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Manufacturing Engineering Lead

Advastar

Sycamore, IL · Posted October 15, 2026

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About the job

#jobalert | DIRECT PLACEMENT | MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING LEAD | Sycamore, IL area

A long-established industrial manufacturer with multiple U.S. production facilities is hiring a Manufacturing Engineering Lead to run day-to-day technical leadership for its plant engineering team. This is a hands-on leadership seat: you'll coach engineers, keep capital and continuous improvement projects on track, and act as the go-to technical partner for the site's senior engineering leader. You'll have real authority over how projects get planned and executed across multiple plants, without the title yet carrying full people-management weight. Strong track record leading capital projects and developing engineers gets you a serious look.

Anticipated $110,000–$135,000, based on experience

Full suite of benefits: Health/Dental/Vision, PTO

Overview

Own day-to-day technical leadership and coaching for a team of plant manufacturing engineers

Keep capital and continuous improvement projects on schedule and within budget across four manufacturing sites

Review project scopes, timelines, risk, and resource needs before they become problems

Step in as technical lead during equipment failures, production disruptions, and major quality events

Standardize project management practices and engineering documentation across facilities

Mentor engineers — from early-career through experienced — on problem-solving, project management, and manufacturing decision-making

Partner directly with Operations, Maintenance, Quality, and Production to move plant performance

Run post-project reviews and turn lessons learned into repeatable process

Preferred Skills/Experiences

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or related field

7+ years of manufacturing engineering experience

Proven track record leading capital equipment projects of $1M+ from concept through startup

Deep working knowledge of manufacturing processes, equipment, automation, maintenance, and continuous improvement

Track record influencing engineers and cross-functional teams without relying on formal authority

Multi-site manufacturing experience

Experience mentoring or developing engineers

Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma background

ERP/CMMS system experience

KEYWORDS: manufacturing engineering, engineering leadership, capital projects, continuous improvement, CI projects, project management, plant engineering, process engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, equipment reliability, root cause analysis, cross-functional leadership, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, ERP, CMMS, multi-site manufacturing, engineering mentorship, manufacturing operations, technical leadership, capital equipment startup, production support

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