Senior Director, Manufacturing Operations
Axon · Arizona
- Level
- Director+
- Team
- Production
- Travel
- 50%
- Experience asked
- 12+ years
- Industry
- Aerospace & defense
- Posted
- 24 days ago
The role in 30 seconds
A director-level production role at Axon (aerospace & defense) in Arizona.
- They ask for
- 12+ years
- Tools it names
- Lean, Six Sigma, Root cause, Validation (IQ/OQ/PQ), Automation, Capacity planning
- Day to day
- about 50% travel
Read from the posting. The full description is below.
From the plant jobs report · week of October 19, 2026
Production Engineer roles in Arizona: typical posted base $115k–$171k.
Median of the low and high ends of 3 live postings that list pay, out of 15 production engineer openings in Arizona, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.
Arizona plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →
How this role compares
Against 14 other live production postings in Arizona.
- Experience asked
- More than usual (12+ vs 5+)
Similar roles usually ask 5+ years.
Skills these teams ask for most
- ✓ Team leadership 67%
- ✓ Lean 67%
- ✓ Tooling 40%
- ✓ Six Sigma 40%
- ✓ Root cause 33%
- ✓ Automation 33%
✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.
Stands out: this posting asks for Capacity planning, which few similar roles mention. If you have it, lead with it.
At a glance
Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.
How to get in at this plant
Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.
- 1
Pick 2–3 people on the Production team at Axon
Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. Use the team search on this page to find them.
- 2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
- 3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- The posting says about 50% travel. Between which sites?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
- 4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
- 5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.
Full description from AxonAs posted on their careers site.ShowHide
requirements
while proactively addressing quality and reliability risks.
- ✓Drive New Product Introduction: Partner with R&D, Product, Engineering, Quality, and Supply Chain to ensure manufacturing readiness for new products, including design-for-manufacturability, tooling, process validation, capacity planning, and production ramp.
- ✓Develop High-Performing Teams: Build, coach, and develop manufacturing leaders and teams capable of operating in a fast-paced, high-growth environment. Establish clear accountability, succession plans, and leadership development across the organization.
- ✓Partner Cross-Functionally: Work closely with R&D, Supply Chain, Quality, Finance, Facilities, Product, and other stakeholders to resolve operational challenges and ensure manufacturing priorities align with Axon’s broader business objectives.
- ✓Manage Operational Risk: Identify and mitigate manufacturing risks related to capacity, equipment, labor, quality, supply continuity, safety, and business continuity.
- ✓Support Manufacturing Integration: Partner on the operational integration of acquired manufacturing capabilities and contract manufacturers, driving alignment with Axon’s manufacturing standards, systems, quality expectations, and operating practices.
Show full description ↓Show less ↑
Join Axon and be a Force for Good.
At Axon, we’re on a mission to Protect Life. We’re explorers, pursuing society’s most critical safety and justice issues with our ecosystem of devices and cloud software. Like our products, we work better together. We connect with candor and care, seeking out diverse perspectives from our customers, communities and each other.
Life at Axon is fast-paced, challenging and meaningful. Here, you’ll take ownership and drive real change. Constantly grow as you work hard for a mission that matters at a company where you matter.
Senior Director, Manufacturing Operations
Your Impact
Axon is on a mission to protect life and make the bullet obsolete. As we scale our next-generation products—including TASER devices, body cameras, sensors, and advanced drone technology—our manufacturing operations play a critical role in delivering innovative, high-quality products to our customers around the world.
As the Senior Director of Manufacturing Operations , you will provide strategic and operational leadership across Axon’s manufacturing organization, ensuring we have the people, processes, systems, and capabilities required to support our rapid growth. You will be responsible for driving operational excellence across safety, quality, delivery, cost, productivity, and capacity while building a highly scalable manufacturing environment.
This is a highly visible leadership role requiring a hands-on, data-driven leader who can operate at both the strategic and factory-floor level. You will partner closely with Supply Chain, Quality, Engineering, R&D, Finance, Facilities, and other teams to translate Axon’s growth and product roadmap into world-class manufacturing execution.
What You’ll Do
Location: Onsite at one of our facilities in Phoenix, Arizona (ability to travel up to 50%)
Reports to: SVP, Global Manufacturing Operations
Direct Reports: TBD
- •Lead Manufacturing Operations: Provide strategic and operational leadership across manufacturing operations, ensuring consistent execution against safety, quality, delivery, cost, and productivity objectives.
- •Drive Operational Excellence: Establish and continuously improve manufacturing processes, operating rhythms, management systems, and performance standards that enable Axon to scale efficiently while maintaining exceptional quality.
- •Optimize Production & Capacity: Partner with Supply Chain, Planning, Engineering, and business leaders to align manufacturing capacity, labor, equipment, and production plans with current and future demand.
- •Build Scalable Manufacturing Systems: Develop standardized processes, controls, and operating practices across manufacturing operations to increase throughput, reduce variability, improve yields, and support continued growth.
- •Lead Continuous Improvement: Champion Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, automation, and other continuous improvement methodologies to eliminate waste, improve cycle times, increase productivity, and reduce manufacturing costs.
- •Own Manufacturing Performance: Establish and manage KPIs across safety, quality, delivery, cost, throughput, yield, labor efficiency, capacity utilization, and other critical operational metrics. Use data to identify trends, address root causes, and drive accountability.
- •Strengthen Quality & Reliability: Partner closely with Quality and Engineering to ensure manufacturing processes consistently meet Axon’s product, regulatory, and customer
What You Bring
- •12+ years of progressive manufacturing and operations leadership experience, including significant experience leading complex, high-volume manufacturing organizations.
- •Demonstrated experience leading manufacturing operations at the Director or Senior Director level within a rapidly growing organization.
- •Proven ability to scale manufacturing operations while improving safety, quality, delivery, cost, and productivity.
- •Strong understanding of Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, continuous improvement, and operational excellence methodologies.
- •Experience managing complex electromechanical or technology products strongly preferred.
- •Deep experience with production planning, capacity management, manufacturing engineering, automation, quality systems, and new product introduction.
- •Demonstrated success developing and leading large, high-performing manufacturing teams and senior operational leaders.
- •Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate manufacturing data and KPIs into clear operational priorities and actions.
- •Experience partnering with R&D and Engineering organizations to successfully transition products from development through production ramp and sustained manufacturing.
- •Experience working within glob