What You'll Do
Lead the Manufacturing Engineering Function
- Lead, develop, and manage the Manufacturing Engineering team, establishing priorities, goals, and performance expectations.
- Provide technical and operational leadership to ensure manufacturing engineering activities support production, quality, cost, delivery, and business objectives.
- Establish priorities across competing engineering and operational needs and ensure resources are aligned to the highest-value opportunities.
- Develop team capabilities, identify skill gaps, and build a strong pipeline of technical talent.
- Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and proactive problem-solving.
Drive Manufacturing and Operational Performance
- Partner with Operations leadership to improve manufacturing performance, productivity, capacity, quality, cost, and delivery.
- Establish and monitor key manufacturing performance metrics, including downtime, scrap, yield, rework, throughput, and process capability.
- Identify operational risks and constraints and lead initiatives to address them before they impact production.
- Develop and execute manufacturing strategies that improve scalability, reliability, efficiency, and resilience.
- Provide leadership during significant production issues, ensuring rapid containment, root cause identification, and sustainable corrective action.
Lead Advanced Manufacturing and Automation
- Provide technical leadership for automation, robotics, PLCs, automated assembly, and test systems.
- Identify and prioritize automation opportunities based on safety, quality, capacity, throughput, cost, and return on investment.
- Lead the evaluation, development, implementation, and optimization of advanced manufacturing technologies.
- Partner with Maintenance, Operations, Engineering, and external vendors to improve equipment reliability and manufacturing capability.
- Ensure automation and manufacturing systems are properly validated, documented, maintained, and supported.
Drive Continuous Improvement
- Establish and lead Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement strategies aligned with business objectives.
- Sponsor and oversee improvement projects focused on productivity, quality, cost reduction, waste elimination, and process stability.
- Ensure improvement efforts are supported by data, measurable objectives, and sustainable results.
- Promote standardization, simplification, mistake-proofing, and scalable manufacturing practices.
- Build a culture where employees proactively identify and resolve opportunities for improvement.
Own Manufacturing Process Development
- Oversee the development, optimization, and validation of manufacturing processes, tooling, work instructions, routings, and production methods.
- Ensure manufacturing processes are robust, repeatable, capable, and aligned with quality and production requirements.
- Provide manufacturing engineering leadership for New Product Introduction (NPI), including DFM/DFA reviews, process development, equipment selection, and process validation.
- Ensure manufacturing readiness for new products, processes, equipment, and production transfers.
- Establish appropriate controls and documentation to ensure long-term process stability.
Lead Problem Resolution and Risk Management
- Provide leadership for complex manufacturing problems involving equipment, tooling, automation, materials, processes, and product performance.
- Ensure effective root cause analysis and corrective/preventive action for recurring or significant issues.
- Use production data and cross-functional input to identify trends, systemic issues, and emerging operational risks.
- Establish control plans, standard work, monitoring systems, and other mechanisms to prevent recurrence.
- Ensure significant manufacturing issues are appropriately escalated, communicated, and resolved.
Collaborate Across the Organization
- Partner closely with Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, Maintenance, Product Engineering, Program Management, and other functions to achieve business objectives.
- Represent Manufacturing Engineering in cross-functional initiatives, product development programs, operational reviews, and strategic planning.
- Support quality investigations, CAPA, audits, and regulatory requirements.
- Work with Finance and Operations to develop business cases and evaluate capital investments, automation projects, and other manufacturing improvements.
- Build strong relationships across functions and ensure engineering priorities remain aligned with operational and business needs.
Build the Future of Manufacturing
- Develop and execute a forward-looking manufacturing engineering roadmap aligned with business growth and technology strategy.
- Identify opportunities to increase manufacturing capability, capacity, automation, flexibility, and scalability.
- Evaluate emerging manufacturing technologies and determine where they can provide meaningful business value.
- Lead initiatives that strengthen long-term manufacturing capability and support growth in a high-tech manufacturing environment.
What You Bring
- Bachelor's degree in Manufacturing, Mechanical, Industrial, Electrical, or related engineering field.
- 8+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing engineering, operations engineering, or a related manufacturing environment, with demonstrated leadership experience.
- Experience managing, mentoring, or leading engineering professionals and technical teams.
- Demonstrated experience leading manufacturing engineering initiatives from concept through implementation and sustaining performance.
- Strong understanding of advanced manufacturing processes, automation, controls, equipment, and production systems.
- Experience with PLCs, robotics, automated assembly/test equipment, or other manufacturing automation technologies.
- Demonstrated experience applying Lean, Six Sigma, or other continuous improvement methodologies.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to use data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities.
- Experience with NPI, DFM/DFA, process validation, tooling, and manufacturing readiness.
- Demonstrated ability to lead complex cross-functional projects and influence stakeholders at multiple levels.
- Strong business acumen and the ability to balance technical solutions with quality, cost, capacity, schedule, and operational requirements.
- Excellent communication, organizational, decision-making, and leadership skills.
- Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, high-tech manufacturing environment and manage multiple priorities.
Leadership Expectations
- Develop and retain a high-performing Manufacturing Engineering team.
- Set clear expectations and hold team members accountable for results.
- Coach and develop engineers and technical personnel to expand both technical capability and leadership skills.
- Make sound decisions based on data, business priorities, and technical judgment.
- Create alignment between Manufacturing Engineering and broader Operations objectives.
- Lead through influence and collaboration while maintaining accountability for engineering outcomes.
- Champion a culture of safety, quality, innovation, operational excellence, and continuous improvement.
What We Offer:
We appreciate that our employees work diligently to contribute to our success as an organization. We also recognize the importance of work-life balance and therefore developed a competitive total rewards package including programs that offer employees flexibility to balance their work and life including:
- 9/80 work schedule - enjoy every other Friday off!
- Flexible Vacation - employees can take time off as is reasonably needed
- Comprehensive benefits including medical, dental, vision, life insurance and disability plans.
- HRA (for PPO plan participants) /HSA (Health Savings Account for high deductible plan participants) contribution
- 401K with company match and immediate vesting
- Continuous Education Assistance
- Supportive culture that values innovation, collaboration, and excellence