Manufacturing Engineering Lead

#jobalert | DIRECT PLACEMENT | MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING LEAD | Sycamore, IL area

A long-established industrial manufacturer with multiple U.S. production facilities is hiring a Manufacturing Engineering Lead to run day-to-day technical leadership for its plant engineering team. This is a hands-on leadership seat: you'll coach engineers, keep capital and continuous improvement projects on track, and act as the go-to technical partner for the site's senior engineering leader. You'll have real authority over how projects get planned and executed across multiple plants, without the title yet carrying full people-management weight. Strong track record leading capital projects and developing engineers gets you a serious look.

• Anticipated $110,000–$135,000, based on experience
• Full suite of benefits: Health/Dental/Vision, PTO

Overview

• Own day-to-day technical leadership and coaching for a team of plant manufacturing engineers
• Keep capital and continuous improvement projects on schedule and within budget across four manufacturing sites
• Review project scopes, timelines, risk, and resource needs before they become problems
• Step in as technical lead during equipment failures, production disruptions, and major quality events
• Standardize project management practices and engineering documentation across facilities
• Mentor engineers — from early-career through experienced — on problem-solving, project management, and manufacturing decision-making
• Partner directly with Operations, Maintenance, Quality, and Production to move plant performance
• Run post-project reviews and turn lessons learned into repeatable process

Preferred Skills/Experiences

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or related field
• 7+ years of manufacturing engineering experience
• Proven track record leading capital equipment projects of $1M+ from concept through startup
• Deep working knowledge of manufacturing processes, equipment, automation, maintenance, and continuous improvement
• Track record influencing engineers and cross-functional teams without relying on formal authority
• Multi-site manufacturing experience
• Experience mentoring or developing engineers
• Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma background
• ERP/CMMS system experience

KEYWORDS: manufacturing engineering, engineering leadership, capital projects, continuous improvement, CI projects, project management, plant engineering, process engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, equipment reliability, root cause analysis, cross-functional leadership, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, ERP, CMMS, multi-site manufacturing, engineering mentorship, manufacturing operations, technical leadership, capital equipment startup, production support

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