Manufacturing Engineering & Estimating Manager

MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING & ESTIMATING MANAGER | DFM, ESTIMATING & PRODUCTION
ENGINEER THE WORK. WIN THE BUSINESS. MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Our manufacturing client is seeking a senior, hands‑on Manufacturing Engineering & Estimating Manager who will have significant influence over how the company engineers, quotes, launches, and grows its most important customer programs. This is not a desk‑only engineering management role
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We are looking for someone who has spent years close to the work and understands how fabricated sheet metal products actually get made. The successful candidate will bring deep experience across manufacturing engineering, DFM, estimating, production planning, and customer interaction
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You should be equally comfortable reviewing a Solid Works model with a customer, identifying DFM issues, determining how a product should be manufactured, building a realistic estimate and routing, planning material and work‑center requirements, and working with the shop to solve problems during first articles and production ramp.

• Strategic Customer Programs: Serve as the technical lead for several of Pen's largest and most important customer programs.
• Customer Engineering: Work directly with customer engineering and purchasing teams to understand requirements, resolve design issues, and improve manufacturability.
• DFM & Technical Review: Review drawings, CAD models, specifications, tolerances, and RFQs for feasibility, manufacturability, and cost.
• Estimating & Costing: Lead estimating and ensure quotes reflect realistic material, labor, routing, tooling, outside processing, and production assumptions.
• Manufacturing Planning: Translate new programs from RFQ and prototype through first article and into repeatable production.
• Process Development: Develop manufacturing plans, routings, work instructions, material requirements, sequencing, and production requirements.
• Production Flow: Understand how work will move through lasers/turrets, press brakes, welding, hardware, assembly, and outside processing before it reaches the production floor.
• Engineering & Estimating Leadership: Manage and develop Pen's estimating and engineering resources.
• Sales Partnership: Partner with Sales on technical discovery, feasibility, costing, and major new opportunities.
• Operations Partnership: Work closely with Operations and Production to ensure jobs are released, planned, and scheduled intelligently.
• Capacity & Capital Planning: Identify work‑center constraints, tooling requirements, automation opportunities, and equipment needs.
• First Articles & Ramp‑Up: Support prototypes, first articles, production launches, and ramp‑ups.
• Continuous Improvement: Review completed jobs against estimates and improve future costing, routings, labor standards, and production assumptions.
• Account Growth: Build strong technical relationships with customers and help expand existing strategic accounts.

A manufacturing engineer and estimator at heart who has developed the technical judgment to lead people, customers, and complex programs.

Required:

• 10+ years of hands‑on experience in sheet metal fabrication, precision metal fabrication, or a similar contract manufacturing environment.
• Deep understanding of laser cutting, punching, press brake forming, welding, hardware insertion, assembly, and outside processing.
• Significant experience estimating and costing fabricated sheet metal products.
• Strong hands‑on DFM and manufacturing engineering experience.
• Ability to read and critique engineering drawings, CAD models, tolerances, and specifications.
• Solid Works or similar 3D CAD experience.
• Experience translating customer drawings/models into practical, repeatable manufacturing processes.
• Comfortable working directly with…