Manufacturing Director

Rivan Industries (Rivan.com) is a synthetic fuel company designed to decarbonise heavy industry. We aim to make synthetic fuel cheaper than fossil fuels and sustain life on earth by keeping the CO₂ locked underground.

We design and manufacture modular synthetic fuel plants consisting of a DAC system, an Alkaline Electrolyser, and a Sabatier Reactor, whilst vertically integrating with off-grid DC solar and the European gas-grid. We’ve recently deployed the UK’s largest synthetic fuel plant and are planning to 1000x this scale in the next 2 years.

Distilled down, the Rivan system is a large amount of stainless steel with a crazy amount of entropy. We need to wrestle that entropy into formation with sheet metal & pipe bending, laser cutting, welding and injection moulding. Rivan’s manufacturing set-up is unlike automotive or complex battery manufacturing, where we will operate between 1000-5000 systems per year (low-volume) with simpler material processing and assembly steps. This drives us to set-up production facilities quickly, cheaply, and efficiently.

We’re looking for a Manufacturing Director to help us design our first manufacturing facility producing up to 50 of our 1MW systems / yr in South Bermondsey. The ideal person for this role is deeply technical, has a great aptitude to understand and remove production bottlenecks, and thinks in systems – understanding the roles finance, recruitment, engineering, supply chain, Q&A, distribution and logistics play in a complex manufacturing set-up.

The role Manufacturing P&L ownership Capex (all equipment and purchases) & Opex Manufacturing Recruitment Every role required, across technicals, QA, fabrication, contractors, specialists will report to this role. Manufacturing Operations QA & NCR process Risk Management Establish quality check process throughout production line until product shipping Establishment and management of ERP system Introduction of Quality Management System (QMS) OEE Ownership Manufacturing Supply Chain Including raw materials and all suppliers Supplier selection and auditing Design and architecture to scale operation Designing the factory to scale from 50 to >1000 systems/yr Design & Set-up (personnel, equipment, process) Layouts Location Core skills 8-10+ year professional experience in production and manufacturing. Bachelor’s or Masters in engineering (Mech/Aero/other) Experience owning, designing and operating various similar manufacturing plants Has been an IC building great products with complex engineering before Elite communication, mathematical/analytical, and organisation skills Specifics £150-200k Salary depending on experience Share options as part of the early team In-person work at our factory in South-Bermondsey, London – flexibility considered based on personal circumstances Private health insurance Visa sponsorship available Unlimited time-off We encourage exceptional applicants from all backgrounds to apply for this role, even if they do not meet all the requirements listed.