Director, Production Partner Management

About MISUMI Americas MISUMI Americas, a division of MISUMI Group, is a leading provider of standard, configurable, and custom manufacturing solutions. By integrating a vast catalog of components with a world-class digital manufacturing platform, MISUMI Americas empowers engineers and procurement teams to accelerate innovation across the entire product lifecycle. With operations in the San Francisco Bay Area and Chicago, the company serves as a vital partner for the most innovative companies in the Americas. About our New Venture This organization is a new, U.S.-incorporated manufacturing platform built to serve frontier-technology industries — humanoid robotics, aerospace, agricultural technology, and healthcare — where reshoring, national security priorities, and speed-to-production are reshaping how and where hardware gets built. Backed by MISUMI Group, a global leader in manufacturing solutions and precision components, this venture combines precision machining, final assembly/test/packaging (FATP), supply chain orchestration, and engineering services into a single U.S.-based platform. Our founding customers include leading humanoid robotics companies, and is being built from day one to grow with a broader roster of frontier-technology manufacturers as capacity comes online. Position Summary The Director, Production Partner Management leads the strategy, development, and management of the company's external partner network. This role is responsible for identifying, qualifying, and onboarding new partners to our new organization; negotiating and structuring joint venture (JV) and other strategic capacity partnerships, including co-investment arrangements with equipment providers, staffing partners, and customers; building education and government partnerships that support talent pipelines and manufacturing incentive programs; and ensuring partners meet the quality, capacity, and cost commitments required to support the business. The ideal candidate combines hands-on manufacturing operations expertise with strong commercial and negotiation skills and is comfortable operating at both the strategic (partnership structuring, JV governance) and tactical (plant floor, supplier performance) levels. Key Responsibilities Partner Network Development Build and execute a strategy for expanding the company's partner network across target processes, geographies, and capacity tiers. Source, evaluate, and qualify new partners through capability audits, quality system reviews, and on-site assessments. Lead onboarding of new partners, including capability mapping, pricing frameworks, quality agreements, and production ramp plans. Joint Venture & Strategic Partnership Structuring Identify and evaluate joint venture, co-investment, and dedicated-capacity opportunities that expand manufacturing capabilities or secure strategic capacity. Lead due diligence, business case development, and deal structuring for JV and strategic partnerships to our organization, in partnership with Finance, Legal, and executive leadership. Negotiate partnership agreements, including terms, governance structures, IP and exclusivity provisions, and commercial terms; represent the company on JV governance or steering committees. Manage the ongoing partner and JV relationship post-signing, including performance reviews, capital planning, and expansion decisions. Equipment, Staffing & Customer Co-Investment Partnerships Build and negotiate partnerships with capital equipment manufacturers and suppliers to secure financing, leasing, or co-investment arrangements that expand partner facility capacity. Develop strategic relationships with staffing and workforce partners to scale labor at partner facilities in line with production ramp and capacity plans. Structure and negotiate joint investment agreements with key customers to co-fund dedicated capacity, equipment purchases, or facility expansions in exchange for committed volume or preferred terms. Evaluate the…

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