Vice President, Operations

Vice President Operations PV Labs Burlington Ontario

**Please note that to be considered for any position at PV Labs, all candidates must be eligible to meet the requirements of the Canadian Controlled-Goods Program of the Defense Production Act and be able to hold and maintain a Canadian Security Clearance. If you are not clear about your eligibility, please consult the Government of Canada website HERE **

The Vice President, Operations is a dynamic, complex role that is new to the organization, and will be responsible for the innovative thinking, advanced operational strategies, executable plans and leadership that will enable our precision optics and integrated mechatronics organization to scale to meet significant new demand.

Reporting directly to the President & CEO, you will combine your functional and strategic leadership, engineering expertise and innovative operational thinking to challenge conventional thinking to create an entirely new way of approaching operational excellence in the precision engineering/manufacturing sector.

This instrumental position requires a forward-thinking leader with a track record of sustaining a culture of continuous innovation, cross-functional collaboration and a focus on output-driven outcomes.

As the Vice President, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our company by rethinking end-to-end production processes, taking advantage of existing operational efficiencies to scale further, and implementing methodologies that make sense for all stakeholders and customers. Your responsibilities will span several key milestone accomplishments, including the selection and operationalization of a new site, developing the framework for end-to-end manufacturing engineering operations, to ensuring seamless collaboration between engineering, production, procurement & supply chain, and quality assurance teams.

By developing and executing efficient and scalable strategies, you will enable meeting forecasted production demands and commitments, and also positioning the organization for continued agility and competitiveness in the rapidly evolving landscape of precision optics and integrated mechatronics. This role presents a unique opportunity to make a lasting impact on PV Labs continued success and reinforce our reputation as true innovator in the industry all while allowing you to put your unique engineering and operational signature on our growing organization.

The dimensionality of the role of the Vice President Operations will be punctuated throughout three distinct phases of PV Labs strategy to scale over the next several years.

The initial emphasis will focus on obtaining and fully operationalizing a new site for the organizations engineering, test, and production capability requirements to prepare for delivery to customers internationally. This will include site-selection, re-thinking physical space and operational (production) workflow designs, creating flexible and scalable production methods and sub-processes. It further requires applying modular component and payload assembly concepts, thoughtful supply-chain integration, and full product testing capabilities. You will also play a pivotal role in the implementation of a strategic ERP system devised to support full design/engineering-to-BOM framework and expanded localization partners in addition to on-site production. Timeline: 12-18 months

The focus of the second stage will be on fully operationalizing the production capability locally as well as supporting our network of localization partners, including procurement/supply-chain optimization and integration, training & performance measurement, and ILS & MRO capabilities that will enable our unique competitive advantages of speed, cost and quality. Timeline: 24 36 months.

The final iteration of scaling our operations capability will be the successful evolution to full production capability of between 50-75 systems per year, by a combination of natively produced systems and those by our localization partners, that maintain precision design and engineering integrity and quality/reliability standards of our optics systems while balancing the kind of agility and flexibility required to provide continued innovation with our long-term science & technology projects with key development partners for advanced gimbals and sensors. Timeline: 48 months +

• Mastery of Engineering, Optics, Production & Operations management in a precision engineering/mechatronics and component production/assembly environment. Preference will be for those within aerospace & defense sector, specifically any Controlled Goods/ITAR governed organization.
• Experience with scaling an organization (people, process, physical space, tools and equipment) while concurrently scaling productivity gains.
• Deep curiosity and strong problem-solving capabilities able to apply entirety of experiences to finding new solutions.
• Proven knowledge and experience in MRP/ERP, and/or Kanban, inventory control and supply chain methodologies through applied knowledge of Lean manufacturing and Supply Chain principles.
• Experience successfully supporting an ERP system implementation
• A strong command of required production performance KPIs and outcome-driven success measures, budget setting & monitoring and course-correction strategies
• Experience with regulatory compliance (particularly with ITAR-controlled technology), and planning development including supply-chain, procurement, planning/scheduling, and management.
• Advanced-level academic achievement in technical and/or business education (BSc/MSc or MBA).
• Strong knowledge of quality, compliance matters, and manufacturing engineering excellence
• Capable of providing clarity of direction, motivation and development of capability within the team.
• Thorough knowledge of EHS requirements as well as successful demonstrated safety achievements and track-record in an ITAR/Controlled Goods domain.

• Strategic Business Contributor
• Innovative Thinker
• Influential Relationship Builder
• People-Centric Leader
• Flexible Problem Solver
• Talent Developer
• Curious Continuous Improver
• Customer Champion
• Performance Excellence Advocate
• Decisive Decision Maker

Our engineering philosophy is firmly rooted in modularity and component-based design because its just the smart thing to do. And by doing so, it pushes you to experiment and try new things to learn and grow and evolve as a leader further than you may have had opportunities to do so previously. We want you to be vocal and involved in building and improving our company, its efficiency, agility and ingeniousness and ultimately our systems and products. We don't operate in silos of disciplines we instead operate in teams. Teams that have a singular focus to solve problems differently, but effectively. We believe this allows everyone to contribute to our knowledge bases, standards and workflows in other words truly be a part of our team and having a direct impact and influence on our shared success.

Our work-life philosophy is also unique we've fully embraced a 4-day work week, all year long and wrapped up in a hybrid model that allows you to work from where it makes the most sense. As we our more focused on outcomes and outputs instead of hours worked or statistical metrics, we prioritize what makes sense for our employees and our products.

For over 20 years, we've been dedicated to the design, development, and delivery of bespoke gyro-stabilized imaging systems, products and services across diverse sectors such as industrial, government, entertainment, and resources. With a focus on advanced mechatronics and aerial imaging, our products find applications in public protection, Military, Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR), academic and commercial research, and the motion-picture industries.

PV Labs can be where your Engineering and Operations Leadership career meets limitless innovation and unparalleled impact.

As an integral member of a forward-thinking management team, you'll channel your focus, passion, and expertise into an array of fascinating systems, products and projects. Your contributions will span the entire spectrum of the engineering, production and operations of our state-of-the-art electro-mechanical stabilization platforms, motion-control systems, camera and lens control systems, video-processing technologies, remote I/O subsystems, and the integration and control of cutting-edge laser technologies.

At PV Labs, you'll be immersed in an environment where groundbreaking technology and exceptional talent meet different ways of thinking. We take immense pride in our workplace culture - fostering collaboration and ingenuity, creating an atmosphere of mastery, autonomy and purpose.