Senior Manufacturing Engineer

The Senior Manufacturing Engineer is responsible for owning and optimizing assigned manufacturing value streams for heat exchanger products, from cost estimating and process design through production, validation, and lifecycle support. This role plans, designs, and sustains manufacturing processes and equipment to improve flow, quality, delivery, and total cost, while ensuring compliance with applicable regulatory and customer requirements.

The position leads structured continuous improvement initiatives using Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing, and Six Sigma techniques to eliminate waste, reduce variation, and improve value stream performance.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Value Stream Ownership & Continuous Improvement

Own assigned manufacturing value streams, ensuring alignment of process capability, cost, quality, and delivery performance with business and customer requirements.

Lead and participate in Kaizen events, Lean initiatives, and Six Sigma projects to drive measurable improvements in cost, yield, cycle time, throughput, and reliability.

Use value stream mapping and data-driven analysis to identify bottlenecks, constraints, and non-value-added activities; prioritize improvement actions based on financial and operational impact.

Apply statistical methods to determine root causes of process variation, defects, or failures and recommend corrective actions in designs, tolerances, materials, or processing methods.

Cost Estimating & Financial Impact

Develop and maintain manufacturing cost estimates and should-cost models for new and existing products, including labor, material, overhead, tooling, and capital assumptions.

Support quoting, pricing, and make/buy decisions by providing accurate, fact-based cost estimates and sensitivity analyses.

Partner with Engineering, Supply Chain, and Finance to track estimated vs. actual costs and identify opportunities for cost reduction and margin improvement.

Analyze and quantify the financial impact of process improvements, capital investments, and sustainable manufacturing initiatives.

Manufacturing Process & Equipment Engineering

Design, specify, install, and troubleshoot manufacturing equipment and tooling to support safe, repeatable, and capable processes.

Design and optimize manufacturing layouts and work cells to improve flow, ergonomics, capacity utilization, and efficiency across the value stream.

Identify and implement product or process changes to improve manufacturability, reduce cost, and enhance quality using knowledge of metal fabrication, welding, brazing, tooling, assembly methods, and quality standards.

Validation, Quality & Standard Work

Design and execute process validation, capability studies, and testing methods to establish manufacturing standards and confirm process robustness.

Review product designs for manufacturability, completeness, and cost effectiveness; support equipment, material, and supplier selection.

Evaluate manufactured products against specifications and quality requirements, troubleshooting issues related to design, materials, or processes.

Develop, document, and implement standard work instructions and engineering documentation for critical manufacturing operations to ensure consistency and sustainability of improvements.

Technical Support & Collaboration

Provide technical expertise and hands-on support to production, quality, and supply chain teams.

Support new product introductions (NPI) and continuous improvement efforts across engineering and operations.

Required Skills and Abilities:

Strong communication skills (written and verbal) with the ability to influence cross-functional teams.

Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to resolve conflicting priorities and gain cooperation.

Demonstrated experience improving plant layout and material handling.

Strong analytical and technical skills, including interpretation of drawings, schematics, and layouts.

Proficiency in MRP systems (Oracle preferred) and Microsoft Office.

Demonstrated experience applying Lean Manufacturing, Kaizen, and Six Sigma tools to improve and sustain process improvements and yield desirable results.

Project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities under pressure and fast-track project schedule.

Highly organized, process-oriented, and results-driven.

Creative, continuous-improvement mindset with strong problem-solving capability.

Education and Experience:

Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering (or related engineering discipline).

5+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing engineering.

Experience with metal fabrication, welding, and/or brazing of pressure-containing products.

Experience in a highly regulated industry such as Aerospace, Defense/Military, Medical Device, Nuclear, Automotive, or similar industry.

Demonstrated ability and willingness to use AI tools to improve productivity, decision-making, work quality, and to reduce costs. The successful candidate must be able to identify appropriate AI use cases and critically evaluate AI-generated outputs.

Other Requirements:

Due to the nature of our business programs and products, applicants must have the legal right to work in the US and additionally must be legally authorized to access export-controlled information and source code.