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A growing advanced technology equipment manufacturer is seeking a Vice President of Operations to lead and scale its semiconductor equipment manufacturing organization.

This executive will be responsible for building the operational structure and capabilities needed to support increasing production of sophisticated semiconductor manufacturing equipment. A central part of the role will be helping the organization progress from engineering-intensive equipment builds toward more predictable, repeatable, and scalable production.

The company is particularly interested in leaders who have spent significant portions of their careers within the semiconductor capital equipment industry and understand the operational demands associated with complex wafer fabrication and semiconductor processing equipment.

Candidates do not need to currently hold a Vice President title. Accomplished Senior Directors, Managing Directors, Business Unit Leaders, Operations Directors, Manufacturing Directors, and Engineering Directors with the appropriate industry experience and leadership breadth are encouraged to apply.

What You’ll Do:

• Provide senior leadership across manufacturing, supply chain, procurement, quality, Environmental Health & Safety (EHS), inventory, production planning, logistics, and supplier management.
• Develop the operations strategy and manufacturing infrastructure required to support commercialization and increasing semiconductor equipment production.
• Create greater consistency and predictability as the organization progresses from engineering-intensive builds toward repeatable production and higher-volume manufacturing.
• Establish effective production planning, material planning, capacity planning, and inventory management processes connecting customer demand with manufacturing requirements.
• Partner closely with engineering, R&D, and manufacturing engineering throughout new product introduction (NPI), design transfer, production ramp, and equipment scale-up.
• Improve the processes used to move new semiconductor equipment and engineering changes from development into manufacturing.
• Develop manufacturing systems, procedures, production controls, and operating practices appropriate for complex semiconductor capital equipment manufacturing.
• Strengthen strategic sourcing, supplier development, supplier quality management, and supply chain management for critical components, assemblies, and equipment subsystems.
• Improve supplier performance across quality, availability, responsiveness, delivery, and cost.
• Strengthen inventory control, material flow, production scheduling, and availability of production-critical components.
• Identify manufacturing constraints and implement improvements that increase throughput, production capacity, equipment build efficiency, and on-time delivery.
• Establish operational KPIs and management systems that provide clear visibility into manufacturing, quality, suppliers, inventory, cost, capacity, and delivery performance.
• Drive cost reduction and operational excellence through manufacturing efficiency, sourcing initiatives, engineering collaboration, material utilization, and continuous improvement.
• Strengthen manufacturing and supplier quality while supporting the reliability requirements associated with semiconductor processing equipment.
• Maintain a strong EHS culture as manufacturing activity and organizational scale increase.
• Assess future capacity requirements and develop plans for people, equipment, facilities, suppliers, and supporting infrastructure.
• Build and develop an operations leadership team capable of supporting continued growth.
• Collaborate with engineering, R&D, service, commercial, finance, and executive leadership to align operational execution with customer and business requirements.

Preferred Background:

The ideal candidate will have spent a meaningful portion of their career within a semiconductor capital equipment OEM, semiconductor equipment manufacturer, or closely related wafer fabrication equipment environment.

Relevant industry and technology exposure may include:

• Semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment (WFE)
• Semiconductor processing and production equipment
• Thin-film deposition and wafer-processing equipment
• Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD)
• Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)
• Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD)
• Etch, clean, and related semiconductor process equipment
• Metrology and inspection equipment
• Wafer handling, robotics, and factory automation systems
• Vacuum and process equipment
• Gas and chemical delivery systems
• Plasma, RF, thermal, and related semiconductor processing technologies
• Complex components, assemblies, and subsystems incorporated into semiconductor manufacturing equipment

Successful candidates are likely to bring:

• Progressive leadership responsibility within semiconductor capital equipment manufacturing, manufacturing operations, manufacturing engineering, operations engineering, or a related business function.
• Experience with complex, highly engineered electromechanical equipment and high-mix, low-volume manufacturing environments.
• Experience overseeing multiple operational disciplines rather than a narrowly defined functional area.
• A strong understanding of how sophisticated equipment progresses from prototype and engineering development through new product introduction (NPI), manufacturing readiness, production ramp, and scalable production.
• Experience helping an organization increase production while improving manufacturing consistency, predictability, and operational discipline.
• Experience working closely with engineering and R&D on design for manufacturability (DFM), design transfer, engineering change management, configuration control, equipment integration, and production readiness.
• Meaningful responsibility for supply chain management, procurement, strategic sourcing, supplier development, supplier quality management, material planning, inventory management, and production planning.
• Experience managing complex domestic or global supplier networks supporting technically demanding equipment manufacturing.
• Demonstrated ability to improve manufacturing economics while maintaining demanding expectations for product quality, equipment reliability, and customer delivery.
• Experience using operational KPIs to manage cost, quality, delivery, inventory, throughput, capacity, supplier performance, and manufacturing efficiency.
• Experience with production scale-up, capacity expansion, and operational transformation in a growing equipment manufacturing organization.
• Experience developing managers, building teams, and establishing accountability across cross-functional operations.
• Knowledge of Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, continuous improvement, root-cause analysis, and structured problem solving.
• Strong financial and business acumen related to manufacturing costs, inventory, capital requirements, sourcing decisions, and operational investments.
• A bachelor’s degree in engineering, manufacturing, operations, business, or a related discipline. Advanced education is beneficial.

The Opportunity:

The company is entering a stage where manufacturing scalability and operational execution will become increasingly important to continued commercial growth.

The Vice President of Operations will have broad influence over how the organization builds the manufacturing infrastructure, leadership capabilities, supplier network, and operating systems needed to support increasing production of sophisticated semiconductor equipment.

This is an opportunity for an experienced semiconductor equipment leader to take significant operational ownership and help shape a growing manufacturing organization during an important stage of expansion.

Compensation & Benefits:

• Base salary: $100,000–$175,000, based on experience and qualifications
• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance
• Paid holidays and PTO
• Flexible Spending Account
• 401(k) plan with company match

This is primarily an on-site leadership position in Denver, Colorado, within an advanced equipment manufacturing environment. Travel may be required based on business, supplier, and customer needs.