Director of Operations

Whelan Machine & Tool, an Ajax Defense company, builds precision components and assemblies for defense and commercial customers. We're hiring a Director of Operations to lead day-to-day manufacturing: machining, welding, assembly, offload, maintenance, production control, and materials and warehouse. Reporting to the General Manager, you'll be accountable for safety, quality, on-time delivery and cost.

What you'll do

• Set daily, weekly and monthly production priorities that meet customer schedules and contract delivery dates
• Lead and develop the operations managers: Maintenance; Weld, Assembly and Offload; Machining; Production Control; and Materials/Warehouse
• Run the daily production meeting and track safety, quality, on-time delivery, throughput, labor efficiency and scrap
• Balance capacity across work centers and decide overtime, shift coverage and outside work
• Champion safety (OSHA, machine guarding, lockout/tagout, PPE) and partner with Quality to fix nonconformances at root cause
• Build and manage the operations budget, labor plan and capital requests, and lead continuous improvement (Lean, 5S, setup reduction, standard work)
• Ensure ITAR, CUI and AS9100 requirements are followed on the floor and with suppliers; support customer visits and audits

What you need

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Business or a related field, or equivalent experience
• 8+ years in manufacturing, including 5+ years leading supervisors or managers in machining, fabrication or assembly
• Proven record improving safety, quality, on-time delivery and cost
• Working knowledge of production scheduling, capacity planning and ERP/MRP systems
• Must be a U.S. Person as defined by ITAR (the job involves export-controlled technical data)

Nice to have

• Experience in an AS9100 defense or aerospace job shop
• Working knowledge of ITAR/EAR, CUI handling and DFARS/FAR flow-downs
• Lean or Six Sigma certification

Office and production-floor based; extended hours may be needed to meet delivery commitments.

Ajax Defense, Inc. and its subsidiaries are an Equal Opportunity Employer.

You should be proficient in:

• Continuous Improvement
• Coaching and Mentoring Experience
• ERP & MRP Systems
• Budgeting / Forecasting Experience
• AS9100 Experience
• ITAR Registration Experience