Kratos Defense and Security Solutions

Lab/Shop Sr. Manager - MACH TB

Kratos Defense and Security Solutions • $100K — $130K *
Crane, IN 47522In-Person
Aerospace & Defense
5 - 7 years of experience
Today
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Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering or 10+ years of relevant experience.
  • 5+ years in a leadership or management role within engineering or manufacturing.
  • 7+ years of experience in laboratory operations, electrical/mechanical development, or machining/testing.
  • Strong understanding of machining and assembly workflows, especially in aerospace contexts.
  • Excellent communication skills for cross-functional coordination and stakeholder engagement.

Responsibilities

  • Provide leadership to departmental managers ensuring alignment in priorities and execution.
  • Facilitate coordination of complex lab operations to support rapid testing and integration activities.
  • Collaborate on strategic planning for team growth and infrastructure needs.
  • Develop processes for efficient hardware flow through assembly and testing stages.
  • Enforce compliance with safety protocols and quality standards across all environments.
  • Work with quality teams to ensure products meet rigorous specifications and standards.
  • Manage resource utilization of tools and equipment to maximize operational efficiency.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to lead diverse technical teams in a dynamic aerospace environment.
  • Engagement in strategic planning and influence on future program capacities.
  • Hands-on involvement in innovative aerospace system development.
  • Support for continuous improvement and professional growth initiatives.
Full Job Description
GENERAL JOB SUMMARY:

The Lab/Shop Senior Manager provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for all laboratory and manufacturing environments within the facility. This role ensures seamless coordination between the Electrical Lab, HWIL/Air Bearing Laboratory, Machine Shop, specialized production lines, and Safety/Mission Assurance functions. The Senior Manager is responsible for driving operational excellence, ensuring compliance with safety and quality standards, optimizing resource utilization, and enabling efficient cross?disciplinary workflows that support rapid development, integration, and testing of complex aerospace systems. This position requires strong leadership, deep technical understanding of multi?disciplinary lab operations, and the ability to guide a diverse team of managers, engineers, and technicians in a fast?paced, mission?oriented environment.

LOCATION
  • Crane, IN


ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

PRIMARY:
  • Departmental Oversight: Provide direct leadership to the Electrical Lab Manager, HWIL/Air Bearing Manager, Machine Shop Manager, and Safety & Mission Assurance Manager, ensuring alignment of priorities, resources, and execution across all technical departments.
  • Operational Integration: Facilitate smooth coordination between precision machining operations, electrical and mechanical assembly tasks, HWIL simulation environments, and safety/mission assurance functions to support high?cadence integration and test activities.
  • Strategic Planning: Collaborate with the AI&T Director to plan staffing growth, integrate new hires, and position the lab/shop infrastructure to meet future program capacity and technical needs.
  • Workflow Optimization: Develop and refine processes that ensure hardware, assembly, and test articles move efficiently between machining, assembly, instrumentation, and HWIL systems without delay or rework.
  • Safety & Compliance: Enforce strict facility?wide adherence to safety protocols, ESD controls, OSHA requirements, and internal process standards across all laboratory and shop environments.
  • Quality Integration: Work closely with the Quality Engineer, Quality Manager, and Documentation Specialists to ensure all manufactured components, lab outputs, prototypes, and integration activities meet rigorous internal, customer, and subcontractor specifications.
  • Resource Management: Oversee utilization of shared tools, equipment, and facility assets across labs and shops, ensuring readiness, calibration, and availability to support development and test operations.
  • Facilities Coordination: Coordinate with facilities and operations teams to maintain and improve lab layouts, shop workflows, infrastructure configurations, and equipment installations.


SECONDARY:
  • Leadership of Managers: Directly guide multiple department managers, ensuring they have the resources, training, and support needed to lead their teams effectively.
  • Cross?Functional Collaboration: Work with engineering leads, mission personnel, experiment providers, and project managers to understand technical demands and align lab/shop execution with mission timelines.
  • Process Development: Support the creation and improvement of lab and shop SOPs, work instructions, configuration management processes, and documentation workflows.
  • Performance Metrics: Establish and track KPIs across all departments to monitor throughput, quality, safety performance, and schedule adherence.
  • Continuous Improvement: Lead efforts to improve efficiency, reduce bottlenecks, enhance safety, and strengthen technical capability across all lab and shop operations.
  • Technical Consultation: Provide senior?level engineering and operations insight during integration planning, test readiness reviews, and design-for-manufacture/assembly discussions.


SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: Manager-level supervisory responsibility, overseeing multiple department managers and their associated engineering and technician teams.

JOB SKILLS:

Required:

Experience managing multi?disciplinary technical teams in laboratory, manufacturing, aerospace, or defense environments.
  • Strong understanding of machining operations, electrical assembly workflows, and hardware?in?the?loop testing environments.
  • Demonstrated leadership ability in matrixed organizations with diverse technical staff.
  • Excellent communication skills for coordination with executive leadership, program stakeholders, and cross?functional departments.
  • Ability to establish priorities, manage complex workflows, and maintain high levels of operational discipline.
  • Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Secret clearance.

Preferred:
  • Experience in rapid?growth or high?cadence aerospace development and test environments.
  • Familiarity with defense?contractor operational standards, including configuration management and documentation control.
  • Understanding of specialized aerospace programs or high?performance flight system development.
  • Prior experience working alongside safety, quality, and engineering leadership in integrated test environments.


EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering or 10+ years of experience.
  • 5+ years in a leadership or management role within an engineering, laboratory, or manufacturing environment, with at least 3 years at the senior level.
  • 7+ years of relevant engineering experience in laboratory operations, electrical/mechanical development, machining, testing, or prototyping (or equivalent combination of education and industry/military experience).


Travel
  • Up to 25%


WORK ENVIRONMENT
  • This position operates across engineering office spaces, advanced electrical laboratories, integrated test environments, precision machine shop areas, and facility operational zones. Work involves planning, oversight, scheduling, documentation review, process development, and cross?departmental coordination.
  • The role requires adherence to facility safety protocols, ESD practices, and operational standards while supporting fast?paced, mission?driven workflows.
  • The Senior Manager will regularly interact with engineers, technicians, mission providers, and department managers, and may be required to support hands?on assessments or oversight during integration, fabrication, or test activities.

About Kratos Defense and Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. provides mission critical products, solutions, and services in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Kratos Government Solutions, Unmanned Systems, and Public Safety & Security. The Kratos Government Solutions segment offers microwave electronic products, satellite communications, training systems, modular systems, and defense and rocket support services. The Unmanned Systems segment provides unmanned aerial, ground, and seaborne, as well as command, control, and communications systems. The Public Safety & Security segment designs, engineers, deploys, operates, integrates, maintains, and operates security and surveillance solutions for homeland security, public safety, critical infrastructure, government, and commercial customers. The company serves national security related agencies, the department of defense, intelligence agencies, and classified agencies, as well as international government agencies and domestic and international commercial customers; and critical infrastructure, power generation, power transport, nuclear energy, financial, IT, healthcare, education, transportation, and petro-chemical industries, as well as government and military customers. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.
Learn more about Kratos Defense and Security Solutions
Size
3,300 employees
Market Cap
$1.1 billion
Industry
Aerospace & Defense
Net Income
$79.6 million
Founded
1994
5 Year Trend
+8.4%
Revenue
$747.6 million
NASDAQ
KTOS
* Ladders Estimates

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