Senior Manager, Composite Production

At REGENT, we’re on a mission to revolutionize regional transportation between coastal cities. We’re creating a new category of transportation—the Seaglider, a wing‑in‑ground‑effect craft that travels just above the water’s surface, combining airplane speed with boat‑like operating costs. Backed by leading investors and a passionate engineering team, we’re scaling from a breakthrough prototype to full production.

About the role

We’re looking for a Senior Manager, Composite Production to own the full composite production organization: the engineering, maintenance, and production teams that turn composite processes into finished parts at rate. You will lead through a management layer of shift leads and supervisors, establish standard work and quality control that survive shift‑to‑shift, build a maintenance program for cure and lay‑up equipment, and grow and train the workforce as we scale.

Responsibilities

• Own composite production performance end‑to‑end, holding single‑point accountability for quality, yield, equipment uptime, and throughput.
• Build and develop the shift‑lead and supervisor layer, scaling the leadership structure without diluting quality.
• Systematize engineered fixes into standard work, creating auditable, trained procedures for every technician and feeding back to engineering when standards falter.
• Run a preventive maintenance program and uptime tracking for cure, lay‑up, and trim equipment (autoclaves, ovens, presses, trim and cure systems) and prioritize resources against production‑schedule risk.
• Stand up structured training paths and certification levels—e.g., a station‑based dojo model and skills matrices—to take hires from no experience to certified, independent operators.
• Implement quality control at scale with control plans, SPC checks, and non‑conformance/corrective‑action processes across shifts.
• Partner continuously with the Advanced Engineering team to validate process robustness before floor implementation, treating each build as a shared outcome.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in composite manufacturing, leading multi‑disciplinary organizations spanning manufacturing engineering, maintenance, and/or production at meaningful scale.
• Proven ability to lead through a layer of leads and supervisors rather than direct‑report management.
• Demonstrated experience running maintenance and reliability programs for composite process equipment such as autoclaves, ovens, presses, trim and cure systems.
• Track record of scaling a production workforce—hiring, org design, and skills development—as volume increased.
• Experience turning engineered fixes into sustained standard work across large teams.
• Hands‑on knowledge of prepreg and wet lay‑up, vacuum bagging, cure, trim, and bonding, with ability to direct engineers and audit floor execution.
• Fluency with quality and production systems: control plans, SPC, corrective‑action processes, MES/MBOM/routing structures, and metric roll‑up.
• Bonus: led a composite production organization through a prototype‑to‑rate ramp in aerospace, marine, or automotive; built or scaled maintenance programs for composite equipment; worked with automation (ATL/AFP/FPL, robotic trim, CNC); or created dojo‑style training curricula.
• Collaborative team player who treats process robustness as a shared outcome with engineering and integration teams.
• Creative problem solver focused on making fixes durable and repeatable across shifts.
• Adaptable and agile, able to operate in ambiguity while building auditable systems and prioritizing resources.
• Innovative mindset motivated by developing people at scale and designing structures that let quality scale with rate.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation with a robust equity incentive plan.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance (100% premiums covered).
• 401(k) with company matching.
• Generous flexible time off, paid parental leave, and company‑wide holiday breaks.
• Relocation packages for moving candidates.
• Daily free catered lunches.
• Learning and professional development opportunities.