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Salary: USD 130,000 - 260,000 / annual
This is a Director-level role at a newly formed U.S.-based manufacturing platform backed by MISUMI Group, a global leader in manufacturing solutions. The venture serves frontier-technology industries including humanoid robotics, aerospace, agricultural technology, and healthcare, with founding customers in humanoid robotics and a focus on reshoring and national security priorities.
The Director, Production Partner Management leads strategy, development, and management of the company's external partner network. Key responsibilities span five major areas:
**Partner Network Development:** Build and execute strategy for expanding the partner network across target processes, geographies, and capacity tiers. Source, evaluate, and qualify new partners through capability audits, quality system reviews, and on-site assessments. Lead onboarding of new partners, including capability mapping, pricing frameworks, quality agreements, and production ramp plans.
**Joint Venture & Strategic Partnership Structuring:** Identify and evaluate joint venture, co-investment, and dedicated-capacity opportunities. Lead due diligence, business case development, and deal structuring in partnership with Finance, Legal, and executive leadership. Negotiate partnership agreements covering terms, governance structures, IP, exclusivity, and commercial terms. Manage ongoing partner and JV relationships post-signing, including performance reviews, capital planning, and expansion decisions.
**Equipment, Staffing & Customer Co-Investment Partnerships:** Build and negotiate partnerships with capital equipment manufacturers to secure financing, leasing, or co-investment arrangements. Develop strategic relationships with staffing and workforce partners to scale labor at partner facilities. Structure and negotiate joint investment agreements with key customers to co-fund dedicated capacity or facility expansions. Evaluate financial and operational terms in partnership with Finance and Legal.
**Education & Government Partnerships:** Develop and negotiate partnership agreements with technical colleges, universities, and vocational programs to build manufacturing talent pipelines, apprenticeships, and co-op programs. Build relationships with federal, state, and local government agencies to identify and secure manufacturing incentive programs, grants, tax credits, and reshoring initiatives. Represent the company with workforce development boards and economic development organizations.
**Partner Performance & Operations Management:** Establish and track partner scorecards covering quality, on-time delivery, cost, capacity utilization, and responsiveness. Drive continuous improvement initiatives with partners, including lean manufacturing and cost-down programs. Manage capacity planning and allocation across the partner network. Resolve escalated quality, delivery, or commercial issues and lead root-cause and corrective action processes.
**Cross-Functional Leadership:** Partner closely with Business Development, Engineering, Quality, Finance, Legal, and Commercial teams. Provide regular reporting to executive leadership on partner network health, JV performance, and capacity risk. Build, mentor, and lead a team of partner managers and supplier development engineers. Own risk management for the partner portfolio, including geographic concentration, financial health, and supply continuity planning.
Success metrics include growth and diversification of qualified partner capacity, successful execution of JV and strategic partnership deals, partner network performance against quality/delivery/cost scorecards, reduction of single-source and geographic concentration risk, number and value of education and government partnerships established, and value of co-investment secured through equipment, staffing, and customer partnership agreements.
**Requirements:**
*Required:*
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations, Business, or a related field (MBA or advanced technical degree a plus)
- 8–12+ years of experience in manufacturing operations, supplier/partner development, strategic sourcing, or supply chain management, with meaningful exposure to contract manufacturing or outsourced production
- Demonstrated experience structuring, negotiating, or managing joint ventures, strategic alliances, or major capacity partnerships in a manufacturing context
- Deep understanding of manufacturing processes (e.g., CNC machining, injection molding, sheet metal, casting, additive manufacturing, or similar) and quality systems (ISO 9001, IATF 16949, AS9100, or equivalent)
- Strong commercial acumen with experience in contract negotiation, pricing models, and partnership economics
- Track record of leading cross-functional teams and managing complex, multi-stakeholder relationships
- Willingness and ability to travel 30–50%, including internationally, to partner and prospective partner facilities
*Preferred:*
- Prior experience in a director-level or equivalent role leading a partner management, strategic sourcing, or manufacturing operations function
- Experience in digital manufacturing, industrial equipment, automotive, aerospace, medical device, or a comparably regulated manufacturing sector
- Familiarity with capital planning and investment evaluation for joint venture or co-investment structures
- Experience working with globally distributed manufacturing networks, including partners in Asia, the Americas, and/or Europe
- Experience negotiating agreements with educational institutions (e.g., technical colleges, universities) and/or government agencies (e.g., economic development, workforce boards) in support of manufacturing or workforce initiatives
- Experience negotiating co-investment or joint funding arrangements with equipment suppliers, staffing partners, or customers
