production facilities or contract manufacturers, ensure quality, cost-effectiveness, timely delivery, and compliance with relevant maritime/offshore standards.
• Continuous improvement: drive process optimization, lean practices, operational excellence, risk management, safety and environmental compliance.
• Cross-functional collaboration: work closely with engineering, product development, sales/commercial, finance, field service and customer service teams to ensure operational readiness supports commercial goals.
• Metrics & performance: define, monitor, and report operational KPIs (on-time delivery, cost per unit, service turnaround, equipment uptime, safety incidents, field reliability) and drive accountability.
• Budgeting & resource allocation: prepare and manage operations budget, evaluate capital expenditures (for manufacturing, field equipment), allocate resources optimally for scalability.
• Culture and team leadership: build and lead a high-performing operations organization, mentor managers, promote safety culture and continuous learning.

Requirements/Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, or related discipline; advanced degree (MBA or MS) preferred.
• 5 to 10 years operations management experience in manufacturing—preferably in offshore, maritime, energy, renewable, or defense environments.
• Experience with maintaining ISO9001 and 45001 procedures and controls.
• Proven leadership of manufacturing/supply chain teams—experience scaling operations globally is a plus.
• Strong track record of process improvement (lean, six sigma, etc.), QA/QC process, cost-control, operational metrics management.
• Excellent project management skills with experience in complex, multi-stakeholder environments (offshore logistics, remote operations, multi-vendor coordination).
• Strong commercial acumen: ability to link operations strategy to business outcomes, understand cost drivers, margins, service models.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills; comfortable interacting with customers, and partners.
• Willingness to travel (domestic/international) and to work in offshore/remote environments as needed.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience in maritime energy, wave energy, offshore renewable or defense maritime systems.
• Prior P&L responsibility or operations budget ownership.
• Familiarity with process improvements, (LEAN, Six Sigma) on a manufacturing environment

Ocean Power Technologies provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, and pregnancy-related conditions), gender identity or expression (including transgender status), sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, disability, genetic information, service in the military, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws and ordinances. Equal employment opportunity applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leave of absence, compensation, and training.

Salary range is $150,000 - $170,000 per year and includes the following:

• Bonus potential
• Restricted Stock Awards

Benefits include:

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• Life Insurance
• Disability Insurance
• 401(k)

Salary : $150,000 - $170,000