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Head of Manufacturing

Wardstone· Operations
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El Segundo$170k - $200kFull-timePosted 6d ago

About the role

You will build Wardstone’s manufacturing capability from prototype to volume production, owning facility, processes, tooling, quality, and the manufacturing team. You’ll work with founders, engineering leads, and the Supply Chain Manager to ensure the vehicle is manufacturable and scalable to meet cost and production targets.

Responsibilities

  • Lead manufacturing: Build and lead the manufacturing team, including hiring technicians and manufacturing engineers as we grow.
  • Own the manufacturing strategy, including what we build in-house, what we outsource, and when.
  • Set manufacturing priorities with the founders and engineering leads, and make the tradeoffs clear.
  • Support prototype builds: Keep prototype and test hardware builds moving fast without compromising quality.
  • Create build procedures, work instructions, and records that capture learnings on every build.
  • Plan and build out the production facility, equipment, and tooling.
  • Develop production processes for structures, electronics, final assembly, and test, and plan the path to low-rate and full-rate production.
  • Own cost per unit and production rate, driving toward targets.
  • Work with engineering on design-for-manufacturing and design-for-test from early in each design.
  • Build a quality system that scales with the company, including inspection, nonconformance handling, and corrective action, aiming for AS9100 certification.
  • Own manufacturing safety, including safe handling and storage of energetic materials.
  • Ensure manufacturing meets customer, contract, and regulatory requirements.

Qualifications

  • B.S. in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial, or Aerospace Engineering, or a related field.
  • 7+ years of manufacturing experience in aerospace, defense, or complex hardware, with at least 5 years in leadership.
  • Has scaled a hardware product from prototype to production.
  • Experience building and leading manufacturing teams.
  • Strong knowledge of quality systems, such as AS9100, and production processes.
  • Experience planning facilities, equipment, and tooling.
  • Must be a U.S. person as defined by ITAR (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual). Must be eligible to obtain a U.S. security clearance.

Skills

Required:Manufacturing leadershipDesign-for-manufacturing (DFX)Quality systems (AS9100)Facility planning
Last updated Oct 21, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
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About Wardstone

Satellites for Missile Defense

Wardstone is a space defense-tech company developing next-generation capabilities to protect the United States and its allies from missiles and other space-based threats. We design, build, and deploy satellites equipped with space-based interceptors to kinetically counter hypersonic and ballistic missiles.

space-explorationsatellitesrocketryaerospace
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