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**General Manager – Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing

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**Location:

** Macomb County, Michigan

**Job Type:

** Full-Time | Direct Hire

**Aerospace & Defense | Flight Hardware | P&L Leadership | Manufacturing Operations

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**Salary:

**Up to $240k based on experience

**Position Overview

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The General Manager – Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing serves as the senior site leader with full responsibility for the financial, operational, and strategic performance of the organization. This role leads all major functional areas, including Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Program Management, Finance, Human Resources, and Customer Relations.

This position requires a proven leader with direct experience overseeing the manufacture and delivery of aerospace flight hardware within an aerospace and defense environment. The General Manager will ensure that complex, mission-critical products are produced safely, on schedule, within budget, and in accordance with stringent engineering, quality, regulatory, customer, and government requirements.

The successful candidate must bring substantial experience in both aerospace and defense manufacturing, including hands-on leadership responsibility for flight hardware programs. Candidates without direct aerospace, defense, and flight hardware experience will not meet the core requirements of the position.

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**Critical Experience Requirements:

**Candidates must have demonstrated experience in all three of the following areas:

**Aerospace manufacturing

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• Defense manufacturing or defense program execution

• Flight hardware production and delivery

• Relevant flight hardware experience may include leadership responsibility for the manufacturing, assembly, integration, inspection, or delivery of components and systems intended for use on aircraft, spacecraft, military vehicles, missiles, propulsion systems, or other mission-critical aerospace and defense platforms.

• Experience limited exclusively to tooling, fixtures, prototypes, automotive manufacturing, or general industrial products without direct flight hardware responsibility will not satisfy the position’s core experience requirements.

**Aerospace, Defense, and Flight Hardware Leadership

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• Provide executive oversight for the manufacture and delivery of aerospace and defense flight hardware.

• Ensure flight hardware is produced in accordance with engineering drawings, customer specifications, configuration requirements, and approved manufacturing processes.

• Maintain the production discipline, documentation, traceability, and quality controls required for mission-critical aerospace products.

• Lead programs involving complex machining, fabrication, composites, assembly, bonding, integration, inspection, and testing.

• Ensure effective execution of prototype, low-rate initial production, and full production aerospace and defense programs.

• Oversee manufacturing readiness, first article activities, engineering changes, configuration control, and production transitions.

• Manage risks involving long-lead materials, specialized tooling, controlled processes, capacity limitations, supplier performance, and program schedules.

• Ensure nonconforming flight hardware is properly identified, controlled, reviewed, and dispositioned.

• Partner with Engineering, Quality, and Program Management to resolve technical and production issues affecting customer commitments.

• Maintain high standards for product reliability, repeatability, safety, and compliance.

• Customer and Program Leadership

• Serve as the senior site representative for aerospace prime contractors, defense customers, government stakeholders, and strategic suppliers.

• Lead customer program reviews, operational reviews, quality reviews, and manufacturing readiness assessments.

• Maintain strong relationships with aerospace and defense customers throughout the full program lifecycle.

• Ensure customer requirements are effectively translated into operational plans and measurable performance objectives.

• Support proposals, quotations, capability assessments, facility tours, and new-business pursuits involving aerospace and defense programs.

• Communicate program status, risks, recovery plans, delivery performance, and corrective actions to customers and executive leadership.

• Drive accountability for on-time, in-full, on-budget delivery of flight hardware and related products.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Business, Manufacturing, or a related discipline.

• At least 10 years of progressive leadership experience in aerospace and defense manufacturing.

• Significant senior leadership experience within a flight hardware manufacturing operation.

• Direct experience overseeing the production and delivery of aerospace or defense flight hardware.

• Demonstrated P&L responsibility for a manufacturing site, business unit, or major operating division.

• Experience leading manufacturing operations involving complex, highly engineered, and mission-critical products.

• Strong understanding of aerospace production planning, engineering, quality, supply chain, program management, and customer requirements.

• Experience operating within an AS9100-certified or similarly regulated aerospace quality environment.

• Working knowledge of First Article Inspection, configuration control, engineering change management, product traceability, and nonconforming-material processes.

• Proven experience supporting aerospace or defense customer audits, program reviews, and operational assessments.

• Strong financial, analytical, organizational, decision-making, and problem-solving capabilities.

• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Security Clearance when required.

• Willingness to relocate to the Macomb County, Michigan area when not currently local.

**Preferred Qualifications

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• MBA, master’s degree, or advanced technical degree.

• Experience working with major aerospace and defense prime contractors.

• Experience leading a multi-site aerospace or defense manufacturing organization.

• Knowledge of ITAR, DFARS, CMMC, NIST 800-171, export controls, and controlled-information requirements.

• Experience supporting classified, government-funded, or highly sensitive defense programs.

• Experience with flight hardware involving:

• Precision machining

• Aerospace tooling

• Complex fabrication

• Composite structures

• Mechanical assembly and integration

• Automation systems

• Inspection and testing

• Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or Operational Excellence certification.

• Experience leading manufacturing modernization, capacity expansion, or business transformation initiatives.