Spacecraft Production Control Manager

Los Angelesfull timeOn Site

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senior

$135k–$175k

H1B: no

K2 Space The Spacecraft Production Control Manager at K2 Space owns manufacturing scheduling, production coordination, and material readiness across satellite production work centers. This role builds and leads the production control function to support increasing satellite production rates.

Responsibilities

Own Production Control operations, including manufacturing scheduling, production coordination, work order readiness, and WIP management
Grow the Production Control team – hire and develop talented team members including Production Schedulers and Production Coordinators
Own the integrated factory schedule that translates delivery milestones from the program master schedule into rate-based vehicle takt, subassembly starts, and prioritized work order lists for every work center for daily and weekly goals
Develop hardware allocation scenarios that weigh customer needs, delivery milestones, and quality requirements to align stakeholders on build priority
Establish manufacturing readiness processes covering material availability, work orders, tooling, labor capacity, and engineering requirements
Develop production control systems including automated schedules, capacity, and readiness models integrated across MES, Smartsheet, and internal tools
Monitor MRP (SQL-based) and partner with Supply Chain to resolve shortages and align supplier commitments with manufacturing demand
Conduct capacity analysis at work center and factory level, recommend staffing, capex, and process recommendations for each rate step
Establish and monitor KPIs covering schedule attainment, manufacturing readiness, WIP, production flow, and on-time delivery
Lead root-cause and corrective action for schedule slips across assembly and integration
Communicate production risks, resource requirements, and recovery plans to the Director of Production and VP of Manufacturing

Qualification

Deep working knowledge of build treesExperience in spacecraftExperience with production analytics

Required

8+ years of experience in production control, scheduling, or production planning in a high volume, rapid production environment in aerospace, defense, or complex hardware manufacturing industries
3+ years of experience managing schedulers, planners, or coordinators
Experience building or scaling a production control or planning function
Experience owning a factory-level production schedule through a rate ramp
Deep working knowledge of build trees, BOMs, routings, work orders, MRP/ERP and MES data flow
Experience building capacity and scheduling models that drive start, staffing, and capex decisions
Strong floor-presence experience partnering with supervisors, engineering, and leadership

Preferred

Experience in spacecraft, launch vehicle, defense, or complex electromechanical manufacturing
Experience with production analytics: Smartsheet, SQL, Python, or Power BI tools for shortage monitoring, and schedule automation
Bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, operations research, supply chain, or a related engineering field