Director of Equipment Engineering - Premier PV

Job Description

Job Description

Job Title: Director of Equipment Engineering & Maintenance (Greenfield)

Department: Operations / Manufacturing Engineering
Reports To: VP of Operations / Site Leader

Position Summary

The Director of Equipment Engineering & Maintenance will lead the design, build, and ramp of all manufacturing equipment, automation systems, and maintenance operations for a greenfield, high-volume eBOS production facility .

This role is responsible for establishing a world-class, scalable manufacturing platform to produce combiner boxes, cable assemblies, and overmolded harnesses . The Director will define equipment standards, build maintenance systems from the ground up, and ensure rapid, reliable production ramp with best-in-class uptime, quality, and cost performance.

This is a hands-on leadership role requiring deep technical expertise and the ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced startup environment within a large-scale industrial build .

Key Responsibilities

1. Greenfield Facility Build & Ramp

• Lead equipment engineering and maintenance strategy from concept through full production ramp .
• Partner with design/construction teams on:
• Facility layout and line design
• Utilities (power distribution, compressed air, cooling, resin handling systems)
• Equipment footprint, flow, and scalability
• Define manufacturing line architectures for:
• Combiner box assembly
• Cable and harness production
• Overmolding operations
• Support installation, commissioning, and vertical ramp to high-volume production.

1. Equipment Engineering Strategy & Deployment

• Develop standardized, scalable equipment platforms across all production lines.
• Specify, source, and qualify manufacturing equipment including:
• Automated and semi-automated assembly systems
• Wire processing and crimping equipment
• Injection molding and overmolding systems
• Lead equipment validation (FAT, SAT, IQ/OQ/PQ).
• Ensure design-for-manufacturing (DFM) alignment with product and R&D teams.
• Establish engineering documentation, standards, and change control systems.

1. Maintenance System Build-Out

• Build the maintenance organization from the ground up , including hiring, training, and structuring teams.
• Implement and deploy a CMMS for asset management, work orders, and spare parts control.
• Establish:
• Preventive maintenance programs
• Predictive/condition -based maintenance systems
• Spare parts strategy and inventory optimization
• Drive early equipment reliability through commissioning and ramp phases.
• Embed Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) culture across operations.

1. Process & Equipment Ownership

Oversee equipment performance across key processes:

Combiner Boxes

• Automated fastening, busbar assembly, enclosure handling
• Electrical test systems (hipot, continuity, insulation resistance)

Cable & Harnesses

• Cutting, stripping, crimping, sealing, routing
• Crimp force monitoring and pull testing

Overmolded Harnesses

• Injection molding presses, tooling, and auxiliary systems
• Material drying, handling, and process control
• Ensure process capability, repeatability, and robust error-proofing (poka-yoke).
• Standardize equipment and processes for multi-line replication.

1. Automation, Controls & Digital Infrastructure

• Define and implement plant-wide automation architecture:
• PLCs, HMIs, SCADA
• Robotics and automated assembly cells
• Vision inspection systems
• Deploy Industry 4.0 systems:
• Real-time equipment monitoring
• Data collection and analytics
• MES integration and full product traceability
• Ensure cybersecurity and system reliability from day one.

1. Capital Projects & Vendor Management

• Own multi-million-dollar CapEx planning and execution for equipment and tooling.
• Select and manage OEMs, integrators, and tooling suppliers.
• Drive project execution from concept through commissioning and ramp.
• Ensure all projects meet timeline, budget, and performance targets .

1. Reliability & Operational Excellence

• Establish and track key performance metrics:
• OEE, uptime, MTBF, MTTR
• Lead structured root cause analysis (RCA) and CAPA processes.
• Drive continuous improvement in:
• Throughput
• Changeover time (SMED)
• Scrap reduction (especially crimping and overmolding defects)
• Build a data-driven reliability engineering function.

1. Quality, Safety & Compliance

• Ensure compliance with:
• OSHA, NFPA safety standards
• UL and NEC requirements for eBOS products
• ISO 9001 / ISO 14001 systems
• Implement safe equipment design and maintenance practices (LOTO, arc flash).
• Support audits, validation (IQ/OQ/PQ), and quality systems from startup phase.
• Champion a zero-incident safety culture.

1. New Product Introduction (NPI)

• Build scalable equipment solutions for new combiner box and harness designs.
• Partner with R&D to ensure seamless transition from prototype to production.
• Enable rapid product launches without disrupting ramp.

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or related field (Master’s preferred).

Experience

• 12–15+ years in manufacturing engineering, equipment engineering, or maintenance.
• 7–10+ years leading engineering and maintenance teams.
• Direct experience with greenfield or brownfield plant startups strongly preferred .
• Strong background in:
• Wire harness / cable assembly manufacturing
• Injection molding / overmolding
• High-volume automated manufacturing environments

Technical Expertise

• Equipment design and industrial automation systems
• Wire processing, crimping, and termination technologies
• Injection molding machines, tooling, and polymers
• PLCs, robotics, vision systems, and SCADA
• Reliability engineering, CMMS, TPM
• Lean manufacturing and Six Sigma

Leadership Competencies

• Proven ability to build teams, systems, and processes from zero to scale
• Strong project and program management capability
• Hands-on, execution-oriented leadership style
• Excellent cross-functional communication and stakeholder alignment
• Data-driven decision-making mindset

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Ramp-to-volume timeline achievement
• OEE and uptime during ramp and steady-state production
• MTBF / MTTR improvements
• CapEx delivery (on time, on budget, on performance)
• Scrap and yield performance (especially overmolding and crimping)
• Maintenance cost efficiency
• Safety metrics (TRIR, near misses)

Work Environment

• Greenfield construction and startup environment transitioning to high-volume manufacturing
• Significant time on the production floor and during equipment installation phases
• Collaboration with global vendors, contractors, and internal teams

Travel Requirements

• Up to 30% travel for:
• Equipment supplier selection and design reviews
• Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) at OEM sites
• Benchmarking across other facilities
• Supporting multi-site standardization as the network scales