Director of Engineering

About Quickcable

QuickCable is a leading U.S.-based manufacturer of battery connection solutions with a broad portfolio of terminal connectors, cable assemblies, tools, and custom-engineered power solutions. The Company helps customers improve reliability, performance, and operational efficiency in mission-critical environments such as commercial vehicles, construction, industrial, material handling, agricultural, military/defense, marine, and other specialty applications. The Company has been delivering American-made quality and innovation for more than 80 years, employing approximately 140 people out of facilities in Franksville, Wisconsin and Ontario, Canada. Under new private ownership, the Company is positioning itself for strong growth through a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions.

Position Summary

The Director of Engineering provides strategic leadership to our engineering team, ensuring technical excellence while aligning engineering operations with the company's immediate and long-term business objectives. As a member of the leadership team, this individual works closely with Sales, Operations, Manufacturing, and executive leadership to support customer success, operational performance, and sustainable growth. The ideal candidate is a trusted leader who earns credibility through technical knowledge, sound judgment, and a genuine commitment to helping others and the organization succeed. They are equally comfortable partnering with customers, collaborating with executive leadership, and mentoring engineers while creating an environment where ownership, innovation, and continuous learning become part of the team's everyday culture. Through the combination of deep technical expertise and exceptional leadership, this individual understands that building a great engineering organization is about more than delivering projects. It requires developing and updating processes, people, creating accountability, fostering collaboration, and continuously improving the way teams work together.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the engineering team, including project engineering, project management, application engineering, design and drafting (SolidWorks and AutoCAD).
• Provide direction for the successful execution of engineering projects from design through completion.
• Ensure engineering solutions meet technical, quality, schedule, and budget objectives.
• Partners with Sales, Operations, Manufacturing, Quality, and executive leadership to support complex customer opportunities and business initiatives.
• Provide technical leadership for complex system designs, project challenges, and engineering decisions.
• Drive continuous improvement through standardized processes, innovation, and operational excellence.
• Apply Lean and Kaizen methods practically to reduce scrap, improve first-time yield, and increase process capability, matching the level of analytical rigor to the size and risk of the problem.
• Develop future engineering leaders through coaching, mentoring, performance management, and succession planning.
• Identify and mitigate technical, operational, and commercial risks across the project portfolio.
• Spend regular time on the production floor and on the equipment and set the expectation that Engineering works with operators and technicians rather than around them.
• Own engineering’s contribution to manufacturing performance, with particular focus on die casting and cable assembly: first-time yield, scrap, throughput, and process capability.
• Run a continuous cadence of small, fast improvement projects. We would rather see twenty improvements land this year than one perfect program launches next year.
• Establish tiered levels of development rigor by product risk.
• Own drawing control, revision management, and the engineering change (ECO/ECN) process end to end.
• Own the accuracy of engineering-controlled data in the ERP system, including item master, bills of material, routings, and standards.

REQUI RED QUA L I F I CAT IONS

• Bachelor's degree in engineering: mechanical, industrial, manufacturing, materials, electrical, or a related discipline. Master’s degree is a plus.
• 8+ years of progressive engineering experience in industrial equipment, components, process systems, automation, die cast, or a related manufacturing environment, including at least 3 years leading and developing engineers.
• Proven success leading and developing engineering teams.
• Demonstrated business acumen with the ability to balance technical, operational, and financial priorities.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills within the organization and with external partners such as customers and vendors, and a demonstrated ability to work well with production employees.
• Proficiency with SolidWorks and AutoCAD.