Plant Manager

Company Description

Skyeton is a leading manufacturer of long-endurance fixed-wing unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) applications. Skyeton's Raybird family of platforms has accumulated hundreds of thousands of operational flight hours in real-world conditions. Skyeton USA Manufacturing is the company's first US production facility, established in Fayetteville, North

Carolina to localize Raybird production for North American customers.

Role Description

The Plant Manager is the on-site leader of Skyeton's US manufacturing operation in Fayetteville, NC. The Plant Manager is accountable for the safe, on-time, on-quality, on-budget delivery of Raybird unmanned aircraft systems from the facility, and for the people, processes, equipment, and supplier relationships that make that delivery possible.

The plant is a multi-discipline aerospace manufacturing operation under one roof, comprising five

production cells: composite (wet-layup), CNC machining, paint and trim, cable / harness build,

electronics (LRU/PCB) assembly, and system integration + final test. The Plant Manager owns the endto-

end performance of all of them.

The role reports to the VP of Engineering and Manufacturing and is the senior Skyeton representative on

the ground in North Carolina. The Plant Manager partners closely with Skyeton engineering, supply

chain, and quality teams in the United States, Slovakia, and Ukraine, and represents Skyeton USA to

customers, suppliers, regulators, and the Fayetteville-area community.

Through those leaders, the Plant Manager is responsible for an overall plant headcount of

approximately 46 FTE at sustained-rate operation, including composite technicians, cable / harness

assemblers, electronics assemblers, assembly technicians, painters, CNC technicians, QC inspectors,

• aircraft checkout technicians, pack & ship, warehouse, admin, and quality / purchasing staff.

Operations and production management

• Own daily plant operations across all five production cells (composite, CNC, paint, cable / harness,

electronics, system integration + final test) and deliver on-time, on-quality, on-budget against the

production schedule.

• Develop, execute, and continuously refine the plant's operating strategy in alignment with Skyeton

corporate goals.

• Set, monitor, and report against production KPIs — on-time delivery, first-pass yield, scrap and

rework rate, overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), labor productivity, safety incident rate, and

inventory turns.

• Resolve production issues promptly and put corrective and preventive actions in place to prevent

recurrence (CAR / PAR / 8D).

• Oversee equipment maintenance, calibration, uptime, and capital replacement planning.
• Manage inventory levels, materials flow, warehousing, receiving, and shipping operations to support

production schedule attainment.

Quality, safety, and regulatory compliance

• Ensure full compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local safety, quality, environmental,

labor, and regulatory requirements (OSHA, NFPA, EPA, NCDOL, ITAR / EAR, AS9100, AS9102, IPC-A-

610, IPC/WHMA-A-620, ANSI/ESD S20.20).

• Maintain and continuously improve the plant's quality management system; serve as the primary

management representative for AS9100, customer, and regulatory audits.

• Foster a strong safety culture and personally lead the safety program. Ensure all team members

complete required training and certifications.

• Champion a clean, organized, visual factory and a 5S working environment.

Financial and capital management

• Own the plant's operating budget (P&L) and capital plan; deliver against monthly, quarterly, and

annual cost, output, and margin targets.

• Manage the plant's capital expenditure program, including procurement, installation,

commissioning, and lifecycle planning of major production equipment.

• Forecast and report on cashflow, accruals, and committed costs against the capital and operating

plan.

• Drive cost-out and productivity improvement initiatives across labor, materials, overhead, and

capital.

People and talent leadership

• Lead, develop, coach, and mentor the plant leadership team and the broader workforce.
• Own workforce planning, recruiting, onboarding, performance management, succession, and

retention.

• Build and sustain a high-performing, accountable, ownership-oriented culture across the plant.
• Represent Skyeton USA in local labor markets and at hiring and community events.
• Continuous improvement and operational excellence
• Drive continuous improvement using Lean, Six Sigma, 5S, Kaizen, value-stream mapping, and similar

methodologies.

• Identify and remove constraints to throughput, quality, and cost.
• Champion the use of data, instrumentation, and simple visual management to make plant

performance transparent on the floor and to executive leadership.

Customer, supplier, and cross-functional management

• Build and manage relationships with key suppliers, contractors, regulators, and the local community.
• Build and sustain trusted relationships with Skyeton's customers and program offices.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Skyeton engineering (US, Slovakia, Ukraine), supply chain,

quality, finance, HR, and customer-program teams.

• Report plant performance, risks, and key initiatives to the VP Engineering and Manufacturing on a

regular cadence; escalate critical issues immediately.

• All other duties as assigned by Skyeton leadership.

Required experience

• 10+ years in aerospace or defense manufacturing, with 5+ years in plant or operations leadership.
• Demonstrated record of running a multi-discipline aerospace manufacturing operation (composites,

machining, electronics, assembly, and final test) at a production rate of at least one aircraft per

month.

• AS9100 / AS9102 first-article inspection process owner in a regulated production environment.
• Direct experience with composite production equipment (vacuum, oven / cure, paint booth), CNC

mills, and electronics assembly + cable / harness build operations — this is a multi-discipline plant,

not a composite-only shop.

• Capital project owner — $3M+ direct budget responsibility, with a cashflow / payment-milestone

track record.

• Experience standing up or significantly expanding a manufacturing facility is a strong plus.
• Hands-on fluency with OSHA, NFPA 33 (spray application), NFPA 30 (flammable liquids), NEC Class I

Div 2, ANSI Z358.1.

• Working knowledge of IPC-A-610 (electronics workmanship), IPC/WHMA-A-620 (cable / harness

workmanship), and ANSI/ESD S20.20 (ESD control).

• Daily coordination across international suppliers and engineering teams in different time zones.
• US person status; comfortable working under ITAR / EAR controls.

Strongly preferred

• Wet-layup composite experience specifically (not only prepreg / autoclave).
• UAV / unmanned-systems product background.
• Track record hiring and ramping aerospace technicians in a tight labor market — bonus for prior NC

/ Sandhills / Fort Bragg-area hiring.

• US military veteran or DoD program experience.
• Lean / pull manufacturing fluency.
• Six Sigma Black Belt or Green Belt certification.
• PMP, Toyota Production System (TPS), or equivalent.
• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Aerospace Engineering,

Manufacturing Engineering, or related discipline (Master's / MBA preferred).

Key competencies

• Strong leadership presence with proven ability to build, develop, and retain high-performing teams

in a manufacturing environment.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; comfortable presenting to executives, customers,

regulators, and shop-floor associates.

• Hands-on, roll-up-your-sleeves operating style with strong floor presence.
• Sound business judgment and decision-making under pressure and ambiguity.
• Demonstrated bias for action, accountability, and follow-through.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and root-cause-analysis skills (5-Why, fishbone, 8D).
• Proficient with ERP / MRP, MES, MS Project, MS Office, and standard quality / inspection tools.
• Customer-focused with a track record of building and sustaining trusted customer relationships.
• Calm, structured, and effective in fast-paced, schedule-driven environments.
• High personal standards of safety, quality, integrity, and professionalism.

Physical and work-environment requirements

• Ability to spend the majority of working hours on the production floor, including standing, walking,

and climbing for extended periods.

• Ability to lift up to 25 lbs occasionally.
• Comfortable working in an industrial environment with chemical, noise, dust, and machinery

hazards.

• Ability and willingness to wear required PPE (safety glasses, hearing protection, respirator, gloves,

steel-toed footwear) as appropriate.

• Ability to travel domestically and internationally up to 15% (primarily to Slovakia, Ukraine, customer

sites, and trade events).

• On-call availability outside core hours to support production, customer, or facility issues.

Equal opportunity

Skyeton USA is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for

employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national

origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or

local law. Skyeton USA participates in E-Verify.

This position is subject to U.S. export-control regulations (ITAR / EAR). Applicants must be U.S. persons

(U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, refugees, or asylees) as defined by 22 CFR §120.62 / 15 CFR

§772.1. A pre-employment background check, drug screen, and reference verification are required.

Candidates must be able to obtain and maintain any clearances required by Skyeton's customers and

contracts.

How to apply

Send a résumé and a one-page note to ***email_hidden*** with:

1. The most recent plant or program you stood up from shell or near-shell — what it built, on what

timeline, with what budget.

2. The longest-lead, highest-risk item on a plant build you've owned, and how you de-risked it.

3. Earliest possible start date and current location.