Senior Manager, Manufacturing Operations

Beehive Industries is dedicated to Powering American Defense by revolutionizing the design, development, and delivery of jet propulsion systems to support the warfighter. Through the integration of additive manufacturing, the company aims to meet the growing and urgent needs for unmanned aerial defense by dramatically improving a jet engine’s speed to market, fuel efficiency, and cost.  

Founded in 2020, the company is headquartered in Centennial, Colorado, with additional facilities in Knoxville, Tennessee, Loveland Ohio, and Mount Vernon, Ohio. Beehive is committed to grow and advance the defense industrial base while manufacturing exclusively in the USA. This role will be located at our Knoxville, Tennessee facility.

Role Overview 

The Senior Manufacturing Operations Manager is responsible for leading all aspects of production, post-processing, and shipping & receiving for the Knoxville, Tennessee site. As Beehive’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence, this role plays a critical part in scaling and industrializing additive manufacturing processes, including Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) and Metal Binder Jetting (MBJ). This role sits between site-level execution and strategic leadership, reporting to the Operations Director. The Senior Manager will lead a team consisting of two Operations Supervisors, with overall responsibility for a team of 15+ employees. This position requires a leader who can bridge engineering and operations, driving process discipline, technical excellence, and production performance while building a high-performing, engaged team. 

What You’ll Do... 

• Operational Leadership: Lead daily production, post-processing, and logistics operations, ensuring safe, efficient, and high-quality execution across the Knoxville site

• Team Leadership & Development: Provide direct leadership to two Operations Supervisors, with overall responsibility for a team of 15+ employees fostering a culture of accountability, technical growth, and continuous improvement

• Production & Resource Planning: Set daily and weekly priorities in alignment with Production Control, balancing capacity, engineering constraints, and customer delivery commitments

• Additive Manufacturing Excellence: Support and advance additive manufacturing capabilities, including LPBF and MBJ, ensuring processes are optimized from print readiness through final inspection

• Process Optimization & Industrialization: Drive the development and implementation of robust, end-to-end workflows that enable the transition from development to full-rate production

• Continuous Improvement: Lead Lean and Six Sigma initiatives to improve throughput, reduce waste, and enhance process capability across manufacturing and post-processing operations

• Performance Management: Track and drive key metrics including on-time delivery, yield, equipment utilization, and cost performance

• Compliance & Quality: Ensure adherence to EHS, quality, and regulatory requirements, particularly within aerospace and defense manufacturing environments

• Financial & Business Acumen: Monitor and report on operational performance, supporting cost control and productivity improvements aligned with site and company goals

• Talent & Engagement: Build and develop a high-performing team through coaching, performance management, and active participation in hiring and workforce planning

You Have... 

• Experience: 8–12+ years of experience in manufacturing, with a strong emphasis within advanced or additive manufacturing environments

• Leadership: 5+ years of experience leading teams in a production and/or manufacturing engineering setting, with demonstrated success building high-performing teams

• Additive Manufacturing Knowledge: Hands-on or applied experience with metal additive manufacturing processes such as LPBF and/or MBJ is strongly preferred

• Operations Background: Proven experience managing or supporting production environments, with accountability for output, quality, and delivery

• Industry Experience: Background in aerospace, defense, or other highly regulated manufacturing environments with strong quality and compliance standards

• Technical & Systems Know