Manager of Pre Production

Job Description

Job Description

At R-V Industries, our work is much more than designing and building world-class industrial process equipment. Not only are we impacting everyday life in the world we serve, but we are providing a quality of life to our employees and their families.

• Every day, we come together to build stronger relationships with our vendors, our customers, and each other, so we can solve challenging problems, and continue to improve the safety, quality, and efficiency of all that we do.
• Caring matters at R-V. We care for each other, our safety, our quality, our learning, and our growth.
• We seek out diversity of thought, experience, and strengths in individuals, so we can continue to innovate as a team.
• We believe when we bring our true full selves to serve others, it elevates the quality of life for all.

 

Position Summary

The Manager of Pre-Production leads the front end of our project lifecycle — the critical window between "customer inquiry" and "released to the floor." This role owns Estimating, Order Processing, and Project Management, and is accountable for the accuracy of what we quote, the completeness of what we release, and the discipline with which we execute against customer commitments on custom engineered-to-order industrial process equipment at R-V Industries' Honey Brook, PA operations. This is a hands-on technical leadership role. You will be close enough to the work to challenge a labor estimate, question a scope assumption, or unblock a stalled release — while spending the majority of your energy building a capable, confident, well-developed team. Success is measured equally by departmental performance and by the growth of the people in it.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership and People Development

• Lead, coach, and develop a multidisciplinary team across three functions; set clear expectations and hold the team accountable with both candor and care.
• Build individual development plans for each team member; identify successors and grow bench strength for critical roles.
• Conduct regular one-on-ones, performance reviews, and real-time coaching conversations.
• Recruit, onboard, and retain technical talent; partner with HR on workforce planning, job design, and compensation alignment.
• Create a culture of cross-functional service — Pre-Production exists to set Engineering, Supply Chain, and Manufacturing up to win.

Estimating

• Own the accuracy, consistency, and timeliness of estimates for custom equipment and project-based work.
• Establish and maintain standard estimating methods, labor and burden rates, historical cost libraries, and risk/contingency guidelines.
• Review and approve significant quotes; ensure scope, assumptions, exclusions, and commercial risk are clearly documented.
• Drive quote-to-actual variance analysis and feed lessons learned back into estimating standards.
• Partner with Sales and Engineering on bid strategy, technical feasibility, and win/loss review.

Order Processing

• Own accurate and timely order entry, contract review, and job order creation in the ERP system.
• Ensure clean handoff from quote to order: scope, pricing, terms, delivery commitments, revision control, and customer-specific requirements.
• Standardize job structures, BOM and routing frameworks, milestone definitions, and documentation packages.
• Manage change orders and ECO-driven scope changes with disciplined pricing, schedule, and communication control.

Project Management

• Ensure projects are planned, resourced, scheduled, and executed to committed cost, schedule, and quality targets.
• Establish consistent PM standards: kickoff, milestone gates, schedule baselines, risk registers, customer communication cadence, and closeout.
• Serve as the escalation point for at-risk projects; drive cross-functional recovery plans.
• Own the primary customer-facing project relationship posture — proactive, transparent, and credible.

Process and Performance

• Define, publish, and manage departmental KPIs (quote turnaround, hit rate, estimate accuracy, order-entry accuracy, on-time release, project margin, on-time delivery).
• Drive continuous improvement in Pre-Production workflows, ERP utilization, and data quality.
• Partner with Finance on job costing accuracy, margin reporting, and forecasting inputs.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline (Mechanical, Industrial, Manufacturing, Electrical, or related).
• 5+ years of direct people leadership experience, including performance management, coaching, and talent development.
• Strong project management background with demonstrated ownership of cost, schedule, and scope on complex technical projects.
• Experience in a custom, engineered-to-order, make-to-order, or project-based manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated ability to read and interpret mechanical drawings, specifications, and bills of material.
• Working proficiency with ERP systems in a manufacturing context (job costing, planning, BOMs, routings, change control).
• Strong analytical skills and comfort with Excel-based cost modeling and performance reporting.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; credible with customers, shop floor, and executive leadership alike.

Preferred Qualifications

• PMP, PE, or equivalent professional certification.
• Direct estimating experience on custom capital equipment.
• Experience with Epicor Kinetic, Infor Syteline/CloudSuite Industrial, or comparable ERP platforms.
• Familiarity with industrial process equipment, machining, fabrication, welding, and integrated controls.
• Lean, Six Sigma, or structured continuous-improvement training.
• Experience supporting regulated or highly documented industries (pharmaceutical, food, nuclear, defense).

Competencies and Leadership Profile 

Competency

What It Looks Like Here

Servant Leadership

Puts the team's development and the customer's outcome ahead of personal recognition.

Technical Credibility

Earns trust with engineers and the shop floor by understanding the product and the process.

Decision Quality

Makes sound calls with incomplete information; distinguishes reversible from irreversible decisions.

Accountability

Owns outcomes without excuse; addresses performance gaps early and directly.

Systems Thinking

Sees Pre-Production as one connected flow, not three separate silos.

Communication

Clear, concise, and proactive — no surprises to customers or to leadership.

Composure Under Pressure