Director of Manufacturing

As Director of Manufacturing at Orbitworks, you will lead the transformation of cutting-edge satellite engineering into scalable production. This role involves owning the entire design-to-manufacturing pipeline, from driving DFX into early engineering to ensuring robust MGSE and EGSE systems. You will build processes and teams to ensure seamless production, solving real hardware problems and delivering complex satellite systems on schedule. Join us to shape a world-class manufacturing organization for high-autonomy satellites.

Must Have

• Lead and develop high-performing manufacturing, test, MGSE, and EGSE teams.
• Define and align manufacturing strategy with company objectives.
• Drive continuous improvement in manufacturing processes and infrastructure.
• Translate engineering designs into manufacturing execution items.
• Provide DFX feedback to engineering for manufacturability optimization.
• Act as primary manufacturing interface across departments.
• Oversee MGSE and EGSE development, design, and maintenance.
• Develop and enforce manufacturing standards and best practices.
• Identify and proactively mitigate manufacturing risks.
• Implement KPIs for manufacturing efficiency and quality.
• Bachelor's or Master's in Industrial, Manufacturing, Mechanical, Aerospace, or Electrical Engineering.
• 10+ years in advanced manufacturing, preferably aerospace or satellite.
• Proven leadership of cross-functional manufacturing teams.
• Strong understanding of DFX, design-to-manufacturing, and test engineering.
• Experience developing work instructions, tooling, GSE, test plans, and scripts.
• Hands-on MGSE/EGSE design, implementation, and maintenance experience.
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills.

Good to Have

• Experience in satellite or aerospace production environments (ideally LEO systems).
• Familiarity with Agile or concurrent engineering methodologies.
• Knowledge of regulatory standards and quality systems (AS9100, ISO9001).

Orbitworks is building satellites at a pace and scale that demand world-class manufacturing leadership. As our Director of Manufacturing, you will be the force that turns cutting-edge engineering into reliable, repeatable, and scalable production. This role sits at the heart of Orbitworks’ mission: taking complex, high-performance satellite designs and converting them into hardware that can be assembled, tested, and delivered with speed and precision.

You will own the full design-to-manufacturing pipeline—driving DFX into early engineering conversations, ensuring MGSE and EGSE systems are robust and ready, and building the processes and teams that keep production flowing without surprises. This is a role for a practical, hands-on leader who thrives in ambiguity, solves real problems on real hardware, and knows how to ship.

If you have led manufacturing and test teams through high-pressure builds, closed the gap between engineering intent and production reality, and delivered complex hardware on schedule, this is where your experience becomes a strategic advantage. Join us and help shape a manufacturing organization capable of producing high-autonomy satellite systems at scale.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manufacturing Leadership & Strategy
• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team covering manufacturing engineering, test engineering, MGSE, and EGSE design, implementation, and maintenance.
• Define the manufacturing strategy for design-to-production, ensuring alignment with company objectives, cost, quality, and schedule.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives across manufacturing processes, tooling, and test infrastructure.
• Design-to-Manufacturing Execution
• Accountable to oversee the translation of engineering requirements and product designs into actionable manufacturing execution items:
• Work instructions, assembly procedures, and test plans
• Tooling and ground support equipment (GSE) requirements
• Test scripts, verification, and validation protocols
• Ensure all manufacturing outputs accurately reflect engineering intent and functional requirements.
• Provide DFX feedback to engineering teams early in the design process to optimize manufacturability, testability, reliability, and cost.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Act as the primary manufacturing interface within OPS (Production, Facilities, Supply Chain, QA) and other domains (Engineering, Software, and Technical Leads).
• Facilitate collaboration between engineering design, integration, and manufacturing teams to ensure seamless handoff and execution.
• Review and approve manufacturing-related deliverables, including test plans, GSE specifications, and assembly instructions.
• Ground Support Equipment & Test Systems
• Oversee MGSE and EGSE development, including definition, design, implementation, and lifecycle maintenance.
• Ensure test and verification systems meet engineering requirements and enable efficient production validation.
• Manage resource allocation and prioritization for test and manufacturing support activities.
• Operational Excellence & Risk Management
• Develop and enforce manufacturing standards, procedures, and best practices.
• Identify potential manufacturing risks and proactively mitigate issues related to design, assembly, or testing.
• Implement KPIs to monitor manufacturing efficiency, quality, and compliance with engineering intent.

Experience - Must Haves

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Industrial, Manufacturing, Mechanical, Aerospace, or Electrical Engineering is required. Master’s degree is preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in advanced manufacturing environments, preferably aerospace, satellite, or high-tech electronics.
• Proven experience in leading cross-functional manufacturing teams covering ME, TE, MGSE, and EGSE.
• Strong understanding of DFX, design-to-manufacturing principles, and test engineering.
• Experience developing work instructions, tooling, GSE, test plans, and scripts based on engineering requirements.
• Hands-on experience with MGSE/EGSE design, implementation, and maintenance.
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills, capable of interfacing with engineering, operations, and leadership teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in satellite or aerospace production environments (ideally LEO systems).
• Familiarity with Agile or concurrent engineering methodologies.
• Knowledge of regulatory standards and quality systems (AS9100, ISO9001).

Key Competencies

• Leadership and team development
• Strategic thinking and operational planning
• Problem-solving and analytical skills
• Process improvement and DFX guidance
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Hands-on technical expertise

Orbitworks' mission is to make space simple for organizations that want to deploy physical and virtual missions to space. Building on Loft Orbital's heritage, Orbitworks will be the first commercial firm in the United Arab Emirates to mass-manufacture satellites. Orbitworks aims to manufacture tens of satellites annually and operates out of a 50,000-square-foot facility in Abu Dhabi.