Head of Manufacturing

Job description

About Camphomes Camphomes designs and manufactures luxury teak kit-of-parts homes precision-engineered, beautifully crafted, and shippable to any site in the world. Co-founded by a capital markets veteran and a master craftsman, the company combines architectural-grade joinery with a manufacturing discipline that is rare in the high-end housing segment. Our current production facility is in Nicaragua; we are planning a new manufacturing plant in Panama to expand capacity, improve logistics access, and serve a rapidly growing global pipeline. Our target market is placemaker developers sophisticated real estate and hospitality operators creating branded residential communities, luxury resorts, eco-lodges, and master-planned destinations who need a premium housing and hospitality solution they can deploy at scale without compromising quality, story, or craft. We are at an inflection point. Camphomes is in active discussions with several large-scale placemaker developers, global SPEC homebuilders seeking super-premium product to extend their portfolios, the largest teak plantation operators in Nicaragua and Panama looking for scale offtake partners as their sustainable supply grows, and strategic investors positioning to back scale manufacturing. Each of these conversations points to the same conclusion: the company needs serious, investor-grade manufacturing leadership now. The Opportunity This is a rare role: equal parts greenfield factory architect, operational turnaround leader, and long-term head of production. The person we hire will design and commission our new Panama factory from the ground up, lead a phased upgrade and optimization of our existing Nicaragua operation, and then own ongoing production across both sites as Camphomes scales to meet placemaker, hospitality, and SPEC homebuilder demand. The successful candidate will work in close partnership with our Chief Craftsman to translate a craft-driven luxury product into a repeatable, quality-obsessed manufacturing system without compromising the hand-built feel that defines the brand and will be a credible, confidence-inspiring voice to the developers, builders, plantation partners, and investors who need to see that Camphomes can deliver at volume. What You Will Own 1. Panama Factory — Design and Build Lead site selection input, facility programming, and layout design for a new Panama manufacturing plant sized to serve global placemaker and SPEC homebuilder demand. Specify production equipment, material handling, dust collection, finishing, QC stations, and storage/staging. Develop capex budget, construction timeline, and commissioning plan; manage engagement with factory design consultants, architects, and equipment vendors. Own workforce planning: headcount model, training curriculum, and hiring plan for the Panama facility. Establish the production model (takt time, line balancing, WIP policies) before Day One not after. 2. Nicaragua Factory — Upgrade and Optimize Conduct a full operational diagnostic of the current Nicaragua facility: throughput, yield, quality escapes, material waste, workforce productivity, safety. Design and execute a phased upgrade plan equipment, layout, process, and systems that lifts capacity and consistency without disrupting current production. Implement lean manufacturing practices adapted to a craft-based product: standardized work, visual management, kaizen, root-cause problem solving. Build the QC infrastructure: inspection protocols, defect tracking, corrective action processes, and supplier quality standards. 3. Ongoing Production Leadership — Both Sites Own monthly, quarterly, and annual production plans across Nicaragua and Panama, aligned with the placemaker and SPEC homebuilder pipeline. Manage unit economics: cost per home, material yield, labor productivity, overhead absorption; drive continuous cost-out without eroding quality. Stand up the systems backbone: ERP/MRP or equivalent production tracking, inventory management, BOM control, purchasing discipline. Build and lead the manufacturing organization: factory managers, production planners, QC, procurement, maintenance. 4. Partner and Customer Confidence Be Camphomes' manufacturing voice in front of placemaker developers, hospitality operators, and global SPEC homebuilders able to credibly walk a sophisticated buyer through capacity, lead times, quality systems, and scale-up plans. Represent Camphomes to our plantation partners in Nicaragua and Panama on forecasted offtake volumes, grading specifications, and supply planning as these relationships deepen into long-term strategic partnerships. Serve as a credible presence in front of strategic and financial investors evaluating the company's ability to scale. What We Are Looking For Experience 15+ years in manufacturing leadership, with demonstrated progression from plant-floor problem-solving to multi-site responsibility. At least one successful greenfield factory build ideally one you led end-to-end from programming through commissioning. Deep background in one or more of: modular/prefab housing, panelized or timber-frame construction, mass timber, high-end architectural millwork, yacht or luxury hospitality joinery, or Japanese/European precision wood manufacturing. Track record of scaling a craft-based or high-specification product into a repeatable production system without losing quality. Proven ability to represent a manufacturing operation credibly to sophisticated customers large developers, hospitality brands, or production homebuilders and win volume commitments on the strength of that credibility. Experience operating in Latin America strongly preferred; comfort with Central American regulatory, labor, and logistics realities is essential. Skills and Mindset Fluent Spanish (business and operational). English fluency also required. Hands-on leader credible on the shop floor, not just in a conference room. Strong grounding in lean manufacturing, but pragmatic about how it applies to a craft-driven product. Quantitative operator: comfortable with capex models, unit economics, yield analysis, and production KPIs. Systems thinker will build SOPs, QC protocols, and the digital production backbone from scratch. Commercially fluent: can sit across the table from a placemaker developer or a SPEC homebuilder's head of procurement and give them confidence. Comfortable in a founder-led, fast-moving company where systems are still being built. Genuine respect for craft, materials, and the people who work with them. Disqualifiers Pure career in RV, manufactured home, or volume tract-homebuilder factories different quality ceiling, different culture. Remote-first candidates who cannot commit to substantial time on the ground in Central America. Leaders who need mature systems and large support organizations to function. How You Will Work With the Founders You will report to the Chief Executive Officer and work as a true peer to the Chief Craftsman. The Chief Craftsman is the authority on product design, materials, and finished-quality standards; you are the authority on how we manufacture to those standards at scale, on time, and on budget. That boundary will be defined explicitly in your first 30 days and protected by both founders. Compensation and Terms Competitive senior-leadership base salary, calibrated to background and base location. Meaningful equity participation in Camphomes. Performance bonus tied to factory commissioning milestones, production KPIs, and quality targets. Relocation and housing support for expatriate candidates; work permit and immigration support as needed. Travel budget commensurate with a two-country operating role. How to Apply Please submit a resume and a short note addressing two questions: (1) the single factory or production line you are most proud of having built or transformed, and why; and (2) how you think about industrializing a craft-based product at the scale a global developer or homebuilder would demand without killing what makes it special. Applications and referrals may be directed to Camphomes via BambooHR. All inquiries will be treated confidentially.