Strategy & Operations Associate

Hadrian - Manufacturing the Future

Hadrian is building autonomous factories to reindustrialize America. By combining AI, advanced software, robotics, and full-stack manufacturing, we help aerospace and defense companies build rockets, satellites, aircraft, ships, and other mission-critical systems up to 10x faster and at significantly lower cost.

Following our $1.37B Series D at a $7.87B valuation, Hadrian is rapidly expanding our manufacturing footprint, launching new capabilities across welding, casting, forging, electronics, additive manufacturing, and more, while scaling our Factory-as-a-Service platform to transform how critical products are built.

Backed by leading investors including JPMorgan Chase, Valor Equity Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, 137 Ventures, Lux Capital, T. Rowe Price, and Morgan Stanley, we’re building the future of American manufacturing—and looking for exceptional people to help make it happen.

If you’re ready to take on the most challenging and rewarding work of your career while helping create American manufacturing jobs for generations to come, you’re exactly who we’re looking for.

The Role:

Hadrian builds autonomous, scalable manufacturing to strengthen the national security supply chain. As a member of the Programs team, you'll own major workstreams within high-impact customer programs and factory stand-ups that enable Hadrian's mission to reindustrialize defense and aerospace.

You'll work alongside program managers and leadership to turn ambiguous customer problems into structured plans, analyses, and schedules, then “make them happen.” You'll scope and build the business cases and models that move programs forward: proposal inputs, pricing analyses, execution plans, and schedules. You'll also run the day-to-day operating rhythm of a program and troubleshoot and provide perspective on execution challenges across all functions including engineering, operations, and supply chain.

This role is built to grow into full program ownership. We're looking for someone who can own outcomes and seamlessly move from a leadership working session or customer site visit to making sure your colleagues complete their badge paperwork.

What You’ll Do

Program Development & Scoping

• Work with Programs and firm leadership to define new programs and their early execution phases

• Join customer discovery sessions and site visits, and turn what you hear into structured requirements, assumptions, and open questions

• Surface cost, schedule, and delivery risks early, and drive the mitigation actions you own

• Own defined pieces of factory and production-line stand-ups, such as long-lead equipment, site readiness, or workforce ramp, through the reviews that clear a line to start producing

Problem Solving & Business Analysis

• Build the quantitative models behind program decisions: cost and schedule models, investment cases, and ROI analyses

• Pressure-test plans, estimates, and schedules from other teams, and flag issues and recommended fixes

• Contribute to proposals and capture for follow-on business, including RFP responses, Statement of Work inputs, and pricing support

• Track budget, actuals, and cost-to-complete for your workstreams and feed the program forecast

Cross-Functional Execution & Delivery

• Drive execution across all supporting functions including engineering, operations, supply chain, and software for the workstreams you own

• Own those workstreams end to end — scope, schedule, risk, and stakeholder alignment

• Build and run the PMO tools that keep programs honest (e.g., Work Breakdown Structures, Integrated Master Schedules, earned value tracking)

• Run the operating rhythm: recurring reviews, milestone and dependency tracking, program dashboards, and selective escalation

• Help carry programs from qualification and first-article approval through full rate production and handoff to steady-state operations

• Be a factory teammate when needed: help install a machine or ship a part

Communication & Stakeholder Management

• Build program materials and first drafts of executive presentations, business cases, and customer proposals

• Write status updates, decision memos, and risk reports with crisp recommendations and explicit tradeoffs

• Support customer program reviews and working sessions alongside senior PMs, including occasional visits to customer facilities

What We’re Looking For

• Experience: 2–6 years in management consulting, federal programs, manufacturing, or operations/strategy roles, within aerospace, defense, or industrial environments. Strategy & Operations, BizOps, or program operations roles at high-tempo startups, particularly in defense tech, also fit. You've run a workstream with real deliverables, not just supported one

• Education: Bachelor's in Business, Economics, Operations, Engineering, or a related field

• Travel: Willingness to travel 20–40%

• A&D and manufacturing exposure: Experience in aerospace, defense, or industrial manufacturing (Primes, OEMs, Tier 1/2 suppliers, or large industrial programs) is strongly preferred. At minimum, a real interest in how manufacturing works

• Communication: Strong written and verbal skills. You build clear, well-structured PowerPoint and written updates on your own, and you're comfortable presenting to and following up with senior stakeholders

• Analytical self-serve: Strong Excel and AI tools

• Ownership & Ambiguity: You thrive in fast-paced, evolving environments. When a problem is underspecified, you create structure fast and deliver a usable v1 without waiting for perfect data or complete direction

• Help-anywhere mindset: Low ego, high ownership, and willing to do whatever it takes to meet the mission, including hands-on operational support

What Will Set You Apart

• Steady when things shift: When priorities change or you need to make decisions with limited information, you update the plan, tell people what changed and why, and keep moving instead of defending the old answer or being stuck

• Strong judgment: You know when to be scrappy and when to formalize, and you can define a “good enough” v1

• Shop floor curiosity: You enjoy learning from engineers and factory technicians to ground plans in reality; you find manufacturing fascinating and want to sit on the shop floor every day

Compensation

For this role, the target salary range is $130,000 - $190,000(actual range may vary based on experience).