Director of Industrialization
Portland, OR, Vancouver, WA$215k - $290kfull-timePosted 4w ago
About the role
Director-level role to stand up volume manufacturing for a renewable energy/ocean technology company. Owns manufacturing strategy, equipment definition, commissioning schedule, and production ramp for new factories; translates pilot processes into qualified, running lines; starts as individual contributor and grows into a leadership role; reports to VP of Manufacturing.
Responsibilities
- Own the industrialization roadmap from pilot production to qualified rate production.
- Build and maintain manufacturing capacity and cost models (takt time, station balance, throughput, yield, unit cost, capital intensity).
- Define build strategy for major structures and subsystems with Pilot Manufacturing; sequence installation and qualification; develop ramp for rate production.
- Partner with Supply Chain on make-versus-buy decisions and internal-versus-contract-manufacturing.
- Contribute to site selection and facility planning with manufacturing analysis and requirements.
- Develop facility layouts and material flow plans for target rate and expansion.
- Provide manufacturability feedback to engineering and drive cost/cycle-time/reliability improvements.
- Own production equipment strategy and major equipment list; lead equipment specification, vendor evaluation, and selection.
- Define and manage manufacturing capital plan (budgets, phasing, long-lead-item strategy, contingency).
- Transfer proven processes from pilot to new lines with Director of Pilot Manufacturing.
- Define tooling, fixture, and station design requirements; sequence development with installation schedule.
- Manage equipment vendors through design review, FAT, delivery, installation, and SAT.
- Own integrated installation and commissioning schedule from handover to first article.
- Define and drive manufacturing critical path and readiness reviews.
- Establish operational readiness criteria and partner with Quality, EHS, Supply Chain, and Plant Manager.
- Define production system requirements (ERP, MES, quality systems) and coordinate with Digital Thread/enterprise teams.
- Identify, track, and retire manufacturing schedule and technical risk with owners and mitigations.
- Define ramp curve for each line (rate milestones, yield/learning-curve, labor ramp, staffing by station).
- Set ramp readiness criteria and gate steps; establish baseline process metrics and reporting cadence.
- Lead handoff to Plant Manager and remain engaged through ramp to rate.
- Capture and apply lessons learned from startups.
- Define industrialization and manufacturing engineering organization and hires; set standards and priorities.
- Mentor engineers and build bench strength for future factories.
Qualifications
- 10+ years in manufacturing engineering, industrialization, or manufacturing operations with technical leadership experience.
- Direct experience taking product/process from prototype/pilot to installation, qualification, and rate production.
- Ownership of manufacturing capital plan including equipment specification, vendor selection, budgeting, installation and commissioning schedules.
- Strong quantitative skills; ability to build capacity, cost, and ramp models for leadership decisions.
- Experience defining/executing production ramp with realistic yield and learning-curve assumptions and readiness gates.
- Experience translating designs into executable build strategies, process documentation, and station-level work content.
- Willingness to be hands-on initially and build a team later; comfortable in both modes.
- Experience leading through influence across engineering, supply chain, quality, and site operations without direct authority over all."
- Clear written and verbal communication; ability to decide when to model vs discuss vs escalate.
- Comfort operating with incomplete information in a fast-moving, maturing product environment.
Skills
Required:Manufacturing strategyEquipment budgeting and capital planningVendor managementProject management / schedulingCross-functional leadership
Benefits
- Flexible paid time off
- Health insurance (100% company-paid gold-level PPO for full-time employees, partners, dependents)
- Dental insurance (100% for full-time employees, partners, dependents)
- Vision insurance (100% for full-time employees, partners, dependents)
- Disability insurance (long-term financial support)
- 401(k) with tax-advantaged accounts (FSA options)
- Relocation assistance to Portland (if needed)
Last updated Sep 28, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
About Panthalassa
Go where the energy is
We're harnessing renewable energy in the open ocean and delivering it around the world. Engineered in Portland, Oregon.
Planetary-scale energyclean energy platformrenewable energyocean energypilot deploymentpublic-benefit corporation
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