OverviewWe are seeking someone with proven experience leading and developing engineering teams in a manufacturing environment to lead our Engineering Department at our Mankato, Minnesota facility.
Benefits Include:
Company Paid - Life Insurance, STD, and LTD
- 3 weeks Paid Time Off
- 9 Paid Holidays in 2026
- Parental Leave
Additional Benefits: - 401k with company match
- Medical, dental, vision
- Employee Discount Programs
- Miscellaneous other optional benefits
- Career development and tuition assistance
- Diverse, inclusive and welcoming culture
This position is responsible for providing strategic and operational leadership to a team of Senior Design Engineers, Design Engineers, and Drafting professionals supporting our Industrial, Aviation, and Research & Development product lines. The Engineering Manager drives engineering excellence through talent development, product innovation, quality improvement, efficient project execution, measurable process improvement, and cross-functional collaboration.
The successful candidate will build a high-performing, data-driven engineering organization that supports current production while advancing new product development initiatives that address customer needs and drive profitable growth. This leader will establish performance expectations, measure results through meaningful KPIs, drive continuous improvement, and strengthen partnerships across Sales, Operations, Manufacturing, and Executive Leadership.
Reports To: General Manager
Direct Reports: - Senior Design Engineer, Industrial Commercial
- Senior Design Engineer, Aviation
- Senior Design Engineer, Research & Development
Indirect Reports: - Design Engineers
- Drafting Personnel
- Engineering Technicians
ResponsibilitiesEngineering Leadership - Lead, develop, and hold accountable Engineering staff through coaching, performance management, succession planning, and professional development.
- Establish departmental goals, priorities, and performance expectations aligned with business objectives.
- Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Department Management - Direct workload planning, resource allocation, and project execution across engineering programs.
- Establish and maintain engineering standards, processes, best practices, and KPIs; use performance data to prioritize resources, drive improvements, and measure results.
Product Development & Innovation - Lead a disciplined new product development process that balances production support with long-term growth initiatives, ensuring successful execution and commercialization.
- Identify opportunities for product improvement, cost reduction, manufacturability enhancement, and competitive differentiation.
- Partner with Sales, Marketing, and Operations to align engineering priorities with business and customer requirements.
Engineering Quality & Execution - Ensure engineering outputs meet customer, regulatory, manufacturing, and quality requirements.
- Drive engineering quality through design accuracy, root-cause analysis, corrective actions, and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Review and approve significant engineering changes and technical decisions.
Cross-Functional Leadership - Partner with Operations, Production, Sales, Supply Chain, Quality, and Project Management to support business objectives, remove technical barriers, improve production flow, and advance strategic initiatives.
- Serve as the primary engineering representative for major business initiatives.
Continuous Improvement - Champion Lean principles and continuous improvement methodologies to enhance engineering productivity, quality, lead time, capacity, scalability, and cost performance.
- Improve Supply Chain visibility to material demand.
Requirements - Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or related field.
- 7+ years of engineering experience within a manufacturing environment.
- 3+ years of engineering leadership or supervisory experience.
- Experience leading technical teams and managing multiple priorities.
- Experience with CAD systems such as SolidWorks, Inventor, Creo, AutoCAD, or similar.
- Strong project management and organizational skills.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills.
Preferred: - Experience in commercial door systems, industrial equipment, building products, architectural products, or other engineered-to-order manufacturing environments.
- Experience leading engineering organizations through the transition from highly customized, make-to-order product offerings toward greater product standardization, design reuse, manufacturability, and operational efficiency while maintaining customer-focused solutions.
- Demonstrated success reducing product complexity, improving material utilization, increasing manufacturing efficiency, and establishing scalable engineering standards.
- Experience leading new product development initiatives.
- Lean Manufacturing and/or Six Sigma experience.
- ERP/MRP system experience.
- Master's Degree in Engineering, Engineering Management, Business Administration, or related field.
Success in this role will be measured by:
- Development, engagement, retention, and performance of engineering talent.
- Reduction in engineering-related quality issues, rework, production disruptions, warranty claims, and field concerns.
- Effective management of engineering priorities, resources, workload, and departmental accountability.
- On-time completion of engineering projects and product development initiatives.
- Successful support of production requirements while advancing strategic product development objectives.
- Implementation and use of meaningful engineering KPIs that drive measurable operational and quality improvements.
- Improved collaboration and responsiveness across Engineering, Operations, Sales, Supply Chain, Quality, and other business functions.
- Progress toward product standardization, manufacturability, operational efficiency, and profitable growth through successful product launches and enhancements.
