Factory Operations Manager

CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with a multi-product portfolio that gives the ultimate advantage—domain dominance. The company's products are powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™), empowering warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams to act faster, adapt rapidly, and stay ahead of evolving threats.  CHAOS Industries was founded in 2022 and has raised a total of $1 billion in funding from leading investors, including 8VC, Accel, and Valor Equity Partners. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, San Diego, and London. For more information, please visit  www.chaosinc.com . Role Overview:   Own day-to-day execution of production operations within the CHAOS factory.   Lead the factory supervisory team and carry accountability for safely delivering production commitments across assembly, integration, test, and material flow.   Manage Factory Supervisors as the normal operating model — supervisors run technician execution; this role does not directly supervise individual technicians.   Translate the production plan into daily factory execution, balancing labor, priorities, constraints, and floor activity.   Partner closely with Manufacturing Engineering, Production Engineering, Production Control, Quality, and Supply Chain in a rapidly scaling production environment. Responsibilities: Daily Execution & Production Cadence   Own daily factory execution against the production schedule, output, quality, and delivery commitments.   Drive daily production cadence, including shift and start-of-day meetings, constraint identification, escalation, and recovery planning.   Maintain clear visibility into WIP, production status, blockers, labor capacity, and expected output. Supervisory Leadership & Workforce Management   Lead and develop Factory Supervisors responsible for the technician workforce.   Coordinate technician staffing, shift coverage, work assignments, overtime, and movement of labor across production priorities.   Build a culture of urgency, accountability, safety, quality, and disciplined execution on the factory floor. Cross-Functional Partnership   Partner with Production Control to translate the master production schedule and released work orders into executable floor priorities.   Partner with Manufacturing Engineering and Production Engineering to ensure technicians execute approved build, integration, and test processes.   Partner with Quality to maintain workmanship standards, inspection discipline, nonconformance handling, and production record completeness. Floor Discipline & Constraint Management   Ensure production areas maintain appropriate safety, organization, material control, tooling, and 5S standards.   Identify labor, equipment, material, process, or infrastructure constraints affecting factory output and drive resolution with the appropriate functional owners. Metrics & Production Scaling   Establish and track factory operating metrics including throughput, schedule attainment, labor utilization, WIP aging, quality/yield, and rework.   Support production ramp planning, shift expansion, factory layout changes, and introduction of new production lines or products. What This Role Owns: The Factory Manager owns factory operations and execution: people, priorities, cadence, staffing, floor discipline, and delivery against the production plan. Span of control runs through the supervisory layer — the Factory Manager manages Factory Supervisors, and supervisors manage the technician workforce. Manufacturing and Production Engineering retain ownership of technical processes, work instructions, tooling, test methods, manufacturing requirements, and process changes. Product and program owners establish product priorities and requirements; the Factory Manager determines how factory resources are deployed to execute those priorities. Minimum Requirements:   7+ years of experience in manufacturing or production operations, including 3+ years leading frontline production teams or supervisors.   Experience operating in aerospace, defense, electronics, automotive, industrial equipment, or another complex hardware manufacturing environment.   Demonstrated experience managing production across assembly, integration, test, or similarly complex manufacturing operations.   Strong understanding of production scheduling, WIP management, capacity planning, labor planning, and constraint management.   Experience using ERP/MRP and manufacturing execution systems to manage production.   Working knowledge of quality systems, configuration control, nonconformance processes, and production documentation.   Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities and incomplete information.   Strong floor presence and willingness to spend significant time directly with production teams.   Demonstrated ability to hold teams accountable while developing strong frontline leaders.   U.S. Citizenship (if required for program access). Preferred Requirements:   Experience scaling production from prototype or low-rate production into repeatable higher-volume manufacturing.   Aerospace or defense manufacturing experience.   Experience with IA9100/ISO 9001-aligned production environments.   Experience with electromechanical assembly, electronics integration, system-level test, or RF hardware.   Experience standing up new production lines, shifts, or manufacturing facilities. Why CHAOS? Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision benefits 100% paid for by the company Additional benefits : 401k (+ 50% company match up to 6% of pay), FSA, HSA, life insurance, and more Our Perks: Free daily lunch while you're working onsite, fully-stocked kitchen, unlimited PTO, casual dress code Compensation Components: Competitive base salaries, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation