---
title: 'Director of Manufacturing at NOX METALS'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-of-manufacturing-nox-metals-los-angeles-j9hnwe3x6f27'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-17'
---

# Director of Manufacturing at NOX METALS

- **Company:** NOX METALS
- **Location:** Los Angeles, CA
- **Compensation:** $129k–$143k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-10-11
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-17
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/nox-metals/0644b87f-af69-4ad0-a780-da6ca7c155dd

## Job description

Director of Manufacturing | Nox Metals | Detroit, MI or Los Angeles, CA

About Nox Metals. American factories deserve a supply chain that moves as fast as they do. Nox Metals is building it, along with the tools that run it. We’re a technology company supplying aluminum plate, bar, and rounds to aerospace and defense manufacturers. We use software and automation to supply metal to American factories faster than the industry thought possible.

The role. We’re hiring a Director of Manufacturing to build the operating system behind Nox Metals’ factory network. You will lead plant performance across sites, develop plant leaders, and create scalable standards for safety, quality, delivery, labor, equipment, and inventory. You will own both today’s execution and tomorrow’s manufacturing model. This role requires regular time on the factory floor and travel between facilities as needed.

You will:

- Own manufacturing performance across Nox Metals facilities
- Set standards and operating rhythms for safety, quality, delivery, productivity, and inventory
- Lead, coach, and hold Plant Managers accountable for results
- Build capacity, staffing, and equipment plans aligned with growth
- Identify network constraints and direct cross-site improvement work
- Standardize production, maintenance, training, and shift-handoff systems
- Partner with engineering and software teams to automate and improve factory workflows
- Partner with supply chain, sales, and finance on demand and investment planning
- Lead recovery plans for major operational or customer issues
- Help evaluate and launch future facilities
- Complete other tasks as assigned

You are:

- A manufacturing leader who is equally comfortable setting strategy and walking the floor
- Uncompromising about safety, quality, and material traceability
- Strong at developing Plant Managers and building accountable organizations
- Fluent in operating metrics, capacity, labor, and capital tradeoffs
- Able to standardize what should be consistent while respecting site-level realities
- Direct, low-ego, and calm under pressure
- Excited to combine manufacturing with software and automation

Nice to have:

- Experience leading multiple manufacturing or distribution facilities
- Experience scaling operations through rapid growth
- Familiarity with metals, machining, aerospace, logistics, or industrial distribution
- Experience opening or materially expanding a plant
- Familiarity with continuous improvement and production-system design
- Comfortable using AI tools to work faster and smarter

Benefits:

- Equity in Nox Metals
- Company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance

This role is full time and in person at our Los Angeles or Detroit facility, with travel between sites as needed.

Nox Metals is an equal opportunity employer. We hire based on skill, attitude, and fit for the work, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, height, weight, marital status, or any other protected status under federal, state, or local law. We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records in a manner consistent with the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, and the California Fair Chance Act.

## About NOX METALS

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: NOX METALS is an AI-powered metals supplier that provides instant quotes and rapid delivery of cut-to-size aluminum plate to American manufacturers through vertically integrated, software-driven factories.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage; raised $11.5M seed round per company website, plus $4.6M pre-seed from Y Combinator per LinkedIn – conflicting reports)
- **Headquarters**: Detroit, Michigan, United States (2703 23rd Street, Detroit, MI 48216)
- **Founded**: 2025
- **Founders**: Zane Hengsperger (Founder & CEO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Manufacturing, metals processing, industrial supply chain
- **Target customers**: Job shops, OEMs, Tier 1/2/3 suppliers, aerospace, defense, and industrial manufacturers (B2B)
- **Mission**: To reindustrialize America by supplying manufacturers at warp speeds and lower prices, with the goal of enabling 100x more parts made in the USA.

## Products & Services
- **Gondor (Ordering Platform)**: An AI-powered system where customers upload material lists or paste part specs, and the AI parses, prices, and returns a quote in under 60 seconds. Offers real-time order tracking, mill certs, and one-click reordering.
- **Nox Nest (AI Nesting Engine)**: An ML-trained bin-packing solver that evaluates hundreds of thousands of cut combinations to find the optimal path, reducing scrap and creating predictive inventory based on likely future orders.
- **Predictive Inventory**: AI that anticipates what American manufacturers need and stocks material before customers even place an order.
- **AI Schedule**: Machine-learning trained scheduling and job timing to lower lead times.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company)
- **Key Metrics**:
  - Total funding: $11.5M seed round (per company website) plus a $4.6M pre-seed round led by Y Combinator (per LinkedIn/Tracxn)
  - Team size: ~22 (per Y Combinator profile; LinkedIn shows 8 employees but 24 active job postings, suggesting rapid growth)
  - Headcount growth: +27.3% monthly (LinkedIn)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Y Combinator (led pre-seed; Summer 2025 batch), Jared Friedman (Primary Partner at YC)
- **Growth Signals**: Raised $11.5M seed round in 2026; 24 open positions; expanding from aluminum plate/block into steel, tube, and sheet; LinkedIn followers 4,148 with +8.3% monthly growth.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Vertically integrated factories**: NOX builds and operates its own automated cutting facilities, removing middlemen, brokers, and manual scheduling layers.
- **AI-first operations**: ML-driven nesting, scheduling, and inventory prediction deliver quotes in seconds and lead times in days rather than weeks.
- **Lower overhead**: Automation (robots pick, cut, package, label) reduces human bottlenecks, enabling better pricing and faster throughput.
- **Real-time visibility**: Every order tracked from quote to delivery, with mill certifications attached.

## Strategic Focus
- **Current priorities**: Scale the Detroit factory, expand product offerings into steel, tube, and sheet, and continue building out the software platform (Gondor, Nest, AI Schedule).
- **Direction**: Become the fastest and lowest-cost supplier to America’s industrial base by treating the factory as a software product.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Early-stage startup backed by Y Combinator; mission-driven to reindustrialize America; fast-paced environment where software and hardware meet.
- **Work environment**: On-site in Detroit, MI (2703 23rd Street). Roles span software engineering (perception, full-stack), factory operations, shift leads, sales, and IT/SecOps.
- **Perks & highlights**: Opportunity to work with advanced manufacturing technology (AI, robotics, automated cutting lines); competitive salaries ($80K–$150K for engineering roles); direct impact on the supply chain of American manufacturing.
- **Engineering culture**: Emphasis on building automated factories that are “the product” – software engineers work alongside factory operators to optimize real-time production.

## Sources
1. [NOX METALS Website](https://noxmetals.co/)
2. [Y Combinator Company Profile](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/nox-metals)
3. [LinkedIn Company Page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/noxmetals)
4. [Careers Page (Ashby)](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/nox-metals)

## Other roles at NOX METALS

- [People Operations Generalist](https://feeny.ai/job/people-operations-generalist-nox-metals-ferndale-mkyz87nf9kfa) — Ferndale
- [Recruiter](https://feeny.ai/job/recruiter-nox-metals-ferndale-dgj128t2kh6n) — Ferndale
- [Production Supervisor (Weekday 2nd Shift - DET)](https://feeny.ai/job/production-supervisor-weekday-2nd-shift-det-nox-metals-ferndale-j384akngkkkg) — Ferndale
- [Factory Technician (LA)](https://feeny.ai/job/factory-technician-la-nox-metals-los-angeles-ccxhfyjfjte8) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Operations Trainer](https://feeny.ai/job/operations-trainer-nox-metals-detroit-wpaekh9e021f) — Detroit, MI
- [Production Supervisor (LA)](https://feeny.ai/job/production-supervisor-la-nox-metals-los-angeles-6pjh802z7tcq) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Material Handler (LA)](https://feeny.ai/job/material-handler-la-nox-metals-los-angeles-w3ywe51e1gwk) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Assistant General Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/assistant-general-manager-nox-metals-los-angeles-6qh4nf81x4k4) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Plant Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/plant-manager-nox-metals-los-angeles-q6820a6dsq50) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Executive Assistant](https://feeny.ai/job/executive-assistant-nox-metals-los-angeles-4hc3gwzwjrqa) — Los Angeles, CA