Manufacturing Manager 4
- Req. Number: IRC138342
- Organization : Production Agency Quality Division
- City, State: Los Alamos, New Mexico
- Salary: $166,900 - $289,000
Are you a strategic thinker who thrives on turning complex data into impactful decisions? We are seeking a Group Leader to head one of our Assurance Groups- driving excellence through assessments, performance metrics, data analysis, reporting, causal analysis, issues management, and continuous improvement. In this critical leadership role, you will guide a high-performing team in identifying trends, resolving systemic issues, and ensuring the organization meets the highest standards of assurance and performance.
The team operates within the Production Agency Quality Division- an organization dedicated to safeguarding performance, mitigating risk, and enhancing reliability across the Weapons Production Directorate. As a Group Leader you will play a key role in supporting the division's mission to enable consistent, dependable operations and proactive quality management, ensuring that our systems, processes, and outcomes meet the demands of a rapidly evolving environment. You will manage the organization's day to day operations contributing to the overall objectives for the Division and Directorate and partner with other technical organizations within ALDWP to achieve its goals and deliverables. Your technical expertise will be vital in ensuring our systems, processes, and outcomes meet the rigorous demands of a complex, high-reliability environment.
What You Need
Minimum Job Requirements:
- Proven Leadership and Team Engagement:
Demonstrated experience leading and engaging teams across various organizational levels. Candidates should bring a strong foundation in science or engineering disciplines that supports effective team building, conflict resolution, authority delegation, and consensus building in technical environments. - Project Management Expertise:
Significant experience managing complex quality or technical projects-defining objectives, securing technical resources, creating schedules, and ensuring compliance with rigorous QA and regulatory standards. A background in engineering or applied sciences is essential to ensure alignment of project goals with technical and compliance requirements. - Quality Assurance Mastery in Technical Operations:
Advanced experience ensuring QA requirements are integrated into manufacturing, production, and design processes. Strong understanding of engineering standards, manufacturing practices, and production controls is required to support and enforce robust quality frameworks. - Business Operations Leadership:
Demonstrated success in managing business operations including finance, HR, procurement, and resource planning within a technically complex or engineering-based environment. Candidates should be comfortable applying operational knowledge in high-reliability organizations. - Independent Decision-Making:
Advanced level ability to operate independently in dynamic, fast-paced environments. Candidates should leverage technical judgment and scientific or engineering expertise to assess risk, make data-informed decisions, and adapt to shifting priorities. - Advanced Communication Skills:
Strong written and verbal communication skills, with experience delivering technical briefings, authoring quality assurance reports, and leading cross-functional discussions. A science or engineering background is key to effectively translate technical content for both technical and non-technical audiences. - Technical Knowledge in Manufacturing and Program Management:
Advanced knowledge in areas such as manufacturing technologies, component production, quality systems, and program management within science or engineering domains. Familiarity with production control systems and process engineering is highly desirable.
Education:
Position requires a Bachelor's Degree in a related field from an accredited institution and 8 years of related experience or, an equivalent combination of education and experience directly related to the occupation.
Desired Qualifications:
Quality Requirements:
Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of the NSE Quality Program requirements, quality assurance standards such as NQA-1, NAP-401.1, and DOE 414.1D.
Audit and Assessment Experience:
Demonstrated experience planning, leading, or participating in quality audits and formal assessments, particularly within engineering, manufacturing, or technical operations. Ability to evaluate compliance, identify gaps, and drive corrective actions that align with rigorous standards and industry best practices.
Nonconformance and Corrective Action Management:
Proven experience managing nonconforming product issues, implementing corrective and preventive actions (CAPA), and ensuring traceable resolution within technical and production environments. Familiarity with engineering documentation and disposition processes is strongly desired.
Supplier Quality and Supply Chain Assurance:
Experience with supplier evaluations, oversight, and performance monitoring to ensure delivery of quality products and services. Background in science or engineering is essential to assess supplier technical capabilities and ensure alignment with product requirements and enterprise standards.
Product Acceptance and Inspection Methods:
Solid understanding of inspection and test methodologies used to verify technical product conformance and support acceptance decisions. Familiarity with measurement systems, inspection tools, and industry standards (e.g., AS9102, ISO 9001, or similar) is preferred.
External Oversight Engagement:
Demonstrated experience engaging with external oversight bodies such as regulatory agencies, industry auditors, or customer quality representatives. Ability to present technical information clearly and confidently while representing the organization's quality and reliability programs.
Continuous Improvement Methodologies:
Experience applying structured continuous improvement approaches such as Lean, Six Sigma, root cause analysis, or other quality improvement frameworks. Ability to lead or support initiatives that optimize processes, reduce variability, and enhance operational efficiency in technical or production environments.
Human Reliability Program:
Active HRP certification highly desirable.
DOE Q Clearance:
Active Q clearance highly desirable.
Work Environment:
Work Location: The work location for this position is onsite and located in Los Alamos, NM. All work locations are at the discretion of management.
Position commitment: Regular appointment employees are required to serve a period of continuous service in their current position in order to be eligible to apply for posted jobs throughout the Laboratory. If an employee has not served the time required, they may only apply for Laboratory jobs with the documented approval of their Division Leader. The position commitment for this position is 1 year.
Note to Applicants:
Due to federal restrictions contained in the current National Defense Authorization Act, citizens of the People's Republic of China-including the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau-as well as citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), and the Russian Federation, who are not Lawful Permanent Residents ("green card" holders) are prohibited from accessing facilities that support the mission, functions, and operations of national security laboratories and nuclear weapons production facilities, which includes Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Where You Will Work
Located in beautiful northern New Mexico, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security. Our generous benefits package includes:
§ PPO or High Deductible medical insurance with the same large nationwide network
§ Dental and vision insurance
§ Free basic life and disability insurance
§ Paid childbirth and parental leave
§ Award-winning 401(k) (6% matching plus 3.5% annually)
§ Learning opportunities and tuition assistance
§ Flexible schedules and time off (PTO and holidays)
§ Onsite gyms and wellness programs
§ Extensive relocation packages (outside a 50 mile radius)
Additional Details
Directive 206.2 - Employment with Triad requires a favorable decision by NNSA indicating employee is suitable under NNSA Supplemental Directive 206.2. Please note that this requirement applies only to citizens of the United States. Foreign nationals are subject to a similar requirement under DOE Order 142.3A.
Clearance: Q (Position will be cleared to this level). Selected applicants will be subject to a background investigation conducted by or on behalf of the Federal Government, and must meet eligibility requirements* for access to classified matter. This position requires a Q clearance. and obtaining such clearance requires US Citizenship except in extremely rare circumstances. Dependent upon the position, additional authorization to access classified information may be required, which may or may not be available to dual citizens. Receipt of a Q clearance and additional access authorization ultimately is a decision of the Federal Government and not of Triad.
*Eligibility requirements: To obtain a clearance, an individual must be at least 18 years of age; U.S. citizenship is required except in very limited circumstances. See DOE Order 472.2 for additional information.
HRP: This position is subject to the requirements of the DOE Human Reliability Program as specified in 10 Code of Federal Regulation, Part 712, §712.11. These requirements include on going drug and alcohol testing, as well as periodic medical and psychological evaluations.
New-Employment Drug Test: The Laboratory requires successful applicants to complete a new-employment drug test and maintains a substance abuse policy that includes random drug testing. Although New Mexico and other states have legalized the use of marijuana, use and possession of marijuana remain illegal under federal law. A positive drug test for marijuana will result in termination of employment, even if the use was pre-offer.
Regular position: Term status Laboratory employees applying for regular-status positions are converted to regular status.
Internal Applicants: Regular appointment employees who have served the required period of continuous service in their current position are eligible to apply for posted jobs throughout the Laboratory. If an employee has not served the required period of continuous service, they may only apply for Laboratory jobs with the documented approval of their Division Leader. Please refer to Policy Policy P701 for applicant eligibility requirements.
Incentive Compensation Program: Position is eligible to participate in the Triad Incentive Compensation Program. You must be in an eligible position for a minimum of 3 months, before July 1st and remain in an eligible position as of the end of the fiscal year, September 30th. The annual distribution is prorated based on the number of months in the eligible position.
Equal Opportunity: Los Alamos National Laboratory is an equal opportunity employer. All employment practices are based on qualification and merit, without regard to protected categories such as race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status or spousal affiliation, physical or mental disability, medical conditions, pregnancy, status as a protected veteran, genetic information, or citizenship within the limits imposed by federal, state, and local laws and regulations. The Laboratory is also committed to making our workplace accessible to individuals with disabilities and will provide reasonable accommodations, upon request, for individuals to participate in the application and hiring process. To request such an accommodation, please send an email to applyhelp@lanl.gov or call (505)-664-6947 opt. 3.