Senior Manufacturing Engineer

Westbrook, CT | Onsite

Target Base Salary: $110,000–$125,000, depending on experience

Plus generous bonus and an unusually strong benefits package

I’m recruiting a Senior Manufacturing Engineer for a highly respected precision manufacturer in Westbrook, CT.

The business problem behind this opening is pretty straightforward: this product group is growing rapidly, with approximately 50% growth anticipated next year, and Manufacturing Engineering needs additional technical leadership to keep up.

The products are highly engineered precision components used in demanding aerospace and space applications, where quality and reliability aren’t negotiable.

This isn’t just a more experienced Manufacturing Engineer position.

They need someone who can own difficult manufacturing projects, stay close to the processes and equipment, and provide technical leadership to a seasoned group of Manufacturing Engineers.

For the right person, there is a potential path toward becoming a Lead Manufacturing Engineer.

This is an unusual manufacturing environment.

Many of the products involve highly precise mechanical assembly processes that don’t easily lend themselves to full automation. Manufacturing includes operations such as coil winding, termination, precision valve assembly, grinding, fitting, fixturing, and working with specialty materials.

You aren’t expected to arrive knowing these specific processes.

What matters is having the mechanical manufacturing foundation to understand them, ask the right questions, and solve problems.

You’ll be involved with:

• Leading manufacturing engineering projects from problem definition through implementation.
• Developing, improving, redesigning, and implementing manufacturing tooling and fixtures.
• Solving difficult mechanical, process, equipment, and production problems.
• Supporting process development and continuous improvement.
• Improving manufacturing quality, repeatability, throughput, ergonomics, and reliability.
• Evaluating manufacturing processes and equipment as the business scales.
• Supporting new product introductions and production growth.
• Working with specialty materials, precision components, fits, tolerances, and mechanical assemblies.
• Collaborating with internal automation specialists as additional automation is introduced.
• Providing technical direction and mentoring to other Manufacturing Engineers.
• Working closely with Product Engineering, Quality, Operations, Tooling, and Automation.

This is an important part of the position.

The Manufacturing Engineering team includes experienced engineers with strong technical backgrounds and, in some cases, decades of experience.

The right person won’t lead that group simply because of a title.

They’ll need to earn credibility through technical judgment, communication, follow-through, and the ability to get things done.

Previous engineering leadership or management experience would be valuable, but we’re also interested in experienced technical leaders who have successfully led projects and influenced other engineers without relying on formal authority.

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Technology, or a related technical discipline.
• Significant hands-on manufacturing engineering experience in a production environment.
• Strong mechanical aptitude and practical problem-solving ability.
• Experience leading manufacturing projects through implementation.
• Experience with tooling, fixtures, mechanical equipment, or manufacturing process development.
• Ability to troubleshoot complex manufacturing and mechanical problems.
• Experience mentoring, guiding, or technically leading…