Senior Manager - Manufacturing Business Systems

Location: Remote - must reside within approximately one hour of Philadelphia, PA or the U.S. Gulf Coast region. Regular travel between facilities required.

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Manufacturing Business Systems leader to lead the execution of the manufacturing-side enterprise systems strategy for a naval and commercial shipbuilding enterprise. Reporting to the Director of Shipbuilding Business Systems, this role is accountable for implementing and sustaining the ERP, MES, and PLM ecosystems that drive engineering-to-production execution across the shipyard.

The Deputy Director operates as the manufacturing counterpart to the Deputy Director for IT, translating the Director's overall business systems strategy into day-to-day execution for shipyard operations. This role ensures manufacturing systems comply with DFARS Subpart 242.70 and the six contractor business systems criteria at DFARS 252.242-7005 (and the underlying clauses, including 252.242-7006), while supporting on-time delivery, data integrity, and configuration control across complex shipbuilding programs.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on shipbuilding manufacturing systems leader with deep CMMC and cybersecurity expertise, strong DoD compliance experience, and a proven track record integrating ERP/MES/PLM in a heavy-industrial environment.

Key Responsibilities

Strategy Execution & Governance

• Implement the manufacturing business systems strategy set by the Director of Shipbuilding Business Systems, ensuring alignment with enterprise IT direction and shipyard operational priorities.
• Own the ERP, MES, and PLM roadmap for manufacturing - including release planning, configuration control, and integration priorities.
• Serve as the accountable leader for compliance with DFARS Subpart 242.70 and the six contractor business systems evaluated under DFARS 252.242-7005 (Accounting, EVMS, Estimating, MMAS, Property, and Purchasing), with a particular focus on the manufacturing-adjacent systems (MMAS, Property, Purchasing, and EVMS data sources).
• Prepare briefings, dashboards, and audit-ready documentation for internal leadership, DCAA/DCMA reviews, and DoD program stakeholders.

ERP, MES & PLM Ownership

• Lead configuration, enhancement, and sustainment of ERP (planning, materials, finance interfaces), MES (work orders, labor, shop-floor execution), and PLM (engineering BOM, configuration management, change control).
• Ensure the digital thread from engineering release through production execution is intact, auditable, and configuration-controlled.
• Partner with Engineering, Production, Supply Chain, Quality, and Finance to align system capabilities with work packages, material flow, scheduling, and labor tracking needs.

Cybersecurity & Compliance

• Ensure all manufacturing business systems comply with CMMC (current level applicable to contracts), NIST SP 800-171, and DFARS 252.204-7012 safeguarding requirements.
• Partner with the CIO organization on identity, access, encryption, logging, and CUI handling within manufacturing systems.
• Uphold cybersecurity best practices across the manufacturing systems portfolio and integrate secure-by-design principles into every implementation and upgrade.

Operations & Continuous Improvement

• Lead root-cause resolution for system incidents affecting production; establish SLAs and reliability targets for manufacturing-critical applications.
• Drive continuous improvement, process discipline, and user adoption across manufacturing users.
• Manage vendor relationships, SOWs, and license strategy for ERP/MES/PLM platforms.

People Leadership

• Lead and mentor a team of Business Systems Analysts, MES/PLM/ERP application specialists, and integration engineers.
• Coordinate closely with the CIO organization on shared services, infrastructure dependencies, and cybersecurity execution.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, IT, Computer Science, or related field; Master's preferred.
• 10–15+ years in manufacturing systems leadership, with demonstrable experience across ERP, MES, and PLM.
• Direct shipbuilding experience is required - familiarity with shipyard work packages, hull/block construction, outfitting, configuration control, and marine-specific PLM/MES workflows.
• CMMC expertise required - direct experience preparing for, achieving, or sustaining CMMC certification in a defense manufacturing environment.
• Cybersecurity credentials required - CISSP or equivalent professional certification (CISM, CCSP, or comparable), with a working understanding of NIST SP 800-171, DFARS 252.204-7012, and CUI protection.
• Working knowledge of DFARS Subpart 242.70 and the six contractor business systems under DFARS 252.242-7005 (including 252.242-7006, 252.242-7004, 252.244-7001, 252.245-7003, 252.215-7002, and 252.234-7002).
• Proven experience leading large-scale ERP/MES/PLM implementations, integrations, and sustainment.
• Strong technical foundation in databases, APIs, system architecture, and data governance.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills across engineering, operations, supply chain, finance, and government customers.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD security clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Cloud computing experience - architecting or migrating manufacturing workloads to cloud or hybrid environments (AWS GovCloud, Azure Government, or equivalent), including cloud security posture management.
• FOCI-mitigating experience - prior work under a Special Security Agreement (SSA), Proxy Agreement, Voting Trust, or comparable FOCI mitigation structure, including familiarity with NISPOM and DCSA/DoD CAS requirements for FOCI-mitigated entities.
• DoD contracting experience - direct exposure to DoD prime or major sub contracts, DCAA/DCMA audits, and CDRL/DID delivery.
• Continuous improvement / LEAN manufacturing background; Industry 4.0 or shipyard modernization experience (IoT, machine data, digital twin).
• BI and analytics platform experience (Power BI, Tableau).
• PMP, Agile/Scrum, or ITIL certification.

Key Competencies

• Manufacturing business systems execution
• ERP / MES / PLM integration and configuration control
• CMMC and defense cybersecurity compliance
• DFARS 242.70 / 252.242-7005 business systems adequacy
• Shipyard operations and digital thread ownership
• Vendor, contract, and license management
• Team leadership and cross-functional partnership

Physical Demands / Work Environment

• Combination of office and shipyard production environments; regular walking in industrial areas required.
• Travel between shipyard facilities, vendor sites, and program locations expected.
• Normal amount of sitting/standing, average mobility, extended computer work; close vision and ability to adjust focus required.
• Ability to work in fast-paced operational settings with shifting priorities and audit-driven timelines.

Hanwha Defense USA is committed to pay transparency and equitable compensation practices. The salary range listed for this position represents a good faith estimate of the base pay we reasonably expect to offer for the position at the time of posting. Actual compensation may vary based on relevant skills/experience, education and certifications, market conditions, geographic location and internal pay equity. In addition to base salary, employees may be eligible for discretionary annual bonuses, benefits, and other forms of compensation as part of Hanwha Defense USA's total rewards package. 

Hanwha Defense USA is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.