Strategy and Operations Associate (Special Projects)

Join Hadrian, a fast-growing manufacturing company, as a Strategy and Operations Associate. In this role, you will be responsible for independently defining project scope, success metrics, and deliverables, as well as driving execution across teams. You will also prototype simple workflows, measure KPIs, and drive adoption until the mechanism runs smoothly. The ideal candidate will have 1-3 years of experience in top-tier consulting or high-growth startup operator roles, a strong interest in manufacturing, and the ability to operate in ambiguity.

• Independently define scope, success metrics, exit criteria, and deliverables for a project; run the operating cadence; deliver measurable outcomes.
• Translate ambiguous cross-functional problems into a sustained system with clear inputs, decisions, outputs, enforcement, and named owners.
• Drive execution across teams through clear ownership, dependency management, follow-through, and selective escalation.
• Communication: Strong verbal and written communication; able to communicate effectively across all levels
• Experience: 1–3 years post-grad in top-tier consulting (MBB, Strategy&, ATK, LEK, etc.) with evidence of implementation, or Strategy and Operations / Business Operations / Chief of Staff-type roles at high-tempo orgs, or high-growth startup operator roles (program ops, planning, bizops) particularly in Defense Tech
• Technical partnership: Can write clear requirements, outputs, and identify and discuss data quality with teammates
• Mission alignment: Strong interest in manufacturing and Hadrian, with the ability to learn and succeed in a fast-moving environment
• Operating system fluency: Comfortable working across Jira, Confluence, calendars, and dashboard tools to create repeatable cadence and documentation
• Ideal profile: Top-tier consultant or equivalent operator with 1-4 years of experience and demonstrated implementation and scrappy system builder instincts
• Comfort with ambiguity and pace: Demonstrated ability to take a messy problem with unclear inputs, create a plan fast, and deliver a usable v1 without waiting for perfect data or complete direction
• Low-ego, high-ownership “help anywhere” mindset: Willing to do whatever it takes to meet the mission, including hands-on operational support when required
• Ability to run a workstream: Can independently set scope, define metrics and exit criteria, align stakeholders, ship v1 quickly, and drive adoption through handoff
• Analytical self-serve: Strong Excel or Google Sheets; working comfort with tools like SQL, BI, retool, etc. is preferred to pilot, validate metrics, diagnose issues, and measure adoption; interest in automating manual processes
• Measurement mindset: Can define what must be logged and timestamped so adoption rate and handoff durability are measurable
• Strong judgment: You know when to be scrappy and when to formalize, and you can define “good enough” v1
• System-first operator: You enjoy getting your hands dirty and improving operations, not theoretical frameworks or deck-only recommendations
• Adoption leadership: You can create buy-in, remove friction, and make the “right” process the path of least resistance
• Systems thinking: You can translate messy reality and competing priorities into a system that links inputs to decisions to actions to accountability
• Shop floor curiosity: You enjoy learning from engineers and factory technicians to ground systems in reality; you find manufacturing fascinating and want to sit on the shop floor every day
• Ability to operate in ambiguity