Head of Manufacturing

We’re partnering with a venture-backed robotics company building autonomous ground systems for defence and advanced commercial use. The product is real. A room full of robots is being built right now. Demand is increasing.

What doesn’t exist yet is a true manufacturing engine.

They’re hiring a Head of Manufacturing to build it.

This is a true 0>1 manufacturing build.

You will step into a 30-person hardware startup where:

• Production is fully manual
• MRP is minimal
• Processes are intentionally early-stage

Your role is to architect and implement the systems required to scale from 100 units per year to thousands annually, and beyond.

This will begin hands-on. Over time, you will build and lead the manufacturing organisation.

You won’t inherit a system. You’ll design it.

• End-to-end supplier strategy and sourcing
• Vendor negotiation and commercial structure
• Production planning, inventory discipline, and BOM control
• Cost-down roadmap across hardware and supply base
• DFM/DFA collaboration with mechanical and electrical engineering
• Tooling, automation, and internal build-vs-buy decisions
• Selection and implementation of core manufacturing systems
• Hiring and structuring the manufacturing team as scale increases

You’ll report directly to the founder and work closely with the engineering leadership in a high-trust, hands-off, initiative-driven culture.

• Early manufacturing hires from robotics, aerospace, mobility, or defence environments
• Strong individual contributors from high-velocity hardware organisations who want full ownership
• Builders comfortable creating structure from ambiguity
• Leaders who are still willing to operate hands-on
• Operators who thrive in high-intensity, high-accountability settings

US Citizenship required. ITAR/defence exposure helpful but not mandatory.

• Experience scaling complex electromechanical hardware from prototype toward production
• Deep supplier and commercial capability
• Proven ability to build processes where none exist
• Strong engineering fluency and practical judgement
• Comfort operating in execution-heavy environments

This is a foundational hire ahead of a major growth phase.

The person in this role will define how manufacturing scales over the next five years, and will have real influence as the company moves through its next funding round and beyond.

If you’ve built hardware production properly before and want the autonomy to do it again with real ownership, this is worth a conversation.