Production Manager

About SYOS Aerospace

SYOS is a pioneering aerospace and technology company developing the next generation of autonomous vehicles across air, land and sea. We combine advanced engineering, intelligent autonomy and innovative manufacturing to develop unmanned systems designed to operate in some of the world’s most challenging environments.

As we expand our UK and European operations, we’re building the production capability to take our autonomous air vehicles from engineering and development into repeatable, scalable manufacturing.

This is where you come in.

About the Role

We’re looking for an experienced Production Manager to run and own our UK Maritime facility. This is a hands-on leadership role with end-to-end ownership of the site, responsible for ensuring our autonomous maritime vessels are manufactured safely, efficiently, on time and to the highest quality standards.

You’ll lead the facility’s day-to-day operation, overseeing production planning, people, resources, schedules, site readiness and operational performance. Working closely with Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain and Project Management, you’ll turn production plans into reality and build the systems, team and culture needed to scale the maritime operation.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Own and run the SYOS Maritime facility end to end, ensuring production plans are delivered safely, efficiently and to the required quality standards.
• Take ownership of the site itself, including facility layout, equipment, maintenance, site readiness and the health, safety and environmental standards of the whole facility.
• Manage the facility’s operating budget and performance, with accountability for cost, productivity and delivery.
• Create, maintain and communicate daily, weekly and monthly production schedules aligned with customer and business priorities.
• Plan production resources, labour, skills, equipment and materials, identifying constraints and risks early.
• Drive continuous improvement across Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost and Morale (SQDCM) using lean manufacturing principles.
• Build, lead, coach and develop the facility team, including Production Team Leaders, technicians and shop-floor personnel, creating a culture of accountability, ownership and continuous improvement.
• Monitor production output, efficiency, labour utilisation, quality and schedule adherence, using KPIs to drive performance.
• Work closely with Quality to resolve non-conformances, support root cause analysis and implement corrective actions.
• Partner with Manufacturing Engineering to improve processes, tooling, work instructions, ERP routings and overall manufacturability.
• Coordinate with Supply Chain, Stores and Purchasing to ensure materials, components and equipment are available when needed.
• Represent Production in engineering change control and New Product Introduction (NPI), assessing production readiness and implementation requirements.
• Act as the senior point of contact for the Maritime facility, working alongside the Air Production site to share best practice across SYOS UK operations.

What You’ll Bring

• We’re looking for an experienced, hands-on production leader who thrives in a fast-moving manufacturing environment and wants to own a site as it grows. You’ll have commercial awareness and an understanding of cost, productivity, efficiency, delivery performance and waste reduction.
• Proven experience leading production, manufacturing or assembly operations within a UK manufacturing environment**, ideally with responsibility for a whole site or facility**.
• Experience working in a regulated or quality-focused manufacturing environment, ideally marine, defence, aerospace, electronics or advanced engineering. Experience building boats, vessels or marine systems would be a strong advantage.
• Experience managing production schedules, production planning, resource plans, daily priorities and operational KPIs.
• Strong people leadership experience, including building teams and coaching and developing team leaders, technicians, operators or other shop-floor personnel.
• A strong understanding of health, safety and environmental requirements within a manufacturing environment**, including site-level responsibility**.
• Experience managing budgets and facility costs.
• Experience using ERP/MRP systems for production planning, materials control, routings, work orders and reporting.
• Experience driving continuous improvement, root cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across Production, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain and Project Management.

Qualifications & Training

• A qualification in engineering, manufacturing, operations management or a related discipline (HNC/HND, apprenticeship, degree or equivalent experience) is desirable.
• Additional experience or qualifications in the following would be advantageous:
• IOSH Managing Safely, NEBOSH or equivalent
• Lean Manufacturing
• Six Sigma

Why Join SYOS?

This isn’t a role where you’ll simply maintain an established production line. You’ll join SYOS at a pivotal stage of growth with the chance to own a facility and build the manufacturing operation behind a new generation of autonomous maritime vessels. You’ll work alongside engineers, manufacturing specialists and technology leaders to solve real-world challenges and turn innovative designs into products that can be built repeatedly, reliably and at scale.

If you’re an experienced Production Manager who wants to own a site, build a team, improve processes and make complex manufacturing operations work, we’d love to hear from you.