Director, Contract Manufacturing Operations

About Aether Aether engineers enzymes and uses them to make materials that are difficult or impossible to produce any other way. The long-term goal is to manufacture more or less anything, quickly and cheaply, anywhere, by drawing on a few billion years of evolution rather than inventing the chemistry from scratch. Today that work pays for itself through advanced print materials. These are shipping into defense and unmanned systems, with revenue and strong customer feedback. Aether is a Series A company that has raised a little over $60M, with a small team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The role Aether manufactures its materials through a network of contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs), covering everything from chemical synthesis through compounding and finished material production. This role owns that network day to day. The VP of Manufacturing selects and qualifies CMO partners. From there, you make sure each partner delivers what it committed to: on time, on spec, and at the agreed cost.

You’ll be Aether’s representative on site at each partner. You’ll know the production plan at every CMO, keep partners accountable to their contracts, and act quickly when things go off track. This role works at the level of plant and site leadership. It’s the counterpart to our process engineers, who work with CMO engineering teams on the technical details. You’ll also keep manufacturing execution in line with commercial demand, so that what Aether sells is what the network can actually produce.

This is one of the first hires in a new manufacturing organization. You’ll be setting how Aether manages its CMO partners for years to come.

What you’ll do

• Own day-to-day performance of Aether’s CMO network across multiple sites and production stages.

• Ensure each partner has credible production plans that meet Aether’s schedule, specifications, and cost targets.

• Hold partners accountable to supply agreements, and escalate and resolve issues directly with site and plant leadership.

• Be on site for production campaigns and new CMO onboarding, and support the VP of Manufacturing in standing up new partners.

• Coordinate schedules and handoffs between partners where different stages of production happen at different sites.

• Translate commercial demand into production plans the CMO network can execute, in partnership with the commercial and supply chain teams.

• Track partner performance on delivery, cost, and output, and report it to manufacturing leadership.

• Work with quality and process engineering so that CMO execution reflects Aether’s specifications and process requirements.

What you bring

• 10+ years in manufacturing operations, with significant time managing contract manufacturers or outsourced production.

• Experience in chemicals, polymers, specialty materials, or similar process industries.

• A track record of holding external partners to commitments. You’re comfortable escalating to plant leadership and can do it without damaging the relationship.

• Working fluency in supply agreements, production scheduling, and manufacturing cost drivers.

• Strong organizational and program management skills across multiple sites at once.

• Willingness to travel 30 to 50% of the time.

Nice to have

• Experience working at a CMO or tolling facility, so you know the other side of the table.

• Experience at an early-stage or fast-growing company.

• Familiarity with ISO 9001 quality systems.

Note The pay range for this role is $140,000 to $200,000 per year plus equity, with final compensation based on skills and experience.

Aether is committed to building an inclusive and diverse workplace. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and do not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, gender identity or expression, marital or civil-partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation. All employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business needs.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates throughout the recruitment process. If you require any adjustments to participate fully in interviews or assessments, please let us know and we will work with you to support your needs.