APPARATUS is a New York-based designer and manufacturer of a distinctive catalog of high-end, high-touch lighting, furniture and objects. We produce both in-house and with the support of high-quality external partners; our catalog is sold globally.
The Product Operations Manager ensures that the APPARATUS product development engine runs seamlessly from concept through production. This role maintains and optimizes the systems, processes, and documentation that enable our designers, engineers, and partners to deliver world-class lighting, furniture, and objects on time and to specification.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Process & Systems Management
- Maintain, monitor, and continuously improve product workflows, project plans, and tracking tools.
- Manage Engineering Change Notices (ECNs) from initiation through closure.
Project Coordination
- Translate design and technical requirements into detailed action plans and schedules.
- Attend design reviews, capture decisions and action items, and follow up with stakeholders.
Documentation & Data Management
- Extract, organize, and maintain all technical product information (BOMs, wiring/Loctite diagrams, installation guides, packaging specs).
- Keep an up-to-date product history log.
Prototyping & Sampling
- Coordinate preparation of technical drawings and prototypes with internal teams and external vendors.
- Request, receive, catalog, and track material samples and prototypes; oversee shipping and receiving.
Cross-Functional Support
- Act as liaison to Sales, Marketing, Compliance, and Manufacturing, ensuring requests are met promptly with clear communication.
- Provide administrative and reporting support to the VP of Product and broader product team.
Compliance & Vendor Management
- Organize and maintain compliance documentation; track updates and communicate changes.
- Monitor project budgets, track expenditures, and facilitate timely vendor payments.
QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in product development, operations, engineering, or a related field.
- Minimum of 3 years’ experience in a design-driven, manufacturing, or product operations environment.
- Proven ability to drive projects forward in fast-paced, high-touch settings.
SKILLS
- Exceptional verbal and written communication.
- Expert proficiency with project-management and collaboration tools.
- Strong organizational and problem-solving abilities; comfortable navigating ambiguity.
- Collaborative mindset with the ability to build consensus across diverse teams.
WORK SCHEDULE
- Full-time in-person hours: Monday–Friday generally 10:00AM–6:00PM
- Longer hours and weekend availability as needed
PERFORMANCE REVIEW AND CHECK-INS SCHEDULE
- Weekly check-ins
- Annual performance review
Salary from $90,000
This is a full-time position with competitive compensation and benefits. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. Position is based in our New York studio. Must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.
Top Skills
What We Do
APPARATUS is a New York based interdisciplinary design studio that explores the relationship of lighting, furniture and objects in their environments. Predicated on the modernist principle of gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art, fully articulated collections reveal individual pieces as artifacts of a holistic world - each referencing the historical and cultural mood summoned by a singular vision.
Founded in 2012, APPARATUS is led by Artistic Director, Gabriel Hendifar and operates galleries in New York and Los Angeles that communicate the studio’s singular design ethos.
“I approach the work of the studio with the belief that objects are accessories to the human experience and enrich the way we live. My aim is to create work that leaves an emotional imprint, drawing on the language of seduction and sensuality to leave you with the desire to touch.”
- Gabriel Hendifar
APPARATUS creates each piece with a devotion to the rigor of small studio craftsmanship, centering the importance of the human hand in lending soul to an object. Sensual materials such as marble, suede, horsehair, lacquer and porcelain are combined with hand-patinated brass in the studio’s dedicated New York factory to create it’s distinctive catalog. Underpinning every piece, whether it be a light fixture or a chair, is a deft balance between mechanization and the hand-made, striving equally for the contradictions of perfection and the beautiful irregularity of humanity.
