Senior Director of Operations

Join the power movement as Senior Director of Operations

Are you an experienced operational leader who leads by example and genuinely thrives on the manufacturing floor? We are seeking a dynamic, hands-on Senior Director of Operations to own our manufacturing execution. In this role, you will be the driving force on the floor, building magnets for a First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) fusion facility. If you are energized by solving unprecedented technical challenges, establishing brand-new operational standards, and translating rapid engineering iterations into crisp, confident execution, this is your next milestone.

What you'll do:

Operational Leadership & High-Velocity Execution:

• Active Floor Presence: Maintain a highly visible, hands-on presence across our 24x7 manufacturing operations to support teams and ensure seamless daily execution
• Strategic Leadership Buffer: Act as a steadying force for the plant and advocate for team needs
• Execution Driver: Anchor operations in a deeply embedded safety culture. Actively help team remove roadblocks and move faster

Leadership Multiplication & Team Development:

• Executive Coaching: Manage, mentor, and empower a team of Production Directors
• Talent Architecture: Design and oversee technical and leadership development frameworks to ensure shift supervisors, line leads, and engineers can operate in a fast-paced environment with high uncertainty
• Culture of Psychological Safety: Cultivate an environment that balances high accountability with the psychological safety required to surface and solve first-time failures collectively

Cross-Functional Strategy & Project Management:

• Strategic Alignment: Partner closely with peers in Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, and EHSS to ensure rapid execution
• Project Lifecycle Mastery: Scope, plan, and execute new manufacturing initiatives, managing them from inception through commissioning to timely completion within budget constraints

Continuous Improvement & Quality Excellence:

• Iterative Lean Culture: Implement lean manufacturing principles to rapidly map new value streams, optimize process flows, improve efficiency, and reduce operational costs
• Rigorous Quality Assurance: Oversee all manufacturing operations to guarantee that every output meets or exceeds the company's stringent quality standards and customer requirements

What we’re looking for:

Pioneering Operational Leadership:

• Extensive experience in a senior operations or production executive role (e.g., Senior Director of Production, Director of Operations) managing multi-layered teams
• Proven success leading operations through commissioning, qualification, and hyper-growth ramp-up phases

High Ambiguity Tolerance & EQ:

• Exceptional emotional intelligence with a demonstrated ability to transition a team through high-stress, ambiguous operational phases using supportive, clear coaching frameworks

First-Principles Problem Solving:

• Outstanding root-cause analysis skills
• Ability to diagnose and solve unprecedented technical and mechanical issues from scratch

Resilient Leadership:

• A track record of keeping teams motivated, focused, and safe during the inevitable trial-and-error phases of launching a novel technology

Continuous Improvement Expertise:

• Deep practical knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), or other asset-reliability frameworks

Executive Communication & Acumen:

• Exceptional interpersonal skills to collaborate cross-functionally and present operational performance metrics effectively to executive stakeholders

Must-have Requirements:

• This role typically involves working in both office and manufacturing environments
• May require travel to various manufacturing sites and supplier locations
• Perform activities such as typing, standing, or sitting for extended periods of time
• Work in a facility that contains industrial hazards including heat, cold, noise, fumes, strong magnets, lead (Pb), high voltage, high current, pressure systems, and cryogenics