Polymer Additive Manufacturing Manager

About this role

HADRIAN - MANUFACTURING THE FUTURE

Hadrian is building autonomous factories to reindustrialize America. By combining AI, advanced software, robotics, and full-stack manufacturing, we help aerospace and defense companies build rockets, satellites, aircraft, ships, and other mission-critical systems up to 10x faster and at significantly lower cost.

Following our $1.37B Series D at a $7.87B valuation, Hadrian is rapidly expanding our manufacturing footprint, launching new capabilities across welding, casting, forging, electronics, additive manufacturing, and more, while scaling our Factory-as-a-Service platform to transform how critical products are built.

Backed by leading investors including JPMorgan Chase, Valor Equity Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, 137 Ventures, Lux Capital, T. Rowe Price, and Morgan Stanley, we’re building the future of American manufacturing—and looking for exceptional people to help make it happen.

If you’re ready to take on the most challenging and rewarding work of your career while helping create American manufacturing jobs for generations to come, you’re exactly who we’re looking for.

The Role:

We're looking for an operations and systems engineering leader who can take polymer additive manufacturing equipment from standalone machines to fully integrated, automated production systems. You will lead polymer AM production operations and own the technical integration of polymer AM machines into our OPUS platform, including machine connectivity, controls interfaces, telemetry, production scheduling, yield, and delivery performance. You will drive automation across the AM cell (powder and material handling, build volume exchange, depowdering and cleaning, downstream workflows, safety interlocks) and partner closely with machine OEMs and automation vendors to unlock deeper capability, serviceability, and reliability. The initial focus will be scaling production capacity for small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) and related defense platforms. The ideal candidate brings deep polymer AM operations experience, strong systems integration and automation fundamentals, and a track record of industrializing complex equipment for repeatable, scalable production.

What You’ll Do:

- Production Operations and Performance: Own polymer AM production operations including scheduling, throughput, yield, utilization, and on-time delivery. Establish and maintain operational cadence, production metrics, and continuous improvement disciplines across the AM cell.

- Systems Integration and OPUS Enablement: Lead the end-to-end integration of polymer AM machines, peripherals, and cell infrastructure into OPUS, including connectivity, machine state models, telemetry, data quality, traceability, and enforceable interlocks.

- Integration Architecture and Standards: Define system requirements, interface control documents (ICDs), integration kits, and machine acceptance criteria that scale across multiple OEMs, process technologies, configurations, and sites.

- Automation and Cell Industrialization: Lead automation strategy for AM cells including powder and material handling, build volume exchange, part removal, depowdering and cleaning, material flow, and operator ergonomics. Drive step-change improvements in utilization, throughput, and safety.

- OEM and Vendor Partnerships: Serve as Hadrian's technical lead with machine OEMs (Stratasys, HP, and others), automation integrators, and key suppliers to unlock deeper integration (APIs, controller access, logging, remote operations, calibration hooks, serviceability). Translate needs into joint development roadmaps and deliverables.

- Commissioning, FAT/SAT, and Qualification Support: Build and own factory acceptance test (FAT) and site acceptance test (SAT) protocols, commissioning checklists, and validation plans. Partner with Quality and Process teams to ensure integrated systems support qualification and production release.

- Reliability, Maintainability, and Uptime: Establish reliability engineering discipline for AM equipment (PM strategy, spares, calibration, MTBF and MTTR tracking, failure mode mitigation). Lead structured root cause and corrective action with OEMs and internal teams.

- Machine Modification and Performance Upgrades: Lead efforts to implement hardware, firmware, and configuration improvements that increase build volume utilization, process stability, and throughput (for example thermal management, recoater and deposition systems, calibration, and print parameter optimization), while maintaining configuration control.

- Manufacturing Controls and Documentation: Own standard work for machine operation and integration points, including equipment control procedures, safety interlocks, change control, and training. Ensure readiness for regulated environments and customer audits.

- Team Leadership and Development: Hire, coach, and develop a high-performing team across machine operations, engineering, controls, automation, and integration. Set execution cadence, prioritize the portfolio, and build reusable frameworks and knowledge bases.

- Cross-Functional Execution: Partner tightly with Applications Engineering, Materials and Process, Manufacturing Engineering, Factory Automation, Software, Quality, Supply Chain, and Operations to industrialize solutions and deliver production commitments.

What We’re Looking For:

- Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Controls, Robotics, Manufacturing, or related); Master's degree is a plus.

- 5+ years of experience in polymer additive manufacturing operations, systems engineering, equipment engineering, automation, or factory-scale integration, with deep familiarity in one or more of the following technologies: Stratasys SAF, HP Multi Jet Fusion (MJF), FDM, SLA, or SLS. Equivalent experience in factory automation, equipment integration, or manufacturing systems engineering with meaningful polymer AM exposure will also be cons

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