- US NADAQ listed Company / Flagship Operation
- Location: Singapore Sector:
- Advanced Manufacturing | High-Technology
The opportunity
Our client is a global technology leader in one of the fastest-growing segments of the high-tech capital equipment industry. Demand for its systems is being driven by structural, decade-long shifts in global technology infrastructure, and the business has consistently outgrown every one of its competitors in its core markets.
Singapore is its global flagship manufacturing facility — a state-of-the-art site responsible for building, integrating, testing and shipping the company's most advanced systems to customers worldwide. It is not a satellite plant executing another region's plan. It is where the company's most complex products are built, where new products are industrialised, and where global manufacturing standards are set.
We are retained to appoint a Managing Director, Manufacturing & Assembly to lead that facility.
This is a deliberate hire for trajectory. The client is looking for a high-calibre operations leader with the technical depth to command respect on the shop floor, the systems thinking to scale a complex build environment, and the ambition to move into global leadership within the organisation. The successful candidate will report directly to the Head of Global Manufacturing and sit as a principal voice in the global operations leadership team from day one.
The scope
You will own the end-to-end manufacturing and facility organisation on site, spanning both High-Volume Manufacturing and New Product Manufacturing, together with hard-services facility management.
Manufacturing leadership
Full accountability for safety, quality, delivery, cost and efficiency across the Singapore site — complete systems and field upgrade/retrofit kits, built to customer configuration.
Lead a large, multi-shift organisation of production, assembly, integration and test teams, plus their supervisory and management layer.
Set the manufacturing strategy for the site and translate global operations objectives into an executable roadmap with clear milestones and measurable outcomes.
Own build execution in a high-mix, low-volume, high-complexity environment: multi-thousand-part bills of material, precision mechanical and electro-mechanical assembly, controlled build environments, sub-system integration, and full functional test and qualification prior to customer shipment.
Drive on-time delivery and cycle-time reduction in close partnership with global Planning, Sourcing, Purchasing, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Logistics and EHS.
New product industrialisation
Lead the transition of new products from engineering into volume manufacture — pilot builds, first-article, design-for-manufacture feedback, PFMEA and control plans, work instruction and training readiness, capacity and ramp planning.
Establish disciplined configuration and engineering-change management so that product evolution does not destabilise output.
Operational systems and continuous improvement
Build a genuine learning organisation grounded in LEAN and Lean Six Sigma: Kaizen, value stream mapping, DMAIC, 8D, structured waste reduction and layered process audits.
Install tiered daily management and a hard KPI cadence — daily, monthly and quarterly — with visible escalation and closed-loop corrective action. Short-term containment is expected; permanent countermeasures and sustained results are the standard.
Own the evolution and deployment of MES across the site — traceability, shop-floor data, digital work instruction and the analytics layer that turns build data into throughput.
Lead headcount and capability planning in a dynamic demand environment: right-sized labour models, multi-shift structures, skills matrices and a training pipeline that keeps pace with ramp.
Establish a structured change management process so improvement lands and holds.
Facility
As site head of facility for hard services, own the performance of critical plant and infrastructure — utilities, environmental control, mechanical and electrical systems, preventive maintenance regimes and resilience.
Govern the on-site facility contractor to clear KPIs and SLAs, with a formal review cadence and improvement plans.
Ensure full compliance with Singapore WSH and corporate EHS standards.
What we are looking for
Essential
Bachelor's or Master's degree in a relevant engineering discipline.
Substantial manufacturing leadership experience gained in complex, high-value, engineered-to-order or configure-to-order production — capital equipment, precision systems, or comparably complex assembly and integration environments.
Proven leadership of a large manufacturing organisation, including the management layer beneath you, with demonstrable results in safety, quality, delivery and cost.
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt as a minimum, with real deployment experience rather than certification alone.
Track record of identifying systemic operational failure, driving to root cause, and implementing countermeasures that hold.
Facility and infrastructure management exposure, including third-party contractor governance.
Communication range — able to hold a shift-level problem-solving huddle in the morning and present operational strategy to the executive team in the afternoon.
Strong record of developing people: coaching, succession, and building bench strength.
Preferred
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt or Master Black Belt.
Experience leading or materially contributing to an MES deployment.
20+ years in the manufacture of high-complexity capital equipment.
Experience operating within a global manufacturing matrix and influencing across regions.
Why this role
Flagship mandate. This is the site the organisation points to. Its output, quality and cycle time are visible at board level and material to the company's global commitments.
Criticality. The systems built here sit at a genuine chokepoint in a global supply chain. Delivery performance on this site is felt by customers who cannot easily source elsewhere.
Growth, not maintenance. The business is scaling. You are being hired to build capacity, capability and system maturity ahead of demand — not to hold a steady state.
Career trajectory. The client is explicit that this appointment is a feeder into global-level operations leadership. The right performer will be developed accordingly, and quickly.
Executive access. Direct reporting line to the Head of Global Manufacturing, with a seat in the global operations leadership forum.
Package
Competitive executive package, structured to attract senior manufacturing leadership talent into Singapore. Relocation supported for candidates outside Singapore.
Apply
Applications are handled in strict confidence by Connexus Global. Please apply directly or contact Ben McDonald — [email protected] for a confidential discussion.