Reports to the Director of Operations. Executes portion of the strategic plan to align Engineering Department with organizational goals and objectives. Has responsibility of all facets of the production and release of engineering design portfolio and specifically for each project. Expectations include meeting and exceeding customer and leadership expectations through oversite of the entire design and design release process. Supervises the final work product of all engineering staff.
Candidate Attributes
Functional / Technical Skills – Has the functional and technical knowledge and skills to do the job at a high level of accomplishment.
Problem Solving – Uses rigorous logic and methods to solve difficult problems with effective solutions; probes all fruitful sources for answers; can see hidden problems; is excellent at honest analysis; looks beyond the obvious and doesn’t stop at the first answers.
TQM / Re-Engineering - Is dedicated to providing the highest quality products and services which meet the needs and requirements of internal and external customers; is committed to continuous improvement through empowerment and management by data; is willing to re-engineer processes from scratch; is open to suggestions and experimentation; creates a learning environment leading to the most efficient and effective work processes.
Managing and Measuring Work – Clearly assigns responsibility for tasks and decisions; sets clear objectives and measures; monitors process, progress, and results; designs feedback loops into work.
Priority Setting – Spends his/her time and the time of others on what's important; quickly zeros in on the critical few and puts the trivial many aside; can quickly sense what will help or hinder accomplishing a goal; eliminates roadblocks; creates focus.
Customer Focus – Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; gets first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in products and services; acts with customers in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their trust and respect.
Responsibilities and Impact
Engineering Management – Manage all facets of custom engineering (including mechanical, electrical, controls engineering, value engineering, labor resource allocation, engineer scheduling, labor budgets, on-time technical design approval and release, safety code compliance, and quality control.)
Budgets – Manage engineering labor efficiency budget for each project in portfolio. Take corrective action in advance. Manage labor hours per project and for the entire engineering project portfolio. Ensure engineering completion dates meet Production Manager expectations for customer delivery obligations.
Personnel Management – Manage the daily activities of engineering personnel and other contractors, ensuring efficient use of labor resources while meeting agreed upon customer design criteria and delivery dates.
Technical Customer Communication – Communicate with customers on a regular basis to qualify their needs, create clear scopes of work, manage change orders and approval, and communicate company's technical expertise.
Custom Machine Design – Provide technical design support as ‘player/coach’ to engineers that promotes appropriate engineering disciplines to meet the functional deliverables for both Production and Field Service.
Continuous Improvement – Drive engineering efficiency and cost effectiveness by implementing best practices and new and innovative solutions. Recommend, then implement opportunities to improve labor efficiency, quality control, meeting expectations of both customers and leadership.
Day-to-Day responsibilities modified based on needs of Customers (internal / external) and Leadership
\- Meet and exceed customer agreed upon expectations (functionality, quality, delivery time)
\- Accommodate unexpected labor requirements.
\- Manage both the engineering project portfolio as well as individual project budgets.
\- Cooperate with Production Manager to coordinate all design releases and scheduling needs; rework on Plant WIP designs sense of urgency.
\- Plan project kick-off meetings
\- Team supervision and leadership
\- Design and Develop New Products
Deliverables
Proactively learn the Heat Treat industry during first 12 months, then participate in professional development through formal Heat Treat Industry Training.
Lead process to train, develop, and hire engineers. Conduct routine staff reviews through formal review process and constructive real-time feedback. Implement culture and policies in engineering department to align performance with SOP Manual and promote retention of productive engineers.
Create Engineering Department SOP binder and document opportunities for “continuous improvement” in engineering processes.
Monitor and approve engineering designs for quality and customers’ requirements approval prior to release to production.
Learn NFPA standards as applicable to company products.
‘Co-operate’ operations with Production Manager by scheduling and leading ‘kick-off’ meetings with engineers and Production Manager to gain approval. Coordinate Engineering ‘release date’ to be approved by Production Manager.
Create agenda with recommendations for improvement for weekly Production Meeting with leadership.
Prepare weekly/monthly labor engineering allocation schedule for all projects based on ‘available’ labor, taking in to consideration vacations, holidays, and ‘field service demands’. Create weekly engineering report for labor hours and releases for production. Recommend and implement corrective action to bring engineering labor hours in line with quote/budget for each project and the project portfolio overall.
Research and develop new products as deemed necessary by leadership.
Develop and manage relationships with 3rd party engineering support / contractors.
Qualifications
Education –Bachelors Degree in Engineering required.
Engineering Degree focus:
1\. Mechanical Engineering preferred
2\. Will consider Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing / Industrial Engineering
Experience:
1\. Technical: 10+ years minimum.
2\. Management: 3-5 years.
3\. Critical Thinking: Specific examples for problem Identification with a bias for solution and action-oriented attitude (platoon leader mentality).
Player / Coach: Willing to pitch in when required.
Personal drive and passion to exhibit behavior to ‘Do more than expected’.