Job Overview:

Our Client builds robotic and electromechanical products in many configurations and small lots. The Director of Production is responsible for standing up and growing a high-mix, low-volume operation, covering everything from incoming materials through final shipment. Expect to set up modular assembly and test areas, reuse common subassemblies, define tooling and kitting practices, and run tight controls for customer-specific configurations. You will also lead ERP, MRP, and warehouse system selections or upgrades to raise traceability, inventory accuracy, and schedule confidence.

This director sits under the Founder and CTO, partners day to day with the CEO, and manages the production leadership team while working closely with Sales, Engineering, and Procurement. The job is on-site in Downers Grove, IL, in a 45,000 sq ft plant. Responsibilities span capacity planning and full budget ownership, with the authority to halt unsafe work or hold any unit that does not pass acceptance. It fits someone who likes writing clear standards, growing leads and technicians, and turning pilots into steady, repeatable output.

Job Responsibilities:

• Develop a factory built for short runs that can scale, using modular assembly and test cells, common subassemblies, defined tooling, and disciplined kitting practices
• Create an end-to-end review flow across Sales, Engineering, and Production for customer variants, covering configuration approval, labor and lead-time estimates, capacity reservations, rapid variant changeovers, and protection of standard order schedules
• Factory performance ownership from receiving through shipment, expanding capacity as new products launch
• Inventory accuracy is owned end to end, including selection or upgrade of production and warehouse software, requirements definition, data cleanup, rollout, and training
• Integrate systems so BOMs, purchasing, bin locations, work orders, and serial numbers line up, giving clear views of kit status, part shortages, and exact as-built content
• Controls embedded in daily work: cycle counts, revision control, and clean material transactions
• Partner with Procurement to set reorder targets for shared and long-lead components, balancing part availability against cash tied up in stock
• Convert the product roadmap, forecast, and backlog into a capacity plan, calling out limits in staffing, floor space, fixtures, and test equipment
• Own production spending and bring leadership well-costed options for hiring, equipment buys, and layout changes with enough lead time to act
• Hire, coach, and develop production managers, assigning clear ownership for daily schedules, staffing, training, and execution on the floor
• Common standards across lines are set and maintained, with exceptions reviewed on the floor
• Workforce agility, developing leads and cross-training technicians to move across product families
• NPI and production readiness leadership, defining readiness criteria before pilots and leading the transfer from Product Engineering
• Define the production readiness set: approved parts, drawings, work instructions, fixtures, calibration steps, test criteria, and trained operators for repeatable builds
• Pilot builds run by technicians using the release package, with defects and actual build times recorded, then gaps closed with Engineering
• Hold sign-off authority for readiness, manage the ramp to the planned build rate, and route recurring assembly and field issues back into design
• Run weekly control of operations with a view of due orders, at-risk shipments, material shortages, and capacity bottlenecks
• Measure on-time shipment, first-pass test yield, inventory accuracy, and actual build hours versus plan
• Corrective actions are assigned, followed through, and verified for effectiveness
• Safety and quality authority that gives managers stop-work power and the ability to hold shipments that fail acceptance tests

Job Requirements:

• Managed production managers in high-mix, low-volume electromechanical manufacturing
• Demonstrated factory or line expansion while continuing to ship, and can clearly explain the changes, costs, and improvements
• Direct, hands-on lead for a manufacturing ERP, MRP, or warehouse system rollout, including clean data migration and getting teams to use the new tools
• Brought complex hardware from NPI through pilots into repeat production, handling customer variants, engineering changes, and full traceability
• Comfortable solving build problems on the floor with technicians, and communicating delivery, staffing, and investment decisions to executives
• Background in robotics, automation equipment, instrumentation, or similar hardware is preferred