Vice President of Manufacturing

About the Role

Phoenix Tailings is looking for a Vice President of Manufacturing to lead the scale-up, performance, and expansion of our rare earth metals manufacturing operations, beginning with our Exeter facility and extending to future production sites. This leader will be responsible for transforming first-of-its-kind production processes into safe, reliable, high-throughput, and economically competitive manufacturing systems. You will establish the operating discipline, manufacturing organization, continuous improvement systems, and production standards required to move from early commercial production to a repeatable manufacturing model that can be deployed at increasing scale. We are looking for a manufacturing executive who has built and scaled complex industrial operations, understands how to create stability in new production processes, and can bring the rigor of world-class manufacturing to technology that has never before been produced at this scale.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the scale-up of Phoenix Tailings' rare earth metals manufacturing operations, establishing the systems and production capabilities required to move first-of-its-kind processes into sustained commercial production.
• Own manufacturing performance across safety, throughput, yield, quality, reliability, cost, labor productivity, and schedule attainment, driving measurable improvements as production volumes increase.
• Develop and execute the manufacturing strategy for Exeter and future facilities, creating repeatable operating models, production standards, and processes that can be replicated as Phoenix expands.
• Build and lead a high-performing manufacturing organization across operations, manufacturing engineering, production leadership, maintenance, and continuous improvement.
• Establish Lean and Six Sigma operating systems, using statistical process control, structured problem solving, process capability, root-cause analysis, and data-driven improvement to reduce variation and strengthen production performance.
• Drive production readiness and ramp-up for new equipment, process technologies, product introductions, and capacity expansions, ensuring manufacturing systems can reliably achieve target performance.
• Create scalable systems for production planning, workforce development, standard work, operating procedures, maintenance, performance management, and manufacturing governance.
• Identify and eliminate constraints across equipment, process flow, materials, labor, and operating systems to increase production capacity while maintaining safety, quality, and process control.
• Partner with engineering and technology teams to transition developing rare earth processes into robust manufacturing systems designed for repeatability, maintainability, automation, and scale.
• Define the manufacturing roadmap required to expand Phoenix's production footprint beyond Exeter and establish the operational foundation for a large-scale domestic rare earth metals industry.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's, Master's or PhD in Engineering or a related technical discipline; advanced technical or business degree is a plus.
• 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in manufacturing, operations, production, or industrial engineering within metals, mining, minerals processing, chemical processing, advanced materials, or another complex process industry.
• Demonstrated experience scaling new or technically complex manufacturing processes from initial production through high-volume, stable commercial operations.
• Proven experience leading manufacturing organizations through significant capacity expansion, facility ramp-up, process industrialization, or multi-site growth.
• Strong background in Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma methodologies; Six Sigma Black Belt or Master Black Belt certification is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to use statistical process control, process capability, production data, root-cause analysis, and structured continuous improvement to improve yield, throughput, reliability, quality, and cost.
• Deep understanding of manufacturing systems, production planning, equipment reliability, maintenance, quality, workforce development, operational excellence, and manufacturing economics.
• Proven ability to build and develop manufacturing leadership teams while establishing the culture, systems, and accountability required to operate effectively in a rapidly scaling industrial environment.
• Experience working with first-of-its-kind technologies, new process commercialization, or manufacturing environments where production systems must be developed and improved while operating.
• Executive-level judgment and communication skills, with the ability to translate manufacturing performance, operational risks, capacity requirements, and investment needs into clear business decisions.

Compensation & Benefits

• Pay range: $200,000-$300,000 total cash compensation (salary + discretionary bonus) plus equity.
• Healthcare: 100% medical, dental, and vision coverage for employee.
• Stock Options: Ownership in a fast-growing venture-backed company.
• Time Off: Unlimited PTO.
• Learning: Learning and development opportunities to grow your skills and career.