Director, Avionics Manufacturing

Vast is looking for a Director of Avionics Manufacturing, 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 building and testing avionics hardware and harnesses.  This is a high impact position and will require scaling up the team in rapid fashion to support the Haven program.    

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

Responsibilities: 

• Lead a team of manufacturing engineers, technicians, and managers in planning, building, and testing Haven-1 avionics.   
• Identify resource needs - equipment, headcount, and skills - required to deliver hardware to integration per the Haven program schedule. 
• 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.
• Drive the creation and implementation of required process specifications and  manufacturing standards to manufacture avionics hardware for human spaceflight. 
• Develop and implement key performance indicators to track manufacturing performance. 
• Partner closely with Engineering and Demand Planning to plan and schedule development and flight hardware manufacturing.  
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including engineering, supply chain, quality and other manufacturing leaders, to ensure effective coordination and communication across departments. 
• Assess the skills and capabilities of the team and identify areas for development and training to enhance performance &  effectiveness. 

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Aerospace, or Manufacturing Engineering.
• 10+ years of experience in  aerospace or electronics manufacturing, with at least 5 years of leadership experience. 
• Familiarity with testing of avionics hardware such as thermal, vibration, and functional tests.
• Demonstrated success with managing electro-mechanical production or harness manufacturing through rapid growth and rate increases.  

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Experience with new production introduction and transitioning from development to production.
• Ability to set up production processes and systems to build aerospace products in an AS9100 quality system.  
• Working knowledge of avionics/s[ace standards such as IPC-A-610, IPC/WHMA-A-620,  NASA-STD-8739.4, or SMC-S-016
• Direct working knowledge of environmental testing, including thermal, thermal vacuum, vibration, and shock testing.
• Lean-sigma certification and implementation experience. 
• Familiarity with conformal coating, soldering, staking, and underfill processes. 

Additional Requirements:

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

Pay Range: 

• Director, Avionics Manufacturing: $175,000 - $260,000