Manufacturing Readiness Lead

About the role

Red 6 is seeking a highly organized and execution-driven Planner/Scheduler to support production operations and supply chain activities for complex aerospace products. This role combines detailed scheduling with focused project coordination, ensuring that all elements required for production, including material availability, documentation, engineering changes, and test readiness, are aligned, tracked, and executed on time. The position will play a critical role in driving Manufacturing Readiness across multiple products by coordinating cross-functional deliverables and maintaining integrated schedules. This role also supports product lifecycle and sustainment efforts, including ECO/ECN implementation planning and DMSMS (obsolescence) tracking, ensuring long-term material availability for DOD and aerospace customers. Unlike a traditional Program Manager, this role is centered on execution, readiness tracking, and cross-functional coordination, ensuring that production teams, both internal and contract manufacturers, have everything required to successfully build and deliver hardware.

Responsibilities

• Manufacturing Readiness & Execution Management
• Lead Manufacturing Readiness processes for multiple products, ensuring all cross-functional deliverables are completed prior to production.
• Plan and run Manufacturing Readiness meetings, tracking inputs from Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, and Test teams.
• Maintain and track readiness checklists, deliverables, and exit criteria for production builds.
• Identify gaps in readiness, including material shortages, documentation gaps, ECO implementation status, tooling readiness, and test readiness-and drive closure.
• Ensure alignment between internal teams and contract manufacturers prior to build execution.
• Planning, Scheduling & Material Readiness
• Develop and maintain integrated schedules that include supply chain, material delivery timelines, manufacturing activities, ECO implementation, and production milestones.
• Track part-level schedules and material availability, including long-lead items, custom components, and critical supply dependencies.
• Ensure all materials are scheduled to arrive in alignment with manufacturing build schedules.
• Identify and communicate material risks, shortages, or delays that could impact production readiness.
• Work closely with Supply Chain and Procurement to align purchase orders, supplier commitments, and delivery schedules with build plans.
• Track critical path items, including both execution tasks and material dependencies.
• ECO / ECN & Configuration Change Coordination
• Support planning and execution of Engineering Change Orders (ECOs) / Engineering Change Notices (ECNs) within production schedules.
• Track implementation of changes across inventory, work-in-progress, and supplier pipelines.
• Coordinate with Engineering, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain to ensure timely and controlled rollout of design changes.
• Ensure schedule alignment for cut-in dates, revision control, and disposition of affected materials.
• Plan and coordinate qualification builds for second-source components, including scheduling, material readiness, and cross-functional alignment.
• Track readiness and completion of validation and qualification activities associated with alternate/dual-sourced components.
• Coordinate First Article Inspection (FAI) and other qualification requirements for new or alternate components.
• Ensure alignment of test, quality, and documentation requirements for component qualification and release to production.
• DMSMS & Lifecycle (Obsolescence) Support
• Track and coordinate activities related to DMSMS (Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages).
• Maintain visibility into end-of-life (EOL) components and last-time-buy opportunities.
• Support Supply Chain and Engineering in planning for alternate sourcing, redesigns, or lifetime buys.
• Ensure production schedules account for component lifecycle risks and long-term availability requirements.
• Support sustainment planning to ensure continued supportability for DOD and aerospace customers.
• Cross-Functional Project Coordination
• Coordinate activities across Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Procurement, Quality, and Test teams.
• Track and manage multiple concurrent initiatives supporting production and supply chain execution.
• Drive accountability by tracking action items, owners, and deadlines.
• Escalate risks and blockers-including material availability and obsolescence risks-that could impact production readiness or schedule.
• Meeting Leadership & Communication
• Lead recurring cross-functional meetings (e.g., Manufact

Benefits

Additional Information

Company Overview Red 6 is an innovative Augmented Reality (AR) technology startup leading the way in synthetic air combat training. Our primary technology, supporting our ATARS product, enables pilots to simulate the cognitive challenges of flying while accessing realistic, scalable training in dynamic outdoor environments.

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