Director of Manufacturing (Design-to-Manufacturing)

About the role

The Director of Design-to-Manufacturing leads the transformation of product requirements into validated, scalable manufacturing and test systems for satellite production. This senior leader ensures engineering intent is built into repeatable processes and drives the team toward operational excellence.

Key responsibilities

• Lead Manufacturing Systems, MGSE, Verification & Validation Test Engineering, and Test Platforms & EGSE teams.
• Translate engineering requirements into production‑ready work instructions, bills of materials, tooling, fixtures and validated processes.
• Oversee test readiness, including methods, procedures, scripts, limits, configurations and verification evidence.
• Guide development, validation and maintenance of test benches, instrumentation, automation and spacecraft interfaces.
• Review designs for manufacturability and testability, collaborating with mechanical, electrical, software and systems engineering.
• Resolve manufacturing and test issues through root‑cause analysis, bottleneck mitigation and corrective actions.
• Standardize operations by establishing reusable tooling, common standards and predictable handoffs to Assembly, Integration and Test.
• Coach and develop the team, clarifying ownership and strengthening cross‑functional collaboration.

Required profile

• Strong manufacturing and test engineering background with experience turning complex designs into practical production systems.
• Proven technical leadership across multiple engineering disciplines and ability to coach senior engineers.
• Hands‑on problem‑solving under pressure, with examples of shipping complex hardware and resolving production issues.

Required skills

• MGSE and EGSE development, implementation and validation.
• Hardware‑in‑the‑Loop / Software‑in‑the‑Loop (HIL/SIL) environments.
• Design for Manufacturing, Assembly and Test (DFM/DFA/DFT) methodologies.
• ERP/MES systems for production workflow, reporting and traceability.
• Knowledge of AS9100 and ISO 9001 quality standards.