Lykos Industries · 1 day ago
Chief Operating Officer
Atlanta, GA
Full-time
Onsite
Director/Executive
10+ years expLykos Industries is a U.S.-based advanced materials and manufacturing company focused on building defense-grade components for extreme environments. As the Chief Operating Officer, you will lead the transition from lab-validated materials to scalable manufacturing capabilities, overseeing the entire production process from strategy to delivery.
Defense & Space
Hiring Manager
Jacob K.
Responsibilities
Design and own Lykos’ end-to-end manufacturing strategy, from raw material inputs to finished ceramic components and modular processing cells for distributed manufacturing
Define and build the initial MVP manufacturing cell, including equipment selection, layout, tooling, and CAPEX planning
Integrate laser-enabled manufacturing processes with ceramic material workflows to ensure repeatability, yield, and quality
Establish production process controls, quality systems, and documentation aligned with aerospace and defense standards
Identify scale-up risks, cost inflection points, and throughput constraints early and engineer them out across multiple material SKUs and partner environments
Serve as the primary operational interface with defense primes, manufacturing partners, and government stakeholders
Develop the operational playbook for scaling from pilot production to higher-volume manufacturing of materials and modular processing cells
Partner with the CEO and CSO to translate technical strategy into executable operational milestones
Recruit and manage cross-functional teams (engineering, operations, procurement, research)
Champion a culture of precision, accountability, and disciplined execution appropriate for defense manufacturing
Qualification
Required
10+ years of experience in advanced manufacturing, aerospace, defense, or precision industrial operations
Proven experience building or launching new production lines, manufacturing cells, or pilot facilities in one or more of the following sectors: Advanced Manufacturing (Carbon, Velo3D, Relativity, Divergent, etc.), Aerospace / Defense (Anduril, Raytheon, SpaceX, Northrop, etc.), High Performance Materials (CoorsTek, Kyocera, Applied Materials, ASML, etc.)
Strong understanding of process engineering, yield management, and quality systems
Experience operating multi-million dollar projects within regulated environments (AS9100, ITAR, DFARS, or equivalent)
Demonstrated ability to operate in early-stage, fast-moving environments
Comfort working hands-on across engineering, operations, and external partners
Preferred
Advanced Degree in Material Science / Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering
Background in laser-based manufacturing, ceramics, composites, or advanced materials
Experience supporting defense primes or government production programs
Prior leadership role in scaling manufacturing from prototype to production
Familiarity with supplier qualification and defense procurement expectations
Company
Lykos Industries
Lykos is building advanced materials and manufacturing infrastructure for U.S. defense and critical industrial systems.
11-50 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Early StageCompany data provided by crunchbase