Interplay

Chief Operating Officer

Interplay

full-time

Posted on:

Location Type: Hybrid

Location: New York City • New York • United States

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Job Level

Lead

About the role

  • Design and own Lykos’ end-to-end manufacturing strategy, from raw material inputs to finished ceramic components and modular processing cells for distributed manufacturing.
  • Define and build the initial MVP manufacturing cell, including equipment selection, layout, tooling, and CAPEX planning.
  • Integrate laser-enabled manufacturing processes with ceramic material workflows to ensure repeatability, yield, and quality.
  • Establish production process controls, quality systems, and documentation aligned with aerospace and defense standards.
  • Identify scale-up risks, cost inflection points, and throughput constraints early and engineer them out across multiple material SKUs and partner environments.
  • Serve as the primary operational interface with defense primes, manufacturing partners, and government stakeholders.
  • Develop the operational playbook for scaling from pilot production to higher-volume manufacturing of materials and modular processing cells.
  • Partner with the CEO and CSO to translate technical strategy into executable operational milestones.
  • Recruit and manage cross-functional teams (engineering, operations, procurement, research)
  • Champion a culture of precision, accountability, and disciplined execution appropriate for defense manufacturing.

Requirements

  • 10+ years of experience in advanced manufacturing, aerospace, defense, or precision industrial operations.
  • Proven experience building or launching new production lines, manufacturing cells, or pilot facilities in one or more of the following sectors:
  • Advanced Manufacturing (Carbon, Velo3D, Relativity, Divergent, etc.)
  • Aerospace / Defense (Anduril, Raytheon, SpaceX, Northrop, etc.)
  • High Performance Materials (CoorsTek, Kyocera, Applied Materials, ASML, etc.)
  • Strong understanding of process engineering, yield management, and quality systems.
  • Experience operating multi-million dollar projects within regulated environments (AS9100, ITAR, DFARS, or equivalent).
  • Demonstrated ability to operate in early-stage, fast-moving environments.
  • Comfort working hands-on across engineering, operations, and external partners.
Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills & Tools
manufacturing strategyMVP manufacturing celllaser-enabled manufacturing processesproduction process controlsquality systemscost inflection pointsthroughput constraintsprocess engineeringyield managementproject management
Soft Skills
leadershipcross-functional team managementoperational interfacecommunicationaccountabilityprecisionexecutionstrategic planningproblem-solvingcollaboration
Certifications
AS9100ITARDFARS