Production Engineering Manager

Production Engineering Manager


Shelbyville, TN


Direct Hire / Permanent


On-site Position

Position Summary


Company is seeking a Production Engineering Manager to lead the Production Engineering, Maintenance, Tool & Die, and Facilities functions supporting high-volume automotive HVAC manufacturing operations in Shelbyville, TN.


This position will provide strategic and hands-on leadership across manufacturing engineering, equipment reliability, maintenance, tooling, facilities, automation, capital projects, and new product launches. The manager will be responsible for ensuring that manufacturing processes and equipment meet customer requirements for quality, safety, production, reliability, cost, and delivery.


The ideal candidate will have strong leadership experience in automotive Tier 1 manufacturing , with a background in high-volume automated production. Experience with HVAC, thermal systems, plastics, injection molding, or complex automotive assembly is highly preferred.


Key Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, develop, and manage Production Engineering personnel.
• Provide strategic leadership for Production Engineering, Maintenance, Tool & Die, Facilities, and skilled trades functions.
• Establish departmental objectives, KPIs, development plans, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Lead manufacturing engineering activities involving injection molding, automated/manual assembly, robotics, vision systems, leak testing, and functional testing.
• Improve cycle time, scrap, labor efficiency, machine utilization, OEE, and equipment reliability.
• Oversee preventive and predictive maintenance, TPM programs, equipment reliability, and maintenance planning.
• Lead tooling maintenance, repairs, refurbishment, readiness, and life-cycle optimization.
• Oversee plant facility systems, including electrical, HVAC, compressed air, water systems, utilities, docks, and building infrastructure.
• Lead manufacturing readiness and industrialization activities for new product launches and engineering changes.
• Support APQP activities including PFMEA, Process Flow, Control Plans, Capacity Studies, Run-at-Rate, and production validation.
• Lead equipment procurement, installation, commissioning, process validation, and production ramp-up.
• Develop and manage engineering, maintenance, tooling, and capital budgets.
• Prepare CAPEX requests, equipment justifications, replacement strategies, and long-term capital plans.
• Drive Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Kaizen, TPM, and Industry 4.0 initiatives.
• Monitor KPIs including OEE, FPY, throughput, downtime, MTBF, MTTR, PM completion, tooling downtime, and maintenance costs.
• Lead root cause analysis and corrective actions related to quality, production, equipment, and process issues.
• Support compliance with IATF 16949, ISO 14001, customer-specific requirements, and internal quality standards .
• Partner closely with Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, Program Management, Purchasing, and Design Engineering.
• Lead equipment and facility risk assessments and ensure compliance with EHS requirements.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Plastics Engineering, or related technical discipline .
• Minimum 10 years of progressive manufacturing or production engineering experience in an automotive manufacturing environment.
• Alternatively, an advanced degree with approximately 8+ years of relevant experience.
• Minimum 5-8 years of leadership experience managing engineering personnel and manufacturing projects.
• Demonstrated experience leading Production Engineering and Maintenance organizations .
• Experience managing capital budgets, equipment reliability programs, tooling operations, and manufacturing launches .
• Successful leadership experience within high-volume automated manufacturing operations .
• Experience managing capital projects and manufacturing equipment installations.
• Strong business acumen, problem-solving, communication, organizational, and project management skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Tier 1 automotive supplier experience.
• HVAC, thermal systems, plastics, injection molding, or automotive assembly experience.
• Experience leading new product launches for OEM customers.
• Six Sigma Black Belt certification.
• PMP certification or equivalent project management experience.
• TPM certification or demonstrated TPM leadership experience.

Technical Experience

• Injection molding process development and optimization.
• Plastic component manufacturing and assembly.
• Automated assembly, robotics, and manufacturing automation.
• Heat staking, ultrasonic welding, vibration welding, and joining technologies.
• Leak testing, functional testing, and end-of-line validation.
• Vision inspection systems.
• Manufacturing equipment troubleshooting and process validation.
• GD&T and engineering drawing interpretation.
• SPC and process capability analysis.
• Hydraulic and pneumatic systems.
• Electrical and controls systems.
• Industrial facility management.
• Preventive and predictive maintenance.
• Tooling management and life-cycle optimization.
• Maintenance planning and scheduling.
• Skilled trades leadership.

Quality / Manufacturing Systems

• IATF 16949
• APQP
• PPAP
• PFMEA
• Control Plans
• MSA
• SPC
• 8D Problem Solving
• Lean Manufacturing
• Six Sigma
• Kaizen
• Value Stream Mapping
• OEE
• TPM