{"id":1264695,"url":"https://alion.io/job/kela-npi-product-operations-engineer","title":"NPI / Product Operations Engineer","company":{"id":1971233,"name":"Kela","domain":"kela.io","url":"https://alion.io/company/kela-io","size_band":"201-500","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Comeet","truth_index":null},"role":"Product","role_family":"Product","seniority":"senior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Tel Aviv, Israel"],"countries":["IL"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":124000,"max_usd":221000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":9},"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-18T08:13:56Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-18","last_verified_at":"2026-09-28T00:20:57Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":9,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":9},"description":"Description\n Kela is a defense technology startup pioneering next-generation command & control and data infrastructure systems. We empower defense organizations with robust, scalable, and secure platforms that integrate diverse sensors and AI to deliver real-time battlefield intelligence. Backed by leading investors, Kela combines Israeli innovation with global mission impact.\nWe move faster than any defense startup you've worked at, and faster than most commercial ones. Prototypes go from sketch to metal in weeks, not quarters. Ideas walk from the whiteboard into working hardware with customer milestones already on the calendar.\nThe Role\nYou will own our products from an operational perspective throughout their lifecycle: the engineering-to-production transition, the establishment and ramp-up of production lines in-house and at subcontractors, and the completeness and accuracy of all product data, BOMs, and documentation that supply chain and production run on. The role works closely with R&D and Supply Chain and leads the establishment of PLM processes and infrastructure.\nResponsibilities\nLead New Product Introduction (NPI) from design to rate production: pilot builds, first-article inspection, and closing open issues before the line starts running.\nOwn the engineering-to-production package: production BOMs, work instructions, assembly and test flows, and build documentation for multi-configuration products.\nValidate BOM completeness, accuracy, and manufacturability.\nOwn configuration management: ECO / MCO processes, BOM control, serial-level traceability, deviations and waivers, and controlled field updates.\nLead the establishment of PLM processes and infrastructure, including system selection and rollout.\nDrive DFM / DFA / DFP feedback into mechanical, electrical, and harness design, and push back when a design cannot be built on schedule.\nDefine the Approved Vendor List (AVL) and alternative components; qualify and industrialize suppliers and build-to-print subcontractors (mechanics, harnesses and cables, optics), including first-article approval and engineering-change flow-down.\nDefine and validate acceptance testing (ATP) at kit and system level: test equipment, calibration flow, and pass / fail criteria.\nIdentify and mitigate technical and supply risks early, working daily with systems engineering, procurement, and operations to keep long-lead items from becoming line-down events.\nPlan and execute retrofit and update campaigns for fielded units, and present production readiness at design and production reviews (PDR, CDR, PRR).\nRequirements\nB.Sc. in Mechanical, Electrical, Aerospace, or Industrial Engineering, or an equivalent hands-on track record.\n5+ years in NPI / Product Operations / manufacturing engineering of complex electro-mechanical systems, including at least one full cycle from prototype to rate production that you personally owned.\nProven experience establishing a production line, in-house or at a subcontractor, including qualifying and industrializing build-to-print subcontractors in Israel (mechanics, cable / harness houses).\nProven DFM / DFA experience: you have changed designs, not just commented on them.\nStrong configuration-management fundamentals: ECO / MCO, BOM control, serial-level traceability.\nHands-on experience with first-article inspection, process validation, and acceptance test definition.\nAbility to define and implement processes and work methods where they do not yet exist.\nStrong cross-functional work with R&D and Supply Chain; comfortable working against tight customer milestones while the design is still maturing.\nAdvantages\nNPI or production experience in defense, aerospace, or UAV programs, including MIL-STD environmental qualification (810 / 461).\nExperience with electro-optical assemblies: alignment, calibration, and handling in production.\nExperience delivering hardware in parallel with qualification, and running retrofit / update campaigns.\nFamiliarity with MoD program reviews (PDR / CDR / PRR / TRR) and the documentation they demand.\nHands-on experience implementing PLM (and ERP / MRP) systems in a young production environment.\nStarted as a technician or assembler and can still build and test the unit yourself.","description_format":"text","description_chars":4236,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":5,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":[],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-25T21:59:01Z"}],"liveness":{"score":90,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.896,"p_room":1,"age_days":8,"expected_fill_days":48,"reasons":["conf:12","velocity","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-09-27T05:45:00Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/kela-npi-product-operations-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/kela-npi-product-operations-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-09-28T05:01:42Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","usage":{"tier":"crawler","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":3298,"day_limit":5000,"remaining_today":1702,"minute_limit":60,"resets_at":"2026-09-29T00:00:00Z"}}}