Engineering Manager

Job Title: Engineering Manager

Location: Onsite | Erlanger, KY

• No relocation assistance or per diem
• Travel is approximately 15% to 20%

Compensation: $110,000 starting salary | Up to $125,000 for the right candidate | 5% bonus potential

Top 3 Skills (in order)

• Design-heavy leadership
• Creative problem solving
• Process/validation discipline

Notes

• Food-grade and HACCP experience are preferred, not required
• Regulated design experience is more important than a specific industry background
• Client is looking to fill the role ASAP

Requirements

• 6 to 8 years of engineering leadership experience with a strong design-focused background
• Experience leading mechanical design for custom equipment or engineered-to-order products
• Strong creative problem-solving experience with a full-system approach to design decisions
• Strong process and validation discipline, including design reviews, documentation, manufacturability, and project execution
• Experience leading engineering teams, managing priorities, and controlling schedules, budgets, costs, and technical risk
• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Design Engineering, or a related field

Plusses

• Experience in regulated manufacturing environments such as food, life sciences, electronics, or aerospace
• Food-grade equipment, sanitary design, HACCP, FDA, or CFIA experience
• Electrical controls or industrial automation experience
• Custom equipment quoting, estimating, ERP, or parts-management experience
• PMP, Lean, Six Sigma, Master’s degree, or Professional Engineer license

_________________________________________________________________________________

**Role Overview: **This is a new leadership role responsible for the engineering function supporting custom manufacturing equipment and engineered solutions. The focus is on strong mechanical design leadership, creative problem solving, process discipline, and the ability to see projects from customer need through design, manufacturing, and delivery.

Core Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team of 7 to 8 designers
• Oversee mechanical design, drawings, BOMs, calculations, and design reviews
• Lead projects from concept through delivery, including scope, schedule, budget, and risk
• Establish engineering, CAD, documentation, and parts standards
• Support quoting and technical feasibility for custom solutions
• Partner with manufacturing to improve designs for cost, quality, and manufacturability
• Coordinate mechanical designs with electrical and automation requirements
• Work directly with customers on technical needs and project solutions

Team Environment

• Reports to the VP of Operations
• Manages 7 to 8 designers
• Works closely with Sales, Procurement, Production, Quality, Installation, and external technical partners
• Hands-on leadership role where the manager is expected to understand the full engineering and manufacturing process
• Client is looking to fill the role ASAP

Requirements

• Strong mechanical design and manufacturing background
• Experience leading engineering teams, projects, and priorities
• CAD experience with SolidWorks, AutoCAD, Inventor, CATIA, or similar
• Knowledge of manufacturing processes, production methods, and design for manufacturability
• Experience establishing engineering standards and technical documentation
• Ability to manage project schedules, budgets, costs, and technical risk
• Strong customer-facing communication and technical decision-making skills
• Ability to travel approximately 15% to 20%, primarily for early-stage project site visits

**Ideal Candidate Background: **Engineering leader from a custom equipment, machinery, automation, or engineered manufacturing environment. The strongest candidate has remained close to design work while leading teams and can balance technical design, project execution, manufacturing needs, customer requirements, and compliance.

Typical Day

• Review active design work and engineering priorities
• Guide designers through technical and project issues
• Review drawings, BOMs, calculations, and design decisions
• Coordinate with production, sales, procurement, quality, and installation
• Support customer discussions and custom solution development
• Monitor project schedules, costs, and engineering deliverables

**Task Breakdown and Workflow: **Design leadership | Team management | Design reviews | Project execution | Manufacturing coordination | Customer support | Quoting | Standards and validation