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Director of Production

Role Summary

The Director of Production will lead and manage manufacturing operations and will be responsible for defining, implementing and continuously improving production processes that enable scalable, cost-effective manufacturing of complex electro-mechanical products.

This role serves as the senior technical authority on the manufacturing floor, responsible for developing, optimizing, and maintaining processes that ensure scalability, consistency, and product quality. This position blends expert-level hands-on skills with process engineering, documentation, and leadership capability.

The Director of Production will work closely with engineering and operations to translate designs and prototypes into efficient, repeatable production processes, establish training programs, and ensure continuous improvement across all manufacturing operations.

This role reports to the Chief Operating Officer to ensure production readiness, process maturity, capacity growth, and on-time, on-budget delivery of product.

Core Accountabilities

Process Design & Scalability

• Define and execute the manufacturing strategy for electro-optical systems that supports business growth, volume ramp-up, cost reduction, and high quality.
• Lead all aspects of production operations, including assembly, integration, test, and final inspection
• Develop, implement, and maintain standardized production processes, including process flow diagrams, assembly instructions, quality checkpoints, and tooling specifications.
• Develop and implement robust manufacturing processes documentation (assembly, test, calibration, burn-in, environmental screening, packaging) to ensure repeatability, reliability, throughput and scalability. Ensure documentation is current and configuration-controlled for all production processes and includes:  process flow diagrams, assembly instructions, quality checkpoints, and tooling specifications.
• Establish the process architecture: workflows, standard work instructions, tooling/fixtures, test benches, inspection systems, data collection, KPI dashboards and process controls.
• Establish process metrics (cycle time, yield, rework rate, downtime) and drive data-based improvements.
• Implement scale-up metrics such as capacity utilization, throughput, yield, scrap/rework rates, cost per unit, on-time delivery, and defect rate. Define targets and manage to them.
• Lead process transfer and ramp-up from prototype/pilot production to full-scale manufacturing and ensure full incorporation into established processes. This includes leading change-management efforts when introducing new production lines, new products, capacity expansions, or process improvements.
• Partner with Engineering and R&D to ensure the design for manufacturability (DFM) and design for testability (DFT) are incorporated early and that processes are scalable from low-volume to medium/high-volume production.
• Drive lean manufacturing, Six Sigma (or equivalent) methodologies to reduce cycle times, reduce waste, improve throughput, optimize yield and lower cost per unit.
• Oversee facility layout, staffing, and resource planning to support manufacturing growth.

Quality, Continuous Improvement & Operations Excellence

• Define and enforce process-level quality criteria and inspection standards.
• Develop and implement audits, non-conformance management, and process certification.
• Lead initiatives to improve first-pass yield, reduce rework, and strengthen traceability.
• Lead or participate in Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma initiatives.
• Apply 5S, Kaizen, and value stream mapping to streamline workflow and eliminate waste.
• Ensure compliance with relevant regulatory, safety, environmental, and quality standards.
• Work with Procurement Team to drive supplier/contract manufacturing partnerships as needed. Ensure that assigned suppliers meet the same process standards, yield and scalability goals.

Training & Workforce Development

• Manage scheduling, staffing, cross-functional coordination (supply chain, quality, engineering), maintenance of equipment, process change control, and production documentation.
• Build, lead, coach and develop a high-performance manufacturing team of technicians. Foster culture of continuous improvement, accountability, and innovation.
• Design and execute comprehensive training and certification programs for technicians.
• Maintain skill matrices and track technical competencies across teams.
• Develop and update SOPs, visual work aids, and troubleshooting documentation.
• Mentor team members to build multi-disciplinary capability and reinforce safety culture.

Technical Leadership

• Act as the primary technical escalation point for complex electro-mechanical systems.
• Troubleshoot issues spanning mechanical, electrical, and control systems.
• Lead root cause analyses (RCA) and corrective/preventive actions (CAPA).
• Provide expert input on test methods, calibration, and reliability improvements.
• Support new product introduction and process qualification efforts.

Documentation & Communication

• Create, control, and maintain production and process documentation, ensuring version control and accessibility.
• Author technical summaries, change notices, and deviation reports.
• Ensure documentation supports scalability and replication across product lines.
• Communicate proactively across engineering, quality, and supply chain teams to align objectives and timelines.
• Provide concise data-driven updates in meetings and reports; serve as a liaison between production and leadership.
• Provide regular management reporting to senior leadership on manufacturing status, risks, opportunities, ramp progress, cost/capacity metrics and improvement initiatives.

Required Qualifications & Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Manufacturing, Mechanical, Electrical/Mechanical) or related field.
• At least 10–15 years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience in high-technology, precision manufacturing environment (ideally electro-optical, photonics, MEMS, sensors, optics, aerospace/defense).
• Proven track record of building and scaling production operations from pilot to volume in complex product environments.
• Deep understanding of manufacturing processes relevant in low volume, high mix, complex systems that are somewhat customizable.
• Strong process engineering foundation: statistical process control (SPC), yield improvement, cycle time reduction, root-cause problem solving, process validation, capacity planning. Specifically in low volume, high mix environments.
• Experience with lean manufacturing, Six Sigma (Green Belt/Black Belt) methodologies, continuous improvement programs.
• Strong leadership and people development skills: building teams, training staff, creating accountability, change management.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills. Able to influence across and collaborate with engineering, support, supply chain, quality, program management, facilities/security, and executive leadership.
• Strong analytical skills, comfort with manufacturing metrics and dashboards, ERP/MES systems, data-driven decision making.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience specifically in electro-optical or photonics manufacturing (imagers, IR sensors, optical assemblies)
• Experience scaling production in a defense/aerospace context (low to medium volumes, high reliability, ruggedized systems)
• Certification in Six Sigma Black/Green Belt
• Experience in international manufacturing/global supply chain footprint
• Experience with manufacturing outsourcing/contract manufacturing partnerships.
• Familiarity with relevant quality/regulatory frameworks (ISO 9001, ISO 13485, MIL-STD, etc) and EHS/safety requirements.

Key Metrics of Success

• On-time delivery to customer/program schedule
• Yield, scrap/rework rates, first-pass yield. RMA recovery
• Process maturity: % of standard work documented, % updated and accurate, % processes monitored via Statistical Process Control
• Team growth and cross-functional collaboration effectiveness
• Safety, quality, compliance incident metrics
• Production throughput and capacity scaling both up and down depending on demand
• Cost per unit and cost reduction targets
• Cycle time reduction (from raw materials/components to final shipment)
• Ability to ramp up and/or down products/lines on schedule and to budget
• Assigned supplier/vendor performance (quality, delivery, scalability)

Working Conditions

• Onsite in manufacturing facility; overtime as needed
• Frequent interaction across functions and with senior leadership
• Some travel may be required
• Ability to work under schedule pressure, changing product mixes, ramp-up/down phases

Freedom Surveillance, LLC dba Strongwatch develops and sells innovative, integrated imaging systems for detection and surveillance. Our rugged, reliable and easy to use mobile "On-The-Move" systems are being deployed for border security, law enforcement and mission intelligence. Additionally, our fixed solutions, which leverage our patented Human Detection and Tracking, solve the need for effective and affordable round-the-clock protection of wide-area critical infrastructure.