Deputy Director of Manufacturing

Position Overview:

The Deputy Director of Manufacturing serves as the operational leader responsible for executing daily manufacturing operations while helping scale ACS into a world-class production organization. Reporting to the VP of Manufacturing, this role ensures production goals, quality standards, safety initiatives, and operational excellence objectives are consistently achieved.

The ideal candidate is an experienced manufacturing leader who thrives in fast-paced, high-growth environments and enjoys building teams, developing leaders, improving processes, and solving complex operational challenges.

This position will initially be based in our Austin facility before transitioning to our new manufacturing campus in Pflugerville, TX during Q3/Q4 2026.

What You'll Do:

Manufacturing Operations Leadership

• Help lead day-to-day manufacturing operations across multiple production areas

• Drive production performance to meet delivery, quality, cost, and safety objectives

• Partner with Production Managers and Supervisors to optimize throughput and resource utilization

• Remove operational bottlenecks and rapidly resolve production issues

• Ensure manufacturing schedules are executed while maintaining flexibility for changing priorities

Operational Excellence

• Develop scalable manufacturing systems, standard work, and visual management processes

• Drive Lean Manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives throughout operations

• Establish and monitor KPIs including:

• Safety

• Quality

• On-Time Delivery

• Throughput

• Labor Efficiency

• Inventory Accuracy

• Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)

• Lead root cause investigations and implement corrective actions

Team Leadership & Development

• Build, coach, and mentor Manufacturing Managers, Supervisors, and production leaders

• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement

• Develop succession plans and leadership development programs

• Partner with Recruiting and HR to support workforce planning and hiring efforts

• Promote employee engagement while maintaining high performance standards

Production Scaling

• Support the transition from low-rate to full-rate production

• Develop capacity planning strategies aligned with company growth

• Improve production flow, line balancing, and manufacturing efficiency

• Partner with Engineering to ensure manufacturability of new products

• Lead production readiness activities for new product introductions (NPI)

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Collaborate closely with Supply Chain, Quality, Engineering, Facilities, Finance, and Program Management

• Ensure material availability aligns with production schedules

• Support design reviews with Design for Manufacturing (DFM) feedback

• Drive cross-functional problem solving to improve manufacturing performance

Safety & Compliance

• Champion a proactive safety culture across manufacturing operations

• Ensure compliance with OSHA and company safety standards

• Support implementation of EHS initiatives

• Maintain compliance with quality management systems and regulatory requirements

Site Expansion

• Support operational planning for the transition into ACS's new Pflugerville manufacturing facility

• Assist with facility startup activities including equipment moves, workflow optimization, staffing, and production ramp

• Help establish scalable manufacturing systems to support future company growth

What We're Looking For

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations Management, or related field

• 10+ years of manufacturing leadership experience

• 5+ years leading managers and multiple manufacturing departments

• Experience scaling manufacturing operations in a high-growth environment

• Strong understanding of Lean Manufacturing princip