Vice President, Operations | Aetherus Health

Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Reports to: Founder & CEO

Start date: January 2027

Employment: 0.6 FTE to start, scaling to full-time employment as financing closes

Career path: Clear track to Chief Operating Officer

Compensation: Salary + equity participation

About the Venture: Aetherus Health

Aetherus is an early-stage medical device company developing a pocket-sized positive pressure device that gives patients rapid, drug-free relief from breathlessness while passively capturing physiologic data during treatment.

The company is pursuing FDA 510(k) clearance for Lung Expansion Therapy, with COPD as the launch market and future opportunities in perioperative care and heart failure. The target is US commercial launch in Q3 2027.

Aetherus runs a deliberately lean model:

Global headquarters in New Jersey
Operating, clinical, and product development base in Pittsburgh
Engineering and development with an external partner in Minneapolis
Specialist partners used wherever they offer the best mix of capability, speed, quality, and cost

The Opportunity

We are looking for a disciplined medical device operator to own the full non-commercial path from product to patient: product delivery, engineering and software, regulatory, quality, manufacturing, supply chain, and launch readiness.

This is a hands-on executive role, not a strategy or oversight role. You will turn agreed strategy into delivered outcomes, keep complex programs moving through the messy middle, and make decisions within agreed boundaries. Much of the specialist capability sits with external partners, so you will lead through influence, contracts and clear accountability rather than headcount. As Aetherus scales, operational functions will report into you.

Your Role

Own Product to Market Execution

Build and drive the integrated critical path to US launch in Q3 2027
Lead product finalization across hardware and software: design freeze, V&V, submission readiness and manufacturing readiness
Surface risks and delays early, and bring options and a recommendation, not just the problem
Run a lean operating cadence that gives the CEO and Board confidence without bureaucracy

Lead Engineering and Development Partners

Govern day-to-day delivery across engineering, software and product development partners
Be technically credible enough to challenge assumptions and make sound operating calls
Hold partners to clear deliverables, timelines, quality standards and budgets

Regulatory and Quality

Own executive accountability for FDA 510(k) submission readiness and clearance
Keep regulatory work integrated with product, software, V&V and manufacturing plans
Ensure an appropriate QMS and design control framework as the team and supplier network grow

Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Launch

Select and onboard the initial manufacturing partner, including technology transfer and production readiness
Own the supplier, materials, inventory, logistics and fulfillment plan
Track COGS, supplier risk, capacity and lead times, and drive cost and manufacturability improvements

Build the Company

Co-own early hiring and progressively lead operations hiring
Decide with the CEO which capabilities stay outsourced and which move in-house
Represent Aetherus on the ground in Pittsburgh, including regular on-site participation in an accelerator pathway during the first half of 2027
Support clinical studies and health system pilots where operational integration is needed

What This Role Is Not

A commercial, business development or strategy-only role
A project coordinator role that reports status while decisions stay with the CEO
A pure engineering, regulatory, quality or manufacturing specialist role. This is an integrated operating leadership role.
A large company role supported by internal departments

Your Profile

You are strongest in the middle of complex programs and you carry work through until it ships. We are looking for someone who:

Values outcomes over activity and completion over presentation
Surfaces bad news early, challenges hard before decisions, then executes fully once aligned