** Interested candidates should submit their resume’ to Nija@flatfeehiring.com**
Operations Director / General Manager
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Job Type: Full-Time
Work Schedule: Primarily On-Site
Travel: Regular travel to Portsmouth, NH and occasional travel to customer and supplier locations
Position Summary
We are seeking a hands-on Operations Director / General Manager to lead day-to-day operations for a growing advanced manufacturing and technology organization.
This is a senior operating leadership position for an experienced manufacturing professional who can build structure, drive accountability, and turn customer commitments into predictable execution.
The Operations Director / General Manager will oversee manufacturing, production planning, supply chain, inventory, quality, facilities, program execution, ERP adoption, and cross-functional operating processes. This individual will work closely with executive leadership, engineering, finance, procurement, and customer-facing teams.
The ideal candidate is a strong operator who can move comfortably between strategic planning and hands-on execution, establish measurable processes, develop high-performing teams, and identify opportunities to improve efficiency, quality, delivery, and profitability.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead day-to-day operations for the Virginia Beach facility and coordinate operating priorities across multiple locations and teams.
- Own manufacturing and production execution, including capacity planning, labor loading, scheduling, work instructions, routing, throughput, equipment utilization, and production readiness.
- Drive customer and program execution from requirements and procurement through production, acceptance, shipment, and post-delivery support.
- Establish disciplined operating rhythms, KPIs, ownership, deadlines, escalation paths, and recovery plans for at-risk programs.
- Oversee supply chain, purchasing controls, supplier performance, material planning, inventory accuracy, receiving, inspection, kitting, warehousing, shipping, and cycle counts.
- Partner with engineering to strengthen bills of material, configuration control, design release, change control, testing, documentation, and manufacturing handoffs.
- Build and maintain practical quality systems covering inspection, nonconformance, root cause analysis, corrective action, supplier quality, rework, and first-pass yield.
- Lead the operational adoption and effective use of an ERP platform, including production, purchasing, inventory, project management, and reporting processes.
- Manage operating budgets, capital needs, cost control, labor utilization, material variance, margin performance, and working capital considerations in partnership with Finance.
- Develop and lead the operations team by clarifying responsibilities, coaching managers and employees, addressing performance issues, and building cross-training and succession coverage.
- Maintain facility readiness for customer visits, audits, safety requirements, security requirements, and regulatory obligations.
- Support continuous improvement initiatives designed to reduce delays, rework, scrap, shortages, excess inventory, and avoidable operating costs.
- Provide executive leadership with clear visibility into operational performance, delivery, cost, risk, capacity, and resource requirements.
Required Qualifications
- Minimum 5 years of manufacturing operations experience required; 8+ years preferred.
- Direct experience with production, manufacturing processes, scheduling, capacity planning, quality, inventory, or supply chain execution.
- Demonstrated leadership experience managing people and cross-functional operations in a manufacturing, aerospace, defense, robotics, technology, industrial, or similarly complex environment.
- Strong understanding of production planning, inventory control, procurement, supplier management, quality, and operational KPIs.
- Proven ability to build or improve operating processes within a growing organization.
- Ability to translate organizational priorities into measurable plans, assign ownership, follow through on commitments, and resolve operational bottlenecks.
- Strong business and financial acumen, including budgeting, cost control, margin awareness, resource planning, and capital requirements.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to work effectively with executives, technical teams, employees, suppliers, and customers.
- Ability and willingness to work primarily on-site in Virginia Beach, VA.
- Ability and willingness to travel regularly to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as well as occasional customer, supplier, or other operating locations.
- Three or more years of experience leading manufacturing or operations teams preferred.
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations Management, Supply Chain, Business, or a related field preferred.
- An equivalent combination of education and significant manufacturing leadership experience may be considered.
Preferred Qualifications
- Government contracting or defense industry experience.
- Experience supporting Department of Defense, federal government, prime contractor, or other regulated customer environments.
- Familiarity with CMMC, NIST SP 800-171, Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), ITAR/EAR, export controls, government property requirements, or contract flow-down requirements.
- Experience with ERP implementation or optimization, preferably Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central or a comparable manufacturing ERP.
- Experience scaling manufacturing operations and establishing production cells.
- Experience implementing Lean or continuous improvement practices.
- Demonstrated success improving on-time delivery and operational efficiency.
- Experience with multi-site operations, facility buildouts, or integrating manufacturing, engineering, supply chain, quality, and warehouse functions.
- Background in robotics, UAS/drones, autonomous systems, electronics integration, cables, battery systems, additive manufacturing, defense products, or other engineered products.
What Success Looks Like
The successful candidate will create a disciplined, measurable operating environment where:
- Customer commitments are realistic and consistently met.
- Manufacturing schedules are controlled and visible.
- Inventory and production data are accurate and reliable.
- Quality issues are identified and addressed at the source.
- Teams understand their responsibilities and ownership.
- Operational bottlenecks are identified and resolved quickly.
- Leadership has clear visibility into delivery, cost, risk, capacity, and resource requirements.
- Continuous improvement becomes part of the organization’s daily operating culture.
Benefits
- Health Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- Paid Time Off (PTO)
Working Expectations
This position is based in Virginia Beach, Virginia and requires a consistent on-site leadership presence.
Regular travel to Portsmouth, New Hampshire and occasional travel to customer sites, supplier locations, demonstrations, and other operating locations is expected.
The position requires hands-on engagement in production areas, warehouses, engineering and program reviews, customer meetings, and executive planning sessions.
How to Apply
Interested candidates should submit a resume highlighting their manufacturing operations leadership experience and relevant qualifications to info@flatfeehiring.com.
Apply today to be considered for this leadership opportunity.