Contract Manufacturing Director

About Job

Key Responsibilities:

• Own end-to-end contract manufacturing relationships across 3+ CMs in Guangdong: commercial negotiation, capacity planning, quality governance, and performance management
• Drive unit cost reduction to achieve Gen 6 blended COGS target of $6,000-8,000 through BOM cost-down, CM benchmarking, open-book auditing, and conversion fee optimisation
• Manage ECN implementation across all CMs with target cycle ≤14 days from engineering release to first unit off line
• Lead CM qualification and onboarding for new manufacturers; maintain dual-source on all critical sub-assemblies to eliminate single points of failure
• Build and enforce IQC/OQC standards, SPC processes, and quality KPIs; drive field defect rate below 2%
• Support Gen 6 NPI (R2, S3, R9) from pilot build through PVT to mass production ramp, coordinating with R&D in Singapore and Shenzhen
• Manage volatile demand environment with 2-4 week planning cycles; maintain material buffers and flexible CM capacity agreements
• Enforce LionsBot’s IP firewall: zero leakage of autonomy software, customer data, or NDAA-sensitive materials to CM partners
• Build the CM governance infrastructure: cost dashboards, supplier scorecards, review cadences, ECN tracking systems

Required Qualifications:

• 8+ years in manufacturing operations, 5+ managing contract manufacturers for complex electro-mechanical products (robots, drones, EVs, industrial equipment)
• Proven track record managing 2+ CMs simultaneously with measurable cost, quality, and delivery improvements
• Deep familiarity with Guangdong manufacturing ecosystem (Shenzhen/Dongguan/Shunde/Foshan)
• Native Mandarin speaker with professional working proficiency in English (written reporting to Singapore HQ)
• Hands-on experience with NPI gate reviews (EVT/DVT/PVT), ECN processes, and BOM management
• Comfortable with demand volatility and short planning horizons-not dependent on frozen long-term forecasts
• Builder mentality: has created CM quality systems, cost tracking, and governance structures from scratch-not just maintained them
• Comfort operating independently in a high-growth, resource-constrained environment (Series B, 200-300 employees)