The Engineering Manager is responsible for leading all engineering functions within an automotive injection molding manufacturing facility, including Process Engineering, Tooling Engineering, Automation, Manufacturing Engineering, and New Product Launch activities. This position provides technical leadership for both current production and future program launches, ensuring manufacturing processes, equipment, tooling, and technical resources consistently meet safety, quality, delivery, and cost objectives.
The Engineering Manager serves as the primary technical liaison between customers, suppliers, operations, quality, and corporate teams. This role is responsible for managing engineering personnel, new product launches, tooling development, manufacturing process optimization, capital projects, and continuous improvement initiatives. Additionally, the Engineering Manager ensures production equipment is properly set up, validated, and operating within established process parameters while maintaining compliance with IATF 16949 requirements, customer-specific requirements, and internal engineering standards.
Job Responsibilities:
- Lead and manage all plant engineering functions, including Process Engineering, Tooling Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Automation, and technical support personnel.
- Direct and coordinate all new product launch activities from customer award through production readiness, ensuring programs meet customer timing, quality, and cost requirements.
- Develop, maintain, and manage the master launch schedule to ensure successful execution of all engineering projects and customer programs.
- Serve as the primary engineering contact for customers regarding new product launches, engineering changes, process development, tooling development, and technical concerns.
- Support customer design and development teams by participating in design reviews, manufacturability assessments, tooling reviews, and engineering feasibility studies.
- Oversee the design, procurement, validation, launch, and ongoing performance of molds, tooling, automation systems, fixtures, and manufacturing equipment.
- Manage tooling suppliers, equipment vendors, and engineering service providers to ensure project objectives, timelines, and budgets are achieved.
- Lead mold trials, process development activities, capability studies, engineering validations, and production readiness reviews.
- Ensure injection molding machines, auxiliary equipment, tooling, automation systems, and manufacturing processes are properly set up, validated, and operating within approved process parameters.
- Provide technical leadership and support to production teams to ensure molding processes achieve safety, quality, productivity, scrap, cycle time, and OEE targets.
- Lead troubleshooting efforts for molding defects, tooling issues, automation failures, machine performance concerns, process variation, and customer quality issues.
- Drive root cause analysis and corrective action activities using structured problem-solving methodologies to resolve technical and operational issues.
- Establish, maintain, and continuously improve process standards, setup sheets, work instructions, engineering specifications, and manufacturing documentation.
- Ensure all engineering documentation complies with IATF 16949 requirements, customer-specific requirements, APQP standards, and internal quality management systems.
- Ensure PFMEAs, Control Plans, Process Flow Diagrams, standardized work instructions, and process documentation are developed, maintained, and updated as required.
- Support and lead PPAP activities, process validations, capability studies, and customer approval requirements for new and existing products.
- Monitor and improve manufacturing performance through analysis of KPIs including OEE, cycle times, scrap rates, downtime, machine utilization, labor efficiency, and productivity.
- Partner with Operations, Quality, Maintenance, and Supply Chain teams to identify and implement continuous improvement opportunities.
- Drive cost reduction initiatives through process optimization, material utilization improvements, cycle time reductions, automation enhancements, and tooling improvements.
- Support production scheduling and capacity planning by evaluating equipment, tooling, staffing, and process requirements.
- Manage departmental budgets, capital expenditures, tooling investments, engineering resources, and project spending.
- Review, approve, and issue purchase orders (POs) for tooling, equipment, engineering services, maintenance projects, and departmental expenditures.
- Develop capital appropriation requests and business cases for new equipment, automation, tooling, and facility improvements.
- Support customer audits, IATF audits, internal audits, and technical reviews while ensuring compliance with applicable standards and requirements.
- Lead engineering change management activities to ensure process, tooling, and product changes are properly reviewed, approved, documented, and implemented.
- Develop, coach, mentor, and evaluate engineering personnel to strengthen technical capabilities, leadership skills, and succession planning.
- Identify and implement emerging technologies, automation solutions, and best practices to improve plant performance and competitiveness.
- Serve as the primary technical escalation point for complex manufacturing, tooling, automation, and engineering challenges.
Behavioral Expectations
- Safety-First. A safety-first mindset is a proactive approach to safety, where all employees keep an eye out for safety issues and avoid potentially dangerous situations which could likely cause danger, risk, or injury. This also means that everyone has responsibility for safety regardless of role, level, title, or job.
- Continuous Improvement. Suggest every employee, everywhere, is always looking for ways we can improve and standardize our work even when everything is going well. By doing so, it will drive consistent progress toward improved business performance and will tap into people's desire to be the best at what they do.
- Compliant. Employee compliance is achieved when workers are familiar with all the laws that govern their industry or job and know how to conduct business in an ethical manner. It often requires procedural training and encouragement to learn from mistakes.
- Driving Results. Identify specific purpose, goal, or destination and prioritize making progress toward it Focus discussions on what you want to achieve and why - and then let them do it. Everyone knows their role and is accountable for driving their work to achieve a common goal.
- ONE Team. One team means being part of a group that shares strong relationships, trust, respect, and a common vision for what "good" looks like. One team means supporting and relying on one another to achieve to drive the overall business priorities and meet our customer commitments
Job Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Plastics Engineering, or related technical field preferred.
- 7-10+ years of engineering experience within automotive manufacturing, preferably injection molding.
- 5+ years of engineering leadership or management experience in a manufacturing environment.
- Strong knowledge of automotive quality systems including IATF 16949, APQP, PPAP, PFMEA, Control Plans, SPC, MSA, and customer-specific requirements.
- Extensive experience managing new product launches from concept through production implementation.
- Strong technical knowledge of injection molding processes, mold tooling, automation systems, robotics, and auxiliary equipment.
- Proven experience troubleshooting molding defects, process variation, tooling issues, and manufacturing performance concerns.
- Experience leading process optimization, scientific molding initiatives, and continuous improvement projects.
- Demonstrated experience managing tooling development, mold qualifications, engineering changes, and launch validation activities.
- Experience managing engineering budgets, capital projects, tooling investments, and supplier relationships.
- Strong understanding of production systems, machine utilization, OEE improvement, cycle time optimization, and manufacturing efficiency.
- Proven project management skills with the ability to manage multiple programs and priorities simultaneously.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, organizational, and decision-making skills.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office, ERP systems, project management software, and engineering applications.
- Excellent communication, leadership, and team development skills.
- Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, high-accountability automotive manufacturing environment.
