Description Position at HNI Workplace Furnishings
What We Need: We are seeking an Engineering Manager to lead the Engineering Center of Excellence at our Highway 61 facility. This role is responsible for leading cross-functional engineering teams focused on continuous improvement, process optimization, and operational performance across the plant.
This leader will help improve how engineering processes, material flow, and plant systems work together to support efficiency, labor performance, and business results. The ideal candidate brings a strong manufacturing engineering background, proven people leadership, and experience partnering across operations, engineering, and technical support teams to drive measurable improvements.
What You Will Do- Provide strategic technical leadership by creating plans, prioritizing work, and managing engineering activities across the facility
- Lead and develop engineering teams across improvement, integration, and systems-support workstreams
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on labor efficiency, throughput, quality, and waste reduction
- Improve how material flow, engineering workflows, and plant systems support daily operations
- Partner with IT and corporate support teams on system enhancements, process improvements, and plant technology adoption
- Support ongoing improvements related to MES, IoT, and plant data visibility tools to improve operational decision-making
- Identify and implement improvements across Safety, Quality, Delivery, and Cost (SQDC) metrics
- Lead process evaluations, audits, root cause problem solving, and Gemba walks to identify operational opportunities
- Support plant-level technical escalations and collaborate cross-functionally to resolve issues quickly
- Communicate technical concepts and process changes clearly to operations leaders and non-technical stakeholders
What You Have- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or related field
- 5+ years of engineering leadership experience in a manufacturing environment
- Proven success leading continuous improvement and operational performance initiatives
- Experience improving labor efficiency, process flow, throughput, and plant KPIs
- Strong leadership skills with experience developing engineering or technical teams
- Experience partnering with IT, automation, or systems teams on plant process improvements preferred
- Exposure to MES, IoT, dashboards, or plant visibility systems preferred
- Strong systems mindset with the ability to connect engineering decisions to plant outcomes
HNI Corporation (NYSE: HNI) is a manufacturer of workplace furnishings and building products, operating under two segments. The workplace furnishings segment is a leading global designer and provider of commercial furnishings, going to market under multiple unique brands. The residential building products segment is the nation's leading manufacturer and marketer of hearth products.We offer benefits starting from Day 1. To learn more, visit www.HNIbenefits.com.Our company endeavors to make www.hnicareers.com accessible to any and all users. If you would like to contact us regarding the accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the application process, please contact us at 563-272-7400 or via email at accessibility@hni.com.
