The Opportunity
We're looking for a Head of Manufacturing to lead and scale manufacturing operations at OpenWorks as we continue our growth as an innovative defence technology and engineering business. This is a highly influential leadership role, responsible for driving operational excellence, strengthening manufacturing capability and enhancing delivery performance across the organisation.
Leading our Production and Production Engineering functions, you will work closely with Engineering, Supply Chain and senior leadership teams to develop scalable, efficient and resilient manufacturing operations that support ambitious growth plans. The role is ideally suited to a leader who is passionate about developing high-performing teams, driving continuous improvement and balancing strategic leadership with hands-on operational engagement in a fast-paced, engineering-led environment.
As Head of Manufacturing, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the next phase of our operational evolution - building the systems, processes and capabilities needed to scale successfully while preserving the agility, pace and collaborative culture that define OpenWorks.
Security Vetting Information
OpenWorks Engineering operates within the defence sector. As part of our recruitment and onboarding processes, we collect information that may be required to support future security vetting and clearance requirements, should these become necessary during employment.
Who We Are
OpenWorks is a rapidly growing business operating globally with a passion for exceptional engineering and building on a legacy of defence innovation in the North East of England.
Our products provide ultra-high performance, real-time detection, tracking, identification and targeting of dynamic aerial threats. They have been deployed internationally to protect high profile military and civilian assets, and contribute towards the defeat of nuisance, misguided and maliciously deployed drones during operations.
We are very proud to have supported a wide range of law enforcement and military operators, protecting many of the most high profile sites and individuals around the world.
The amazing things we do are only possible because of a dedicated and passionate team.
Why You’ll Love Working With Us
Join a high-energy, collaborative team where great ideas thrive, challenges are embraced, and people genuinely love what they do.
Here’s what our benefits have to offer:
Rewarding Success - Competitive salary and bonus package, with performance bonuses of up to 25% and clear opportunities for career progression.
Enhanced Pension – Up to 8% employer-matched contributions to help you plan for the future.
More Time to Recharge – 25 days holiday plus bank holidays, long-service rewards, and the option to buy up to 5 extra days.
Breakfast & Lunch on Us – Enjoy team breakfasts and freshly prepared lunches every day courtesy of Chef Mark and his team.
Health & Wellbeing – Private healthcare and life assurance for added peace of mind.
Sustainable Travel – Salary sacrifice schemes, including EV car and Cycle to Work options.
Team Socials – Regular events, from quiz nights and football to board games and more.
Learning & Growth – A culture that empowers you to challenge, grow and make an impact, plus a £250 annual learning budget to invest in the development that matters most to you.
Department, People and Resource Management
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Lead and develop teams: Support and develop Manufacturing teams, creating an environment that encourages ownership, accountability, continuous improvement while strengthening the functions capability as the business continues to scale.
- People & Capability: Foster talent development through effective performance management, coaching, succession planning, recruitment and wellbeing initiatives.
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Build strong relationships: Foster effective collaboration across Engineering, Manufacturing and wider business departments.
- Manage departmental resources: Oversee Manufacturing budgets and support future workforce and capability planning.
Manufacturing Operations
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Operational Leadership: Lead Production and Production Engineering functions, driving delivery performance, manufacturing efficiency, product quality and operational excellence.
- Planning & Execution: Oversee production scheduling, capacity planning, resource deployment and build prioritisation to ensure effective, predictable and scalable delivery.
- Process Improvement & Scalability: Develop robust manufacturing processes, systems and management disciplines that improve throughput, yield, quality and operational maturity while supporting business growth.
- Engineering Integration: Partner closely with Engineering teams on DFM/DFX, new product introduction and transition-to-production activities, creating repeatable and scalable manufacturing solutions for defence and electro-optical products.
Manufacturing Strategy and Scale-Up
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Develop manufacturing strategy: Support future production growth, operational scalability and increasing product complexity.
- Identify operational risks: Proactively address bottlenecks, capacity constraints and operational challenges before they impact delivery.
- Support operational expansion: Contribute to facility expansion, production layout optimisation and future manufacturing planning.
- Improve operational planning: Develop scalable KPIs, reporting systems and forecasting processes alongside Procurement and Finance teams.
- Support NPI readiness: Ensure manufacturing readiness for new product introduction activities.
Quality and Compliance
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Quality & Compliance: Ensure manufacturing activities operate in line with the QMS, maintaining audit readiness while driving improvements in quality, process control and operational discipline.
ERP and Operational Systems
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Operational Systems & Data: Drive improvements in ERP, manufacturing data and process integrity, enhancing operational visibility, control and scalability.
What we’re looking for:
Essential
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Manufacturing leadership experience: Significant leadership experience within manufacturing operations environments.
- Production and Engineering management: Experience managing both Production and Manufacturing/Production Engineering functions.
- Operational scaling experience: Experience scaling manufacturing operations within growing engineering or technology businesses.
- Strong operational capability: Strong understanding of manufacturing process control, operational improvement and production flow management.
- Engineering collaboration: Experience working closely with engineering-led product organisations.
- Budget and workforce management: Experience managing departmental budgets, workforce planning and operational resources.
- Regulated industry experience: Experience operating within defence, aerospace, medical, robotics or other high-reliability manufacturing sectors.
- Strong communication skills: Able to build credibility and collaborate effectively across Engineering, Manufacturing and leadership teams while remaining calm under pressure.
Desirable
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Sector experience: Experience within electro-optics, robotics, sensing, defence or high-reliability electronics environments.
- ERP/MRP systems experience: Experience implementing or improving ERP/MRP systems within manufacturing operations.
- Operational scale-up experience: Experience supporting facility expansion and operational growth activities.
- Continuous improvement knowledge: Familiarity with lean manufacturing and continuous improvement methodologies.
- NPI experience: Understanding of new product introduction and transition-to-production processes.
More about us:
Vision
Help protect the territory and airspace of NATO countries and their allies.
Mission
Be a world-leading provider of autonomous technology for Surveillance applications and Defence
Values
Be a Good Egg: Earn respect, have mutual trust and be honest
Do cool stuff: We develop cool tech with an awesome team, and we get stuff done
Be empowered: We are autonomous, reliable and take personal responsibility
We are one team: Look out for each other and the team
Things go wrong: Fail fast, learn and move on
Have fun: We’re doing amazing things with passionate people
