Manufacturing Engineering Manager

Job Title: Manufacturing Engineering Manager

Location: Milwaukee, WI

Type: Direct Hire

Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8am - 4:30pm

Pay Range: $125k - $135k + bonus

Benefits: Yes. Medical, Dental, Vision, PTO, 401(k), Paid holidays

Summary

Connect Search is hiring a Manufacturing Engineering Manager in Milwaukee.

Responsibilities

• Mentor and drive Manufacturing Engineers to develop value streams for New Product Introductions that ensure manufacturing readiness.
• Define, develop, and implement robust value streams and processes that are capable, repeatable, and aligned with product requirements.
• Ensure the Bill of Manufacture accurately reflects the validated process, tooling, labor, and equipment requirements.
• Evaluate and select external partners, integrators, and vendors based on defined scope, technical capability, cost, and long-term support.
• Participate in process validation, equipment prove-out, and production readiness activities, including capital justification where required.
• Develop and deploy TWI method standardized work, and manufacturing cells aligned with operational needs and especially safety and quality standards.
• Support successful transfer of products and processes between manufacturing locations when necessary.
• Lead efforts to improve safety, quality, delivery, and cost performance across manufacturing operations.
• Drive waste elimination using lean tools and methodologies including value stream mapping, 5S, SMED, Kanban, and Kaizen.
• Establish and sustain standard work, process controls, and visual management systems to improve consistency and performance.
• Lead structured problem solving using root cause analysis and corrective action methods to address chronic issues.
• Improve throughput, labor efficiency, equipment utilization, and process capability.
• Partner with Production and Quality to identify and prioritize improvement opportunities based on data and operational impact.
• Lead the maintenance function to ensure high levels of equipment uptime, reliability, and responsiveness to production needs.
• Establish and sustain a disciplined preventive and predictive maintenance system that reduces unplanned downtime and is managed within IQMS.
• Prioritize maintenance activities based on safety, customer impact, equipment criticality, and business requirements.
• Ensure maintenance work is planned, executed, and documented with clear accountability and follow-up.
• Drive continuous improvement in equipment performance and department execution through root cause analysis, failure tracking, and corrective actions.
• Partner cross functionally to ensure effective communication and alignment on equipment status and priorities.
• Lead the tooling team to support production through effective tooling readiness, repair, troubleshooting, and improvement.
• Align tooling priorities with production schedules, quality needs, and NPI requirements.
• Establish systems to ensure tooling condition, maintenance, recurring issues, and lifecycle planning are managed through IQMS.
• Drive improvements in systems and execution and tooling performance to reduce downtime, defects, and variability.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Production, and Quality to enhance tooling design, usability, and reliability.
• Mentor, lead, coach, and develop a team consisting of manufacturing engineers, maintenance personnel, and tooling resources.
• Establish clear expectations, priorities, and accountability for performance and execution.
• Identify skill gaps and create development plans to strengthen both individual contributors and overall team capability.
• Create a culture of ownership, urgency, and service to internal customers, particularly Production.
• Intentionally build technical capability across the team by developing skills in process engineering, equipment troubleshooting, maintenance practices, and lean methodologies.
• Promote knowledge sharing, cross-training, and continuous learning to improve organizational depth and flexibility.
• Develop future leaders by providing opportunities for increased responsibility, decision-making, and project ownership.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (B.S.) in Engineering or related field with a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience;
  or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• A combination of plastics, silicone, rubber molding, and medical devices is strongly preferred.
• Commitment to mentorship and people development.
• Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional teams and technical resources
• Demonstrated understanding of Lean Manufacturing principles, Value Stream implementation and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Experience with equipment, automation, tooling, and process development.
• Ability to lead problem solving using data-driven methods and root cause analysis.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to present effectively to all levels of the organization.
• Proficient with CAD systems, ERP systems, and Microsoft Office tools including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and drive results in a fast-paced environment.