Strategic Operations Manager

Job Description

About the role

As Alloy Enterprises scales across production, compliance, and customer delivery, we are hiring a Strategic Operations Manager to serve as a trusted operational leader and key partner to our COO. This hybrid role combines deep ownership of regulatory and compliance programs (ITAR, export, grants, OSHA) with a broad operational mandate to drive process improvement, implement Lean programs, and help coordinate strategic cross-functional initiatives across the company.

This person will function as both a hands-on compliance leader and an operational excellence champion, bringing structure to fast-moving priorities and acting as a key connector between compliance, production, engineering, and business functions. If you thrive on building structure in high-growth environments, love learning, and can move fluidly between strategic planning and tactical execution, this is your opportunity to have a real impact.

What you’ll do:

Compliance Leadership

• Serve as Alloy’s ITAR Compliance Lead, developing and implementing internal control processes.

• Build and maintain international export/import trade compliance program.

• Lead compliance efforts supporting cybersecurity frameworks (NIST SP 800-171 / CMMC 2.0).

• Oversee grant application compliance, government reporting (CTA, ISO, CFIUS), and conduct internal audits and risk assessments.

• Develop and implement standard work, policies, and employee training for compliance procedures.

• Serve on the EHS committee and drive OSHA compliance.

Operational Execution & Strategy

• Act as a strategic right hand to the COO, helping coordinate and drive operational initiatives across teams.

• Support the COO in executing and maintaining operational activities.

• Serve as a cross-functional liaison to ensure the execution of operational priorities and internal process rollouts.

• Manage and track high-priority, multi-stakeholder projects that don’t have a clear owner—be the “go-to” person to get things over the finish line.

• Identify bottlenecks and opportunities for improvement across operations, compliance, and logistics.

Continuous Improvement

• Lead Alloy’s Lean operational excellence initiatives, including process mapping, standard work, visual management, and kaizen events.

• Create and maintain analytics to support company initiatives.

• Advance KPI frameworks that measure key performance areas like throughput, OEE, and cost efficiency.

• Provide training, coaching, and culture-building around continuous improvement methodologies.

What you’ll bring:

• BS in engineering or related field; advanced degree or certification (e.g., Lean Six Sigma) a plus

• 5+ years experience in a manufacturing environment with proven results in both compliance and operational improvement

• Deep knowledge of ITAR, EAR, OSHA, NIST/CMMC, and export compliance regulations and/or a strong background in Lean manufacturing, KPI development, and ERP readiness

• Exceptional organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities across teams

• Roll-up-your-sleeves, hands-on leadership style suited to fast-moving startup environments

• Experience working directly with senior leadership; ability to act as an operational generalist and trusted thought partner

Additional requirements

This position will require access to information subject to control under U.S. export control laws and regulations, including the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”). Please note that any offer for employment will be conditioned on authorization to receive controlled items without sponsorship for an export license.

Regarding Sponsorship

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa, including H-1B, H-1C, H-2A, H-2B, H-3, F-1 or OPT at this time.

Equal employment opportunity

We are committed to creating an equitable and inclusive environment for all our employees and seek to build a team that reflects the diversity of the people we hope to serve with our products. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.