Operations professionals in Aerospace
Production rate is a common thread in this aerospace operations group: Jim Hans was Operations Director B737 Fuselage at Spirit AeroSystems, Gus Villanueva is Director of Production Operations at Lockheed Martin, and Stanley Grett was a Program Rate Readiness Execution Lead there. Others hold operations titles at BAE Systems, GE Aerospace, Collins Aerospace, Northrop Grumman, Gulfstream and Parker Aerospace, suited to raising rate or fixing quality.
Professionals to explore
Abhijit Khandekar
LinkedInExperience: Director Operations · GE Aerospace
Lean manufacturing, quality assurance and business-level cost targets are the focus Abhijit Khandekar describes as Director Operations at GE Aerospace (since 2022), overseeing aviation business processes. Abhijit was General Manager Strategy & Operations at GE Aerospace (2021–2022) and, at GE, Senior Manager Operations (2018–2021), Opeartions Leader (2017–2018) and Manufacturing Program Leader (2015–2017). Lean and cost targets in aerospace manufacturing fit Abhijit.
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Erin Shoemaker
LinkedInExperience: Former Senior Operations Leader · Boeing
Erin Shoemaker was Senior Operations Leader (2022–2025), Senior Operations Manager, MQ-25 (2020–2022), Fabrication Manager (2018–2020) and Design Engineering, Control Account Manager (2013–2018) at Boeing, and became Vice President & General Manager at StandardAero in 2025, covering MRO component repair services. Erin lists production systems, quality, lean and EVM among strengths, which fits questions on production systems for a new program like MQ-25 and on MRO operations.
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Gus Villanueva
LinkedInExperience: Director of Production Operations · Lockheed Martin
At Lockheed Martin, Gus Villanueva has been Director of Production Operations since 2013, with responsibility for Manufacturing Operations at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. That long single production operations role fits questions on keeping an aircraft production line on rate and on schedule, and on how manufacturing operations are organized at an aeronautics business.
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Jamin Seippel
LinkedInExperience: Sr. Director, Multi-Site Operations Leader · Collins Aerospace
Jamin Seippel's Collins Aerospace titles are Sr. Director, Multi-Site Operations Leader since 2024, Director of Operations (2022–2024), Associate Director of Operations (2021–2022), Senior Operations Program Manager (2020–2021) and Senior Operations Manager (2017–2020). Jamin describes combining leadership, lean manufacturing, computer science and process-based strategy to make data-driven improvements. Multi-site operations and data-driven lean fit Jamin.
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Jason Hirigoyen
LinkedInExperience: Vice President Manufacturing Operations · Northrop Grumman
Flight test and system test roles plus a manufacturing VP title make Jason Hirigoyen a fit for questions on moving a program from test into production. Jason has been Vice President Manufacturing Operations at Northrop Grumman since 2022, after Director Program Management (2017–2022) there, and was also Director System Test (2008–2017) and Flight Test Engineer (2005–2006) at Northrop Grumman and Lead Flight Test Engineer at Adam Aircraft (2006–2008).
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Jim Hans
LinkedInExperience: Former Operations Director B737 Fuselage · Spirit AeroSystems
Fuselage production rate questions fit Jim Hans, who was Operations Director B737 Fuselage at Spirit AeroSystems (2009–2018), then Senior Director (2018–2023) and Vice President of Operations (from 2023), a role Jim now describes as retired. Jim also held Operations Leader Cessna Citation Columbus Development Program (2008–2009) and Product Line Manager Automated Fastening and Section Build (2003–2008) at Spirit AeroSystems.
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John Ortega
LinkedInExperience: Director of Operations · Gulfstream Aerospace
Since 2015, John Ortega has been Vice President and General Manager at Gulfstream Aerospace, and held Director of Operations (2015), Sr Operations Manager (2012–2015), Senior Operations Manager (2011–2012) and Senior Manager Quality Control (2007–2011) there. A U.S. Navy veteran, John describes directing manufacturing and production operations in the aerospace industry. Quality control and production management at Gulfstream fit John.
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Sébastien Baudry
LinkedInExperience: Directeur des opérations Operations Manager · Parker Aerospace
Sébastien Baudry is Directeur des opérations Operations Manager at Parker Aerospace (since 2022), after Industrial Group Manager (2019–2022), Innovation & Industrialization Manager (2015–2019) and Industrialization Manager (2013–2015) at PCM. Sébastien was also New Product Project Manager - Chef de projets nouveaux produits at MECAPLAST Group (2003–2005) and describes operations across aerospace, automotive and oil and gas. Industrializing new products for aerospace production fits Sébastien.
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Stanley Grett
LinkedInExperience: Director of Operations · Moog Avionics
Moog Avionics has had Stanley Grett as Director of Operations since 2023, after Lockheed Martin roles as Operations Senior Manager (2022–2023), Production Operations OpEx Lead Master Black Belt (2018–2022), Program Rate Readiness Execution Lead (2017–2018) and SCM Processes & Tools Manager (2016–2017). Stanley is a Lockheed Martin Corporation Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and the rate readiness role fits questions on preparing a line to raise production rate.
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Tim Kushman, PMP
LinkedInExperience: Director Of Operations - Space Systems · BAE Systems
Director Of Operations - Space Systems at BAE Systems since 2019, Tim Kushman also held Deputy Business Area Operations Director - Survivability, Sensing, and Targeting Solutions (2018–2019), Director Of Operations - Optical Electronic Warfare Systems (2015–2018), Director Of Manufacturing and Technical Operations (2012–2015) and Director Of Engineering (2011–2012) there. Tim describes managing operations organizations through multi-site, nationwide growth and solving manufacturing, technical and supply base problems. Scaling space systems operations across sites fits Tim.
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Choose the right perspective
For raising production rate, start with Jim Hans, Gus Villanueva or Stanley Grett; for lean and cost, Abhijit Khandekar or Jamin Seippel. Jason Hirigoyen suits the move from test to production, Erin Shoemaker MRO and new programs, Tim Kushman multi-site growth, John Ortega quality and general management, and Sébastien Baudry industrialization.
Questions to take into the conversation
- 01What has to be true in the supply base before you commit to a higher production rate?
- 02How do you catch quality problems early when a new line is still learning?
- 03Which metrics tell you a rate increase is stalling before the schedule slips?
About this directory
This is a professional research starting point based on business profile data retrieved on . Titles and companies reflect that source snapshot; roles marked former had ended by then. Check the linked profiles for current details. Inclusion does not imply Instant Expert membership or availability.