Manufacturing Engineer

Reports To: Plant Manufacturing Engineering Manager (hard line)

Dotted Line: Value Stream Manager

Department: Manufacturing Engineering

Role Summary

The Manufacturing Engineer II serves as an experienced technical leader responsible for improving process capability, equipment reliability, manufacturing efficiency, and operational performance across assigned value streams or focus factories. This role operates with greater independence than a Manufacturing Engineer and owns higher-complexity projects that directly improve safety, people, quality, delivery, cost, and cash performance. The Manufacturing Engineer II leads structured problem solving, mentors less-experienced engineers, partners with production and maintenance leadership, and translates operational needs into sustainable engineering solutions. This position is expected to influence cross-functional teams, manage multiple improvement priorities, and deliver measurable results through disciplined execution, data-driven decision making, and strong shop-floor engagement.

Core Responsibilities

1. Process Engineering & Daily Support

• Lead day-to-day and mid-range engineering support for assigned production areas, ensuring manufacturing processes remain safe, stable, capable, documented, and scalable.
• Develop, improve, and sustain standardized work, process documentation, job instructions, control plans, PFMEA, and engineering change documentation for moderate-to-complex processes.
• Lead root-cause analysis and corrective action for quality escapes, bottlenecks, downtime, scrap, rework, labor inefficiency, and process instability, ensuring solutions address true systemic causes.
• Support and influence Tier meetings by translating production data into clear actions, escalation needs, and measurable improvement plans tied to Cpk/Ppk, scrap, downtime, throughput, productivity, and labor utilization.
• Partner with operations and quality to resolve issues quickly and permanently.
• Serve as the technical owner for assigned value stream engineering improvements, balancing short-term production support with longer-term capability, reliability, and cost reduction priorities.

1. Continuous Improvement & Lean Execution

• Lead Lean improvement events and waste-elimination projects using time studies, line balancing, standard work, 5S, PDCA, Kaizen, A3 thinking, and value stream analysis.
• Facilitate structured problem-solving with operators, supervisors, maintenance, quality, safety, and supply chain teams to eliminate chronic losses and prevent recurrence.
• Support the ASD Lean Operating System and ensure engineering elements are sustained on the floor.
• Identify opportunities for process simplification to improve throughput and reduce cost.
• Develop business cases, project charters, savings estimates, implementation timelines, and sustainment plans for assigned continuous improvement initiatives.
• Coach Manufacturing Engineers, technicians, supervisors, and team leads on practical Lean tools, process discipline, and effective countermeasure development.

1. Automation, Tooling & Technology Integration

• Lead or co-lead implementation of plant automation, tooling, and technology projects, including robotics, sensors, vision systems, PLC upgrades, mistake-proofing systems, and digital manufacturing tools.
• Partner with maintenance, controls, quality, and operations teams to diagnose complex equipment and process performance issues, define corrective actions, and validate sustained improvement.
• Design, justify, validate, and standardize tooling, jigs, fixtures, guards, workstations, and equipment modifications that improve safety, ergonomics, quality, capacity, and repeatability.
• Assist with MES, IoT, or digital factory tools to enhance process visibility and traceability.
• Evaluate new technologies, automation concepts, and supplier proposals, providing technical recommendations that align with plant priorities, payback expectations, and long-term manufacturing strategy.

1. Maintenance & Reliability Support

• Lead engineering support for TPM, autonomous maintenance, planned maintenance, equipment centerlining, and chronic loss elimination to improve machine reliability and process availability.
• Analyze downtime, failure modes, PM effectiveness, OEE trends, MTBF, and MTTR to prioritize corrective actions and capital or maintenance improvements.
• Collaborate with maintenance on PM tasks, equipment centerlines, and predictive maintenance enhancements (MTBF/MTTR).
• Partner with maintenance leadership to improve maintenance standards, spare parts strategies, troubleshooting methods, and handoff processes between engineering, maintenance, and production.

1. Capital, Layout & Facilities Improvements

• Lead engineering input for equipment installations, line moves, capacity expansions, workstation redesign, and layout optimization, ensuring changes meet safety, quality, flow, and productivity requirements.
• Develop process flow diagrams, material flow layouts, and ergonomic improvements.
• Assist in commissioning and validating new equipment against safety, capability, and quality requirements.
• Manage small-to-moderate capital improvement projects, including scope development, cost estimates, vendor coordination, implementation planning, validation, and benefit tracking.
• Coordinate cross-functional readiness activities for new or modified equipment, including training, documentation, maintenance readiness, quality validation, safety reviews, and production handoff.

1. Technical Capability & Documentation

• Own and maintain accurate engineering files, CAD drawings, specifications, process standards, equipment documentation, work instructions, SOPs, and change records for assigned areas.
• Develop and deliver training for operators, technicians, supervisors, and engineers on new processes, equipment changes, standards, troubleshooting methods, and sustainment expectations.
• Ensure engineering changes are thoroughly tested and documented before release to production.
• Contribute to the plant’s technical capability roadmap by identifying skill gaps, recommending capability-building actions, owning technical projects, and mentoring less-experienced technical resources.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Industrial, Electrical, or Manufacturing Engineering.
• 5+ years of progressive manufacturing engineering experience in a production environment, including ownership of complex improvement projects, capital initiatives, or cross-functional technical implementations.
• Advanced working knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, structured problem-solving, standard work, line balancing, process capability, root-cause analysis, and sustained countermeasure implementation.
• Proficiency with CAD tools, engineering documentation, data analysis, project management, financial justification, and communication of technical recommendations to operations leadership.
• Demonstrated experience improving equipment, tooling, automation, process flow, labor productivity, ergonomics, quality performance, and manufacturing cost.
• Proven ability to work independently, lead cross-functional teams, mentor others, manage competing priorities, and influence sustainable change on the shop floor.

Preferred

• Experience with TPM, CMMS systems, reliability engineering, OEE improvement, equipment centerlining, or predictive maintenance methods.
• Hands-on exposure to robotics, PLCs, machine vision, automation controls, MES, IoT, digital factory tools, or data visualization platforms.
• Experience in discrete manufacturing, building products, metals, or assembly operations.
• Six Sigma Green Belt, Lean certification, project management training, or demonstrated equivalent experience leading measurable improvement initiatives.

Leadership & Behavioral Expectations

• Leads with strong Gemba presence, engages operators directly, and turns shop-floor observations into clear technical actions.
• Demonstrates advanced structured thinking, sound technical judgment, and practical decision-making under production pressure.
• Builds alignment across operations, maintenance, quality, safety, supply chain, and leadership teams to move higher-impact projects from issue identification to sustained results.
• Operates with ownership — sees issues through to closure.
• Upholds the ASD Lean Operating System and helps build a culture of standard work and accountability.
• Provides informal technical leadership to Manufacturing Engineers, technicians, and production teams by coaching problem-solving discipline, reinforcing standards, and raising the capability of the broader organization.

Position Impact

This role has an expanded impact on plant performance by leading higher-complexity engineering work, improving value stream capability, strengthening equipment reliability, and delivering measurable gains in SPQDCC performance. A strong Manufacturing Engineer II operates beyond task-level support by owning projects from problem definition through sustainment, influencing cross-functional teams, mentoring technical talent, and helping the plant build scalable systems that improve safety, quality, throughput, productivity, and cost performance.