Gear Manufacturing Engineer

Location: Whitsett

As we expand our gear manufacturing capabilities, we are seeking a hands-on Gear Manufacturing Engineer with deep expertise in gear production. This role will lead the day-to-day performance and continuous improvement of a machine shop focused on spur, helical, worm, and bevel gear manufacturing. This is a highly visible, shop-floor-focused position responsible for process ownership, equipment performance, and technical leadership across gear cutting, turning, grinding, and finishing operations.

The right candidate will bring strong gear manufacturing knowledge and the ability to translate that into improved throughput, quality, and cost performance.

What you will do:

Lead and optimize manufacturing processes for gear production, including hobbing, turning, grinding, and secondary operations

Establish and improve processes for spur, helical, worm, and bevel gears

Troubleshoot gear manufacturing issues using root cause analysis

Partner with quality to ensure gear inspection methods are robust and repeatable

Evaluate and implement gear manufacturing equipment

Lead capital justification and support installation/startup of equipment

Utilize Lean and continuous improvement tools

Provide hands-on technical support to machinists and supervisors

Drive preventive maintenance strategies for critical equipment

Collaborate cross-functionally to resolve manufacturing issues

Develop and maintain process documentation

Support training in gear manufacturing best practices

What we are looking for:

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or related field preferred; or equivalent years of experience
15+ years of experience in gear manufacturing

Expertise with gear hobbing, shaping, and/or grinding

Experience with spur, helical, worm, and bevel gears

Strong knowledge of gear geometry, tolerancing, and inspection

Experience with CNC machining environments

Strong GD&T and metallurgy understanding

Proven problem-solving ability in shop-floor environments

Experience evaluating and implementing equipment

Lean manufacturing knowledge

Demonstrated ability and willingness to use AI tools to improve productivity, decision-making, work quality, and to reduce costs. The successful candidate must be able to identify appropriate AI use cases and critically evaluate AI-generated outputs.

Strong communication and leadership skills#LI-JT1