Director Of Manufacturing - Cannabis

OUR MISSION

We believe in building a diverse team and strive to make our company a welcoming space where everyone can impact the Company's success. We encourage talented people from all backgrounds to join us.

What You'll Do!

We are seeking a down-to-earth, low-ego, and highly skilled Hands-On Director of Extraction to lead and operate three specialized, small-scale cannabis extraction laboratories across Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. This role demands a true master of the craft-an expert formulator with deep technical expertise, verifiable formal education, and a proven track record of creating award-winning formulations and commercially successful products from concept to market.

The ideal candidate thrives in a player-coach role: equally capable of running extractions independently, mentoring a lean team (one assistant per site), and collaborating seamlessly with executives. Success requires an artisan-scientist mindset combined with very strong corporate business acumen: we are here to win by consistently delivering first-place quality at the most competitive production costs.

As a true hands-on extractor, you will be directly responsible for day-to-day operations, troubleshooting, and innovation. You will ensure that every aspect of production reflects your expertise while driving efficiencies through resource optimization, overhead reduction, and ROI-driven scaling.

Job Responsibilities:

StrategicMulti-Site Leadership

• Oversee and manage all extraction and post-processing operations across three labs.
• Develop, refine, and enforce SOPs to ensure safety, consistency, efficiency, and cost-per-unit performance.
• Collaborate in a team-first manner with Site GMs, Product Managers, and Inventory Managers to align production schedules, product development, and inventory with company growth strategies.
• Provide executives with data-driven insights on yield efficiency, cost-per-gram, production variances, and financial forecasting to support scalable, profitable expansion.

Hands-On Technical Execution

• Perform extractions daily as lead operator, maintaining proficiency across all non-CO methods.
  
• Personally oversee the majority of production runs, handling setup, monitoring, and teardown to ensure hands-on quality control and immediate adjustments.
  
• Mentor up to one technician per site through daily involvement and modeling of best practices..

Master-level expertise required in:

• Hydrocarbon Extraction: Closed-loop systems (butane/propane blends, cryogenic temps), live resin production, and advanced post-processing (shatter, wax, budder, THCa diamonds, terp sauce). Skilled at optimizing solvent efficiency (20-30% reduction) and parameter control.
• Ethanol Extraction: Chilled ethanol extraction for distillates and full-spectrum oils; refinement techniques (rotary evaporation, short-path distillation, decarboxylation). Ability to achieve 95%+ ethanol recovery for cost savings and sustainability.
• Solventless Extraction: Ice water extraction for full-melt hash and rosin pressing (25-90 micron bags, 140-220F), achieving 15-25% yields with automated systems to reduce labor intensity.
• Troubleshoot equipment and processes with precision, applying root-cause analysis (e.g., Six Sigma) to achieve OEE of 85%+ and minimize downtime.

InnovationQuality Assurance

• Drive vape product development with a tiered portfolio:
  
  • Connoisseur Tier: Live resin and live rosin vapes with 100% cannabis-derived terpene profiles, optimized for terpene retention (80%+).
  • ClassicValue Tier: Distillate-based formulations with curated terpenes, optimized for viscosity and stability.
• Implement rigorous QC from biomass intake to final testing, using HPLC, GC-MS, and residual solvent analysis while streamlining protocols for faster, lower-cost turnaround.
• Maintain strict regulatory compliance (e.g., Metrc), conducting proactive audits to ensure zero violations.

FinancialOperational Management

• Own departmental P&L, budgets, and KPIs with detailed variance reporting and ROI calculations.
• Drive cost optimization through bulk supplier negotiations (10-15% savings), lean manufacturing (20% faster production), and energy-efficient equipment upgrades.
• Manage procurement and inventory with just-in-time stocking, demand forecasting, and 99%+ availability to prevent delays and minimize holding costs.

Required SkillsQualifications

• 7+ years in commercial cannabis extraction, with 3+ in leadership.
• Verifiable portfolio of first-place awards (e.g., High Times, Emerald Cup) for vape or concentrate formulations, with direct involvement.
• Expert proficiency in hydrocarbon, ethanol, and solventless extraction methods, with ability to execute end-to-end processes.
• Deep knowledge of cannabis chemistry (cannabinoids, terpenes) and advanced post-processing (winterization, distillation, crystallization).
• Stable, verifiable work history launching successful, profitable product lines.
• Strong compliance knowledge, with hands-on audit preparation experience.
• Ability to balance hands-on technical execution with executive-level leadership and collaboration.
• High emotional intelligence, adaptability, humility, and a team-first mindset.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Biology, or related field.
• Multi-site operations management experience.
• GMP implementation experience integrated into hands-on workflows.
• Background in process optimization using Design of Experiments (DOE) or statistical analysis tools.

Location

• Multi-site role covering Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

We are committed to providing a safe and inclusive work environment and welcome applicants from all backgrounds to apply. If you have a passion for the cannabis industry and a strong work ethic, we encourage you to submit your application.

We are an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. We will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics.