Program Operations Manager - Alpha

ABOUT FIREFLY AEROSPACE

As an end-to-end space transportation company, Firefly Aerospace is on a mission to enable our world to launch, land, and operate in space – anywhere, anytime. Our launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide government and commercial customers with full mission services from low Earth orbit to the surface of the Moon and beyond. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

About the Role

The Program Operations Manager is responsible for coordinating with the Program, Manufacturing Teams, and Functional Partners to ensure quality, schedule, and cost commitments are met. The POM is responsible for developing and implementing production operations strategies to ensure products are manufacturable, meet cost and throughput requirements supporting the company's growth.

The successful candidate will drive the overall management and participation in all phases of program development from capture and proposals thru development, execution, and close-out.

Firefly Aerospace has an immediate need for a Program Operations Manager (POM) primarily located at our Briggs, TX location.

This position will provide professionals with opportunities to grow their skills in operations management, technical operations, business communications, and leadership.

What you’ll do:

• Primary interface between the program team and the factory leadership team, responsible for flowing all program priorities & requirements on programs that have a planned transition to Operations.
• Collaborate with program, manufacturing, engineering, quality, supply chain, finance, and other functions to be sure all program needs are communicated, supported, and integrated to meet program commitments throughout the product life cycle.
• Responsible to flow down and monitor Operations cost and schedule performance for new development builds and deliveries through strategic development efforts and execution of New Product Introduction processes and procedures.
• Supporting proposal generation and contract-funded product development efforts
• Provides active support to Supply Chain Management by working with program on identified materials constraints and logistics problems to ensure availability of materials and timely and effective operations.
• Collaborates with Manufacturing and Supply Chain to develop capital strategy in support of program and factory objectives.
• Provides budget allocation by factory for tooling, material, direct labor, support labor.
• Provides should cost allocation by deliverable (e.g. Miranda Engine).
• Coordinates cross functionally on program activities across factories & functions (manufacturing, engineering, program, M&P, supply chain) to ensure program schedule and cost objectives are achieved.
• Chairs production readiness review and coordinates inputs and actions.
• Creates & coordinates activities to improve FPY, RTY, defect reductions, producibility.
• Translates Program schedules, working with demand planning and factory leadership, to ensure alignment by configuration between program schedule / contract and factory capacity.
• Leading, influencing, communicating across all levels of the organization.

Qualifications:

Must have:

• University Degree and minimum 10 years prior relevant experience or an Advanced Degree in a related field and minimum 7 years of experience or in absence of a degree, 14 years of relevant experience
• Wide-ranging Program Leadership / Manufacturing Operations experience
• Understanding of product design process
• Proven Experience in Manufacturing, Transition to Production, and Production ramp
• Self-directed leader capable of executing Change Management and handling ambiguity
• Proven Experience managing budgets
• Experience with manufacturing automation concepts and implementation
• The ideal candidate will possess the demonstrated skills and experience from a technical, program, and manufacturing leadership perspective.

Preferred:

• Proven Experience developing complex proposals and Basis of Estimate
• Experience as a people leader; encouraging and in support of performance management activities, goal setting, career counseling, compensation planning, and employee training and talent development while managing employee relation issues within varying levels of the Organization.
• Understand of Lean Application / Six Sigma
• Experience with ERP systems – knowledge of Odoo is a plus