Operations Manager - Valves

ABOUT FIREFLY AEROSPACE

Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company that enables our world to launch, land, and operate in space – anywhere, anytime. As the partner of choice for critical space missions, Firefly is the only commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and the only company to achieve a successful Moon landing. Our launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide government and commercial customers with full mission services from low Earth orbit to the Moon and beyond. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

About the Role

This is an exciting time to join Firefly and be a part of the Propulsion Manufacturing team! As the Value Stream Manager - Valves, this individual is responsible for leading the team that assembles and manufactures valve hardware. This manufacturing area produces hardware that feed to our propulsion and vehicle systems across all of our programs here at Firefly, including Alpha, MLV, and Spacecraft. This is a very challenging and rewarding role that is tasked with improving production in these manufacturing areas through the establishment and analysis of production metrics and goals, implementation of enhanced structure and standardization, and execution of continuous improvement initiatives.

What You’ll Do

• Lead production team to deliver quality product on time and on cost
• Manage employee schedules to support critical operations, production, and company goals
• Enforce safety guidelines and make improvements to shop safety practices
• Ensure employees have the resources and support needed to be successful, including identifying the need for and providing training, tools and materials
• Ensure that all operations are being done to the proper documentation and specifications as called out by detailed work instructions
• Manage PTO and timecards
• Maintain daily production schedule and disseminate it to the team as well as highlighting and raising issues to leadership
• Implement continuous improvements to the floor
• Develop long term project and capacity planning
• Identify and rectify bottlenecks and/or shortages
• Partner with the planning team to align on production capacity and weekly production plans to ensure commitments are feasible and meet program needs
• Partner with manufacturing engineering and quality to provide feedback and ensure support from these teams addresses gaps impacting the production process, and solutions are implemented to improve production efficiency
• Develop KPIs and deliverables to measure, analyze, and report out production progress
• Establish clear direction and processes to meet production goals including defining production needs and growth, mapping out labor and cost plans to drive budgets for annual operating plans

What We’re Looking For

Required Qualifications

• Bachelors degree or and 7+ years of overall industry experience
• 3+ years of leadership experience
• Experience working in manufacturing environments, driving lean manufacturing principles, and developing production metrics and processes
• Able to wear multiple hats and partner cross-functionally, many times driving success by influencing without authority and managing competing priorities

Desired Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience specifically within the aerospace/aviation industry
• Experience with component assembly and troubleshooting, test stand operations & maintenance, tube bending & fabrication, orbital tube welding, or launch vehicle integration
• Experience creating production procedures and setting up and running production acceptance test processes

Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational reimbursement, short term disability, and flexible PTO options.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.