Director of Manufacturing Engineering

The Director of Manufacturing Engineering is a critical leadership role reporting to the Head of Manufacturing. This individual owns both Manufacturing Engineering and the full Quality system during the company’s formative phase.

The role is accountable for building the technical and quality foundation required to turn first-principles transformer physics into a highly capable, data-driven, and continuously improving production system. Success in this role directly enables Terminus to achieve aggressive lead-time reduction, high first-pass yield, and scalable automated manufacturing.

Key Responsibilities

• Manufacturing Engineering Leadership: Build and lead a high-caliber team of Process, Controls, and Quality Engineers. Establish technical standards, development velocity, and system-level accountability for all manufacturing processes. Act as the primary technical interface between Product Engineering and Factory Engineering.
• Quality System Ownership (Greenfield): Design, implement, and own the complete Quality Management System from the ground up. Map customer and regulatory requirements (including IEEE standards where applicable) all the way to process specifications, inspection plans, and acceptance criteria. Build and lead the Quality organization (engineers and inspectors).
• Process Capability & Continuous Improvement: Establish the Statistical Process Control (SPC), FMEA, and robust process monitoring frameworks. Drive TEEP/OEE, yield improvement, and defect prevention across production areas. Implement Manufacturing Execution System (MES) requirements and data architecture needed for real-time visibility and closed-loop control.
• Equipment & OEM Accountability: Lead technical evaluation, Site Acceptance Testing (SAT), and commissioning of capital equipment. Hold OEMs and equipment suppliers accountable for performance, reliability, and documentation. Develop initial operational procedures and ensure equipment can meet process and quality requirements.
• Design-for-Manufacturability & Design-for-Automation: Partner closely with Product Engineering to ensure transformer designs are standardized and optimized for automated, high-yield production. Drive concurrent engineering and rapid feedback loops between design and manufacturing.
• Team Building & Organizational Development: Recruit, develop, and retain top engineering and quality talent. Create clear career paths and a culture of extreme ownership, operational excellence, and floor-centric problem solving. Build the initial sustaining support structure by work center as the plant ramps.

Required Qualifications

• 15+ years of experience leading engineers in a high-volume manufacturing environment, with a proven track record of building and scaling technical organizations.
• Demonstrated experience standing up a complete Quality Management System in a greenfield manufacturing environment.
• Hands-on expertise with Statistical Process Control (SPC), FMEA, Six Sigma, and data-driven process improvement.
• Experience auditing or certifying organizations to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, IATF 16949, or equivalent industrial quality standards.
• Proven ability to work effectively in ambiguous, fast-paced, high-growth settings and to hold both internal teams and external suppliers to high technical standards.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with IEEE standards and infrastructure-grade or utility customer requirements.
• Prior experience in high-purity or highly controlled manufacturing environments (battery manufacturing, semiconductor, aerospace, or similar).
• Experience in complex electromechanical systems, heavy industrial processes, or regulated/infrastructure-grade manufacturing.
• Background implementing MES, digital thread, or closed-loop process control.
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering required; advanced degree a plus.

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