---
title: 'VP of Operations at NOX METALS'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/vp-of-operations-nox-metals-los-angeles-nz7kq9wng1hc'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-31'
---

# VP of Operations at NOX METALS

- **Company:** NOX METALS
- **Location:** Los Angeles, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-10-29
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-31
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/nox-metals/e74ee07a-e43c-4260-9ff5-f86a1f64cd40

## Job description

VP of Operations | Nox Metals | Detroit, MI or Los Angeles, CA

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 raw metal to frontier American manufacturers. We use software and automation to supply metal to factories faster than the industry thought possible.

We’re hiring a VP of Operations to build and lead the factory operations behind Nox Metals’ growth. You will set up new factories, hire the teams they need, train people to do the work well, and build the leadership structure that keeps every facility running at a high standard.

This is one of our most significant leadership roles. You will own factory launches and operational execution across our facilities, from getting a new site ready to produce to developing the managers and teams who run it every day. We need someone who has built factories before, or who has hired at significant scale and led large operational teams through rapid growth.

You will spend real time on the factory floor. You will make decisions, remove bottlenecks, develop leaders, and stay close to the work as the organization grows.

You will:

- Own new factory setup and launch, including site readiness, layout, equipment installation, staffing, training, and production ramp
- Build the organization each facility needs, hiring plant leaders, supervisors, operators, and the support teams required to execute
- Lead hiring at scale, with clear staffing plans and a high bar for the people who join the team
- Establish hands-on onboarding, training, and qualification programs so new hires can work safely and perform reliably
- Hire, coach, and manage leaders who can run large teams, develop their people, and take ownership of results
- Own day-to-day factory performance across sites, with clear accountability for safety, quality, throughput, productivity, and on-time delivery
- Build staffing models, shift structures, and management routines that support growth and reliable execution
- Set practical operating standards, work instructions, shift handoffs, and daily and weekly reviews that teams actually use
- Work directly with teams on the floor to resolve bottlenecks, address performance issues, and improve how the operation runs
- Partner with engineering and software teams to put better tools and automation into the hands of factory teams
- Turn successful factory launches, hiring methods, and training systems into a repeatable playbook for future facilities

You are:

- An operator with a proven record of opening and ramping factories, or hiring at significant scale and leading large operational teams
- Experienced building teams and management structures through rapid growth, with concrete results to show for it
- Strong at identifying talent, making hiring decisions, training people, and developing effective managers
- Comfortable owning operations across multiple facilities while staying close to the details on the floor
- Uncompromising about safety, quality, and accountability
- Direct, decisive, and calm under pressure; you make the call and follow through
- Practical and organized; you turn ambitious plans into clear priorities, owners, and execution
- Fluent in operational metrics and able to use them to improve performance
- High agency and low ego; you take ownership and do the work required to help the team succeed

Nice to have:

- Experience launching or scaling a network of factories or industrial facilities
- Experience building high-volume hiring, onboarding, or workforce training programs
- Experience leading teams across multiple sites or shifts
- Familiarity with metals, machining, aerospace, defense, logistics, or other demanding industrial environments
- Experience introducing automation or improving factory workflows with software

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

- [Material Handler](https://feeny.ai/job/material-handler-nox-metals-ferndale-4q5caeqbtyqv) — Ferndale
- [Factory Technician - Weekends First Shift](https://feeny.ai/job/factory-technician-weekends-first-shift-nox-metals-ferndale-h807psax0c4g) — Ferndale
- [Factory Technician - Weekday Second Shift](https://feeny.ai/job/factory-technician-weekday-second-shift-nox-metals-ferndale-5e7cm3c4gs3h) — Ferndale
- [Recruiter](https://feeny.ai/job/recruiter-nox-metals-ferndale-4z14byw3cd7m) — Ferndale
- [Factory Deployed Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/factory-deployed-intern-nox-metals-ferndale-nsfraerm8n11) — Ferndale
- [People Operations Generalist](https://feeny.ai/job/people-operations-generalist-nox-metals-ferndale-mkyz87nf9kfa) — Ferndale
- [Factory Technician](https://feeny.ai/job/factory-technician-nox-metals-los-angeles-ccxhfyjfjte8) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Director of Manufacturing](https://feeny.ai/job/director-of-manufacturing-nox-metals-los-angeles-j9hnwe3x6f27) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Operations Trainer](https://feeny.ai/job/operations-trainer-nox-metals-ferndale-wpaekh9e021f) — Ferndale
- [Production Supervisor (LA)](https://feeny.ai/job/production-supervisor-la-nox-metals-los-angeles-6pjh802z7tcq) — Los Angeles, CA