Engineer , Manufacturing

Position: Engineer I, Manufacturing
2300 Vierling Drive West, Shakopee, Minnesota 55379 United States of America

Why Oatey?

Since 1916, Oatey has provided reliable, high-quality products for the residential and commercial plumbing industries, with a commitment to delivering quality, building trust and improving lives. Today, Oatey operates a comprehensive manufacturing and distribution network comprised of industry leading family of companies:
Oatey, Cherne, Keeney, Quick Drain, Hercules, Dearborn, Oatey Canada, William H. Harvey, Masters, Contact, Belanger, Lansas, and Durgo.

At Oatey, we're doing big things - and by joining us, you'll have the chance to do big things too. You can build a strong career in an innovative, inclusive, high-performance environment, with the confidence that your company cares - about you, our customers and our world. Ready to make an impact in a place where you matter?

* Position Summary

This position supports safe, efficient, and reliable production by improving and developing machines, tools, equipment, and manufacturing processes. The role provides a combination of daily production line support and project-based engineering work, including troubleshooting safety, quality, and productivity issues and implementing longer-term process and equipment improvements. This position works closely with Manufacturing Engineering leadership, Production, Maintenance, Safety, Quality, operators, and external vendors to ensure operational goals are consistently met.

Position Responsibilities

* Provide daily production and equipment support by diagnosing safety, quality, and productivity issues and coordinating with Maintenance and Production teams to resolve equipment or process concerns.

* Lead or support engineering projects to improve manufacturing machines, tools, equipment, and processes while ensuring solutions meet safety, quality, productivity, and reliability requirements.

* Develop, modify, and improve tooling, fixtures, machine components, and equipment as needed to support production and continuous improvement initiatives.

* Create and maintain technical documentation, including safe operating procedures, standard work, target production rates, technical drawings, and process documentation.

* Read and interpret blueprints, technical drawings, schematics, equipment manuals, and production data to support troubleshooting, equipment improvements, and process development.

* Investigate equipment failures and performance issues to identify root causes and recommend or implement corrective actions in partnership with Maintenance, Production, Safety, and Quality.

* Apply lean manufacturing and continuous improvement principles to improve safety, quality, productivity, reliability, and standardization across manufacturing operations.

* Estimate project costs, obtain quotes, evaluate vendor proposals, and present recommendations for equipment, tooling, process, and facilities-related projects.

* Prepare and maintain project documentation, including RFQs, quote comparisons, purchase request authorization documentation, project timelines, vendor information, and other required project records.

* Coordinate project execution with Maintenance, Production, Safety, Quality, and external vendors to ensure projects are implemented safely, effectively, and with minimal disruption to production.

* Support equipment installation, startup, troubleshooting, and validation activities for new or modified equipment and processes.

* Use 3D CAD and related software to design, modify, document, and support tooling, fixtures, parts, and manufacturing equipment improvements.

* Partner with production operators and supervisors to gather feedback, validate process changes, improve standard work, and ensure engineering solutions are practical and effective.

* Support multiple production lines and departments through cross-functional collaboration and prioritization of competing production and project needs.

* Provide occasional on-call or off-shift support for urgent equipment, process, or production issues.

* Maintain a working environment that supports safety, teamwork, communication, continuous improvement, and positive morale.

* Perform other…