Lead Engineer

Lead Engineer

Arrowhead Talent Solutions is helping a growing manufacturing company find a Lead Engineer in the Hudson, OH area. The Surface Mount Technology (SMT) Lead Engineer will play a critical role in the coordination of planning, design, implementation and maintenance of the circuit board assembly process. This position serves as a key liaison between Design, Operations, and Quality to ensure products are manufacturable, cost-effective, and meet all quality and compliance standards.

This role will be heavily involved in the support of line launch activities and participate directly in the build and commissioning process to gain comprehensive knowledge of equipment, workflows, and operational requirements.

Department Development and Leadership

• Lead the establishment and scaling of the SMT manufacturing department, including line layout, process definition, staffing, and operational readiness.
• Develop standardized manufacturing processes, work instructions, training programs, and operational procedures that align with ISO:9001 standards.
• Build and mentor a high-performing SMT team including leads and operators through hiring, training, and performance management.
• Provide technical and operational leadership during line startup, commissioning, and production ramp activities.

Process Development

• Lead Design for Manufacturability reviews of Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA), Bills of Materials (BOMs), and processes
• Develop scalable SMT manufacturing processes, including process flows, stencils, tooling, and fixturing, and validation methods.
• Drive process optimization activities focused on yield improvement, cycle time reduction, and defect prevention.
• Capture, standardize, and communicate lessons learned and best practices across SMT operations.

Manufacturing and Production Support

• Lead the transition of new products into production with robust and repeatable manufacturing processes
• Oversee SMT equipment programming, setup validation, and process optimization for builds
• Develop preventive maintenance and calibration strategies.
• Troubleshoot process equipment issues using root cause analysis and corrective action process.
• Support manufacturing scalability through line balancing, capacity analysis and operational planning

Quality and Compliance

• Ensure all builds meet quality, traceability, and regulatory requirements
• Support internal, customer, and third-party audits
• Maintain accurate technical documentation, reports, and records.

Communication and Collaboration

• Work cross-functionally with Engineering, Manufacturing and Quality teams
• Interface with equipment vendors for implementation and ongoing support
• Present technical findings, updates, and recommendations to stakeholders.

Education, Experience, and Knowledge

• Bachelors Degree in Engineering
• 6 to 10 years' experience and progressively increasing responsibility in the design, execution, and sustaining of manufacturing processes and technologies with technical leadership in high-reliability SMT.
• Demonstrated success in technical leadership in designing and implementing manufacturing processes that meet cost, productivity, run rate, and quality expectations.
• Thorough knowledge of validation principles, manufacturing processes, quality systems, and engineering design fundamentals.
• Electrical and automation programming aptitude
• Experience planning, coordinating, and performing manufacturing engineering activities
• Strong analytical, problem solving, and innovative solution capabilities.