Production Manager
About the job
- A bachelor's degree in engineering or a STEM discipline, or at least five years of professional leadership experience in a manufacturing environment.
- At least five years of production operations or process development experience.
- At least three years of experience in a leadership position.
- Hire, lead, and mentor a team of supervisors, technicians, and machinists across skid integration, turbomachinery build, machining, and welding operations.
- Support facility activation, new product introductions, line expansions, and workflow upgrades; contribute to strategic decision-making on production layout and bringing new capability online.
- Ensure a strong focus on safety and maintain an excellent safety record across all production operations.
- Create and enforce training and career development paths to ensure on-time delivery, improve quality, and reduce lead time and cost.
- Define and enforce operational standards with strict accountability.
- Drive continuous improvement in manufacturing processes, procedures, quality, and production rate.
- Collaborate with manufacturing engineering, quality, and leadership to align on long-term goals and resolve complex production issues.
- Challenge assumptions and requirements to establish a streamlined, first-principles manufacturing environment.
- Foster a culture of continuous improvement, operational excellence, and high performance.
- Conduct performance reviews and develop team members to maintain a world-class manufacturing organization.
- Experience leading production across skid or module integration, machining, and welding disciplines.
- Experience leading new product introduction through to volume production.
- Experience with equipment and support systems used across a turbomachinery or precision fabrication value stream, including machining, welding, assembly, test, and inspection.
- Experience with equipment qualification, validation, and troubleshooting in a production manufacturing environment.
- Experience presenting technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
- Experience implementing or sustaining quality management systems such as ISO 9001.
About the company
Karman Industries provides modular, prefabricated industrial heating systems that act as drop-in replacements for existing natural gas boilers. Their retrofit solutions are designed to be easily integrated into current facilities, enabling low-temperature heating across industries such as chemicals, textiles, food, and beverage. The systems retrofit existing heat setups to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower operating costs, while enhancing redundancy and resiliency in the plant’s heating infrastructure. Unlike traditional boiler upgrades, Karman emphasizes modular, easily installable units that can be deployed globally to replace fossil fuel-based heat with more efficient alternatives. The company’s goal is to cut emissions and costs at scale by offering retrofit-ready heating solutions that can be adopted without extensive overhauls, tapping into the global market for low-temperature industrial heat.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
Series A
Total Funding
$31.5M
Headquarters
Signal Hill, California
Founded
2024
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- AI data-center power demand drove Karman’s January 2026 launch and February manufacturing partnership.
- A February 2026 $7.5 million round followed a $20 million raise, funding commercialization.
- CO2 refrigerant avoids water use and PFAS scrutiny, aligning with stricter 2026 siting rules.
What critics are saying
- Karman’s first deliveries start Q3 2026; any slip destroys credibility with hyperscalers.
- Trane Technologies and Schneider Electric can bundle cheaper, proven systems and block pilots.
- If HPU efficiency claims miss field data, Karman becomes an expensive concept, not infrastructure.
What makes Karman Industries unique
- Karman’s CO2 HPU targets 10MW data-center cooling with zero water use and 80% smaller yards.
- The company borrows rocket-turbomachinery design from SpaceX, plus 800V DC compatibility.
- GigaWerx plans 1GW annual output in Los Angeles, rare for an early thermal startup.
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Benefits
- Health Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- 401(k) Retirement Plan
- Stock Options