Senior Manager, Manufacturing, Test & Service Engineering Position Overview:The Senior Manager, Manufacturing, Test & Service Engineering leads the engineering functions that support production, test, installation, service, and repair of Hidden Level products. This leader is accountable for the performance, capability, and continuous improvement of these functions, including ensuring the processes, tools, documentation, and technical resources required to scale effectively are in place and operating effectively.
This role is accountable for the technical transition of products from development into repeatable production and for sustaining those products throughout their operational lifecycle. The Senior Manager drives manufacturing and test readiness, quality, throughput, troubleshooting, serviceability, and lifecycle support while providing both leadership and hands-on technical contribution as needed. Success requires the ability to coach teams, build scalable processes, solve complex technical problems, develop procedures and tooling, and support deployments. The Senior Manager is accountable for outcomes regardless of whether work is performed directly, delegated, or delivered cross functionally, and must retain the technical capability, judgment, and willingness to engage directly when it improves outcomes or strengthens team capability.
Location: This position is located onsite in East Syracuse, NY
Responsibilities:Manufacturing Engineering- Lead the Manufacturing Engineering function supporting Hidden Level hardware products from new product introduction through full-rate production.
- Own manufacturing readiness and production engineering activities associated with new products, product revisions, and engineering changes.
- Ensure effective development, maintenance, and continuous improvement of manufacturing processes, routings, work instructions, assembly methods, tooling, fixtures, and production test processes. Partner with Development Engineering Teams to support designed for manufacturability, assembly, testability, and serviceability.
- Participate in Design for Manufacturing, Assembly, Test, and Service (DFM/DFA/DFT/DFS) reviews.
- Establish manufacturing readiness criteria and ensure required documentation, tooling, equipment, software, training, and test capability are available prior to production release.
- Support configuration management and Engineering Change Order implementation to ensure changes are introduced into production in a controlled manner.
- Analyze production constraints, defects, test failures, and process variation and implement sustainable corrective actions.
- Support capacity and production planning through analysis of labor content, equipment capacity, test capacity, takt time, cycle time, and process constraints.
- Partner with Supply Chain and suppliers on manufacturing issues involving PCBAs, mechanical assemblies, components, and other critical hardware.
Production Test & Tooling- Working with development engineering, own the manufacturing readiness and lifecycle management of manufacturing tooling, fixtures, test equipment, and associated technical documentation.
- Develop and improve production test strategies that efficiently verify product performance while maintaining appropriate quality controls.
- Ensure test stations, fixtures, and tooling are scalable, maintainable, calibrated where required, and appropriately controlled.
- Identify opportunities to automate manufacturing and test processes where automation improves quality, repeatability, throughput, or traceability.
- Establish standard methods for troubleshooting production failures and capturing failure information.
- Work with Engineering teams to improve diagnostic capability and reduce time required to isolate manufacturing defects.
Service & Depot Engineering- Establish and lead the technical processes supporting depot repair, field returns, troubleshooting, refurbishment, and product service activities.
- Establish and maintain a structured service and depot triage process, including unit inspection, power on evaluation, diagnostic execution, configuration verification, and functional testing to efficiently identify and resolve known failure modes.
- Establish tiered troubleshooting and escalation processes for units that cannot be resolved through initial triage.
- Ensure troubleshooting guides, diagnostic procedures, repair instructions, test procedures, and service documentation are developed and maintained to enable consistent diagnosis and resolution of known issues.
- Establish repair and disposition criteria for known failure modes, including repair, rework, return-to-vendor, and escalation to development engineering for evaluation, and other appropriate dispositions.
- Establish standardized failure codes, repair codes, and service data collection practices to ensure recurring failure modes are identified and communicated effectively.
- Drive improvements in diagnostic coverage and serviceability by translating recurring failure modes and service data into actionable feedback for Quality, Product and Engineering teams.
- Own the field validation, documentation, and lifecycle management of specialized deployment/installation tools, fixtures, test equipment, and installation aids.
- Define standardized deployment/installation tool kits/BOMs, including required quantities, calibration requirements, spares, consumables, packaging, and replenishment requirements.
- Develop and control installation procedures, assembly instructions, torque requirements, cable/connector practices, sensor alignment methods, mounting methods, and other engineering-controlled installation requirements.
- Develop and maintain configuration-controlled installation, commissioning, troubleshooting, acceptance test, tooling, and training documentation necessary to enable Hidden Level personnel and authorized third-party installers to safely and consistently deploy Hidden Level products.
- Establish installer qualification requirements, technical boundaries, required installation evidence, and escalation criteria to ensure third-party installations meet Hidden Level engineering and quality standards.
- Provide engineering escalation when the deployment/installation team encounters hardware, integration, installation, test, or configuration problems that cannot be resolved through standard procedures.
- With Technical Support, define how as-deployed hardware configuration, serial numbers, firmware/software versions, modifications, and other configuration attributes are captured and maintained.
- Support root cause investigations for significant or recurring field failures.
Quality & Continuous Improvement- Partner with Quality to investigate manufacturing and field failures using structured root cause and corrective action methodologies.
- Support Nonconformance, Material Review Board, Corrective Action, and Preventive Action processes as required.
- Analyze manufacturing and service data to identify recurring failure modes, systemic issues, and improvement opportunities.
- Drive Lean and continuous improvement initiatives across manufacturing and service engineering.
- Establish standardized work and engineering controls that reduce process variation and improve repeatability.
- Support Hidden Level's ISO 9001 Quality Management System and applicable configuration, documentation, and process-control requirements.
- Ensure manufacturing and service engineering processes generate appropriate objective evidence and traceability.
Systems, Data & Metrics- Ensure manufacturing and service processes are appropriately represented within Hidden Level's enterprise systems and production workflows.
- Partner with Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, Configuration Management, and IT on integration of engineering processes with Deltek Costpoint MRP, shop-floor execution, PLM, and related systems.
- Develop dashboards and metrics that provide visibility into manufacturing and service performance.
- Use operational data to prioritize engineering resources and continuous improvement activities.
Leadership Responsibilities- Build, develop, and lead a high-performing Manufacturing & Service Engineering organization.
- Establish clear roles, responsibilities, priorities, and technical ownership across the team.
- Develop engineering standards and repeatable processes that enable Hidden Level to scale without creating unnecessary operational complexity.
- Balance production support, service support, new product introduction, and longer-term process improvement priorities.
- Develop staffing, tooling, equipment, and capital requirements necessary to support production and service growth.
- Coach engineers and technicians in structured problem solving, root cause analysis, manufacturing engineering, and troubleshooting methodologies.
- Establish strong working relationships across Operations, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Configuration Management, Programs, Deployment, and Customer Service.
- Serve as an escalation point for significant manufacturing and service-related technical issues.
Required Qualifications:- Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
- 7+ years of experience in manufacturing engineering, hardware engineering, production engineering, service engineering, or related technical operations.
- 7+ years of experience leading engineers in a manufacturing environment
- Demonstrated experience supporting the transition of complex hardware products from engineering development into production.
- Experience developing manufacturing processes, work instructions, tooling, fixtures, and production test methods.
- Strong troubleshooting and root cause analysis experience involving complex electromechanical or electronic systems.
- Experience supporting engineering changes and configuration-controlled hardware.
- Demonstrated ability to use manufacturing and service data to identify problems and drive measurable improvements.
- Strong cross-functional leadership and communication skills.
- Ability to operate effectively in a fast-growing environment where production systems and organizational capabilities are being developed concurrently.
- Experience with radar, RF, aerospace, defense, telecommunications, or other complex electronic hardware.
Preferred Qualifications:- Master's degree in systems engineering
- Experience with printed circuit board assemblies and electronics manufacturing.
- Experience supporting depot repair, RMA, field service, or product lifecycle support operations.
- Experience with ERP/MRP and product lifecycle management systems; Deltek Costpoint experience is beneficial.
- Experience with Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or structured continuous improvement methodologies.
- Experience working within an ISO 9001-certified Quality Management System.
- Familiarity with DoD manufacturing environments and applicable FAR/DFARS requirements.
- Experience developing automated test systems, diagnostic tools, or manufacturing software.
- Experience scaling manufacturing operations from low-rate production toward significantly higher production volumes.
Compensation and Benefits: Hidden Level offers a competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance, paid parental leave, flexible time off, 401(k) with employer contributions, life insurance, disability insurance, and potential stock options.
Salary Range: The salary range for this position is estimated at $134,000 to $175,000 annually. Please note that the salary information is a general guideline only. Hidden Level considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's work experience, education/ training, key skills as well as market and business considerations when extending an offer.
