Engineering Manager

Who We Are
Our client has been designing and building water treatment systems for the offshore oil and gas and commercial marine markets since 1980. They are a Louisiana-based manufacturer with four product lines -- catered to reverse osmosis desalination, marine sanitation, bilge water treatment, and electro chlorination.


Every system sold is engineered, assembled, and tested in-house by a tight team that takes full ownership of what they build.



The Role
This is not a role for someone who wants to manage a narrow slice of engineering work from a desk. This is the Engineering Manager for the entire department -- you own the processes, the people, and the technical output from blank sheet to commissioned system.


You will bring a strong instrumentation and controls background to a team that includes a Process Engineer, I&C Engineer, Designers, and Drafters -- and you will be responsible for leading all of them and driving product development across all four product lines. You will not hand off drawings and walk away. You will see what you design built, tested, and operated in the field.


If you are currently in a large organization where your role is narrowly defined, decisions take months, and you rarely see the end result of your work -- this is the opposite of that. There is no bureaucracy here. There is no committee between you and the decision. You own the outcomes, but you earn them through the team. H2O makes decisions collaboratively -- your job is to bring people along by explaining the why, not just issuing what and how.


This role is also a strong fit for a senior I&C engineer who has not yet held the title but has been doing the work -- someone who has been the go-to technical resource on their team, has started to take ownership of how things get done, and is ready to stop waiting for permission to lead. If that describes you, we want to hear from you.



What You Will Be Responsible For
Engineering Department Leadership
• Lead and develop a distributed team across Lafayette, LA and Chennai, India (India team operates on U.S. schedule)
• Set clear performance expectations, conduct quarterly reviews, and invest in developing your
direct reports
• Lead with a servant mentality -- your team's success is your success, their input shapes
decisions, and your job is to clear their path and develop their potential
• Build, own, and continuously improve the engineering processes your team works from -- if the process is broken, you work with the team to fix it and make sure everyone understands why the change matters
• Administer the SolidWorks PDM vault and enforce drawing standards and document control



Instrumentation and Controls -- Senior Technical Contribution
• Serve as senior I&C subject matter expert across all product lines
• Lead Local Control Panel (LCP) design: component selection, back panel layout, PLC
programming, HMI development, wiring, cable sizing, and heat dissipation
• Produce and review full electrical documentation using SolidWorks Electrical or AutoCAD
Electrical: wiring diagrams, cause and effect charts, schematics, and instrument lists
• Apply hazardous area classification standards including NEC Class I Div 2, ATEX, IECEx, and Zone 2 Group IIC



Product Development and R&D
• Drive new product development and continuous improvement across all four product lines
• Lead and contribute to R&D initiatives -- client is actively developing new technology, and the right person will have the opportunity to patent their work
• Provide technical input on customer proposals and bids in support of the Projects Director



Customer and Vendor Engagement
• Manage vendor relationships and serve as the senior technical point of contact for customers who need engineering-level support
• Keep the project management team informed and participate in annual strategic planning -- your input shapes where this company goes



What You Must Bring
Read this section carefully. These are not preferences -- they are requirements. If any of the following do not describe you, this role is not the right fit.


• A bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a closely related technical discipline
• 5 to 10 years of hands-on instrumentation and controls engineering experience
• You have personally written PLC programs. You have personally developed HMI screens. Having done neither is a disqualifier, you do not need to be doing both today, but you must have done both.
• You have designed a complete Local Control Panel from scratch -- component selection, layout, wiring, cable sizing, heat dissipation -- and produced the full documentation package yourself using SolidWorks Electrical, AutoCAD Electrical, or an equivalent tool. Reviewing or redlining someone else's design does not satisfy this requirement.
• You have hands-on experience with 3D mechanical design software: SolidWorks, AutoCAD Inventor, or equivalent. 2D drafting experience alone is not sufficient.
• You have owned an engineering process -- a workflow, design standard, document control procedure, or similar -- that a team used, that you built or took ownership of, and that you maintained and adapted when it needed to change.
• You have formally managed at least one direct report, or you have been functioning in a team lead or senior technical lead capacity and are ready to make that step official. If you have never led anyone in any capacity, this is not the right role.
• You are willing and able to work on-site in Lafayette, LA every day. There is no remote option, no hybrid option, and no flexibility on this point.



What We Prefer But Will Train
These items are genuinely preferred but are not hard requirements. A strong candidate who is missing
one or more of these is still worth a conversation.
• Hazardous area classification experience: NEC Class I Div 2, ATEX, IECEx, Zone 2 Group IIC
• Allen-Bradley or Siemens PLC platform experience -- other industrial platforms are acceptable if your PLC and HMI fundamentals are solid
• Background in water treatment, offshore oil and gas, or commercial marine industries
• SolidWorks PDM vault or equivalent engineering document management system experience



What You Get
• Competitive base salary plus annual performance bonus tied to department and company results
• Health insurance, 401(k), and paid time off
• Full ownership of an engineering department -- the processes, the people, and the outcomes are yours
• Hands-on involvement with finished products from blank sheet through commissioning -- you will see what you build operating in the field
• An active R&D pipeline across four product lines, including the opportunity to develop and patent new technology
• Direct report to the President with real authority and fast decisions
• A 44-year-old company with a strong, stable position in a niche technical market
• No bureaucracy, no silos, no committees between you and the work

With over 90 years' combined experience, NES Fircroft (NES) is proud to be the world's leading engineering staffing provider spanning the Oil & Gas, Power & Renewables, Chemicals, Construction & Infrastructure, Life Sciences, Mining and Manufacturing sectors worldwide. With more than 80 offices in 45 countries, we are able to provide our clients with the engineering and technical expertise they need, wherever and whenever it is needed. We offer contractors far more than a traditional recruitment service, supporting with everything from securing visas and work permits, to providing market-leading benefits packages and accommodation, ensuring they are safely and compliantly able to support our clients.