Director, Operational Excellence

Vast is looking for a Director, Operational Excellence, reporting to the Senior Vice President of Manufacturing, to support the development and manufacturing  of artificial-gravity, human-rated space stations. This position will lead a team that is responsible for value stream design, capacity planning, business intelligence, and establishing manufacturing standards and specifications.  This is a high impact position and will require building out a new team in rapid fashion to support the Haven program.    

This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location. 

Responsibilities: 

• Value Stream Planning: Support manufacturing leaders in defining their value streams, capacity planning, and own the overall factory layout.  
• Team Leadership: Manage a team of manufacturing professionals. Provide guidance, mentorship, and support to foster a high-performing and collaborative work environment.
• Manufacturing Process Optimization: Continuously improve manufacturing processes and workflows to enhance productivity, efficiency, and quality. Implement lean manufacturing principles and other industry best practices to streamline operations and reduce waste.
• Business Process Standardization: Identify core operations business processes that need definition and standardization across the various subsystems.  Lead in the mapping processes, documenting, and getting them reflected in Vast’s MES/ERP as necessary.   
• Continuous Improvement: Drive a culture of continuous improvement within the manufacturing organization through training and application of lean-sigma principles.
• Performance Monitoring and Reporting: In partnership with other leaders, develop and implement key performance indicators to track manufacturing performance. Guide manufacturing leaders with the establishment of regular reviews and action planning.  
• Stakeholder Engagement: Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including engineering, procurement, quality assurance, and program management, to ensure effective coordination and communication across departments. Engage with customers, suppliers, and external stakeholders as needed to address their requirements and concerns.
• Assess the skills and capabilities of the operations team and identify areas for development to enhance performance &  effectiveness to implement appropriate training programs, workshops, or initiatives

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, business, or equivalent work experience.
• 7+ years of management experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Lean-sigma certification and implementation experience.
• Experience building manufacturing performance metrics to drive improvement for the full organization.  

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Experience with new production introduction and transitioning from development to production.
• Experience developing operations-focused business processes and manufacturing standards.
• Experience closely partnering with enterprise systems to develop ERP/MES to support required manufacturing processes and standards.  
• Strong understanding of product costing and experience partnering with Finance to develop cost models and measurement systems. 
• Experience with a broad range of manufacturing processes including mechanical assembly, machining, welding, avionics, and complex system integration.   

Additional Requirements:

• Willing to work extended hours, and/or weekends as needed
• Must be able to lift 25 lbs. Unassisted

Pay Range: 

• Director, Operational Excellence Level V: $175,000 - $245,000