Engineering Program Manager Job Sheboygan area,Wisconsin USA,Engineering

Position Summary/Objective:

Under the direction of the Director of Engineering, and in close collaboration with the Chief Technology Officer, the Engineering Program Manager leads engineering execution and cross-functional coordination from concept and design through industrialization, launch, and successful transition to serial production. This position owns the integrated program schedule, engineering deliverables, technical issue resolution, and alignment of resources across concurrent programs.

This role works closely with Quality, Manufacturing Engineering, Manufacturing, Program Management, Purchasing, Sales, suppliers, and customers to ensure programs are delivered on time, within approved scope and cost, to specification, and ready for sustained production. The Engineering Program Manager does not directly supervise design engineers on a day-to-day basis, but is accountable for planning, sequencing, and coordinating engineering resources and deliverables;

facilitating technical decisions; and identifying the timing, tooling, validation, manufacturing, supplier, and commercial impact of engineering changes before implementation.

Primary Duties/Responsibilities:

Engineering Program Leadership and Design Coordination

Lead the planning and coordination of engineering resources and priorities across concurrent new product programs, working with Engineering leadership to plan capacity, sequence deliverables, resolve resource conflicts, and maintain accountability for commitments.
Develop and maintain integrated program schedules covering concept, design, prototype, tooling, verification and validation, design freeze, industrialization, PPAP, launch, and post-launch stabilization milestones.
Track engineering deliverables, including CAD data, drawings, specifications, BOMs, DFMEAs, DVP&Rs, test plans, and release documentation, against schedule and proactively communicate risks, recovery actions, and required decisions.
Lead design reviews, technical reviews, and gate reviews, ensuring the appropriate mechanical, electrical, optical, software, quality, manufacturing, supplier, and commercial stakeholders are engaged at the correct stage of development.
Lead Engineering Change Request and Engineering Change Notice activities resulting from testing, customer direction, supplier input, manufacturability concerns, or design improvement. Ensure each change is documented, reviewed, approved, and communicated, including evaluation of piece-price, tooling, capital, validation, timing, manufacturing, inventory, supplier, and customer impacts prior to implementation.
Provide technical leadership during program execution by identifying engineering issues, facilitating tradeoff discussions, assigning corrective actions, and driving timely closure of design, manufacturing, supplier, validation, and customer concerns.

Industrialization and New Product Launch

Lead the transition of new designs from Engineering into Manufacturing Engineering and Manufacturing, ensuring design for manufacturability and assembly, tooling, equipment, process, capacity, quality, and cost requirements are identified and addressed early in development.
Own and maintain the cross-functional launch plan (e.g., APQP/PPAP or equivalent stage-gate process), integrating design, tooling, process validation, and quality milestones into a single program timeline.
Plan and lead prototype builds, engineering builds, pilot runs, and production trials with Manufacturing Engineering and Manufacturing, ensuring issues are documented, assigned, resolved, and verified before launch.
Own launch-readiness tracking for tooling, equipment, purchased components, work instructions, quality documentation, validation, capacity, staffing, and training; establish recovery plans and elevate unresolved risks to the Director of Engineering and CTO.
Coordinate engineering activities with suppliers to ensure timely delivery and approval of prototype parts, production tooling, purchased components, validation samples, and production‑intent materials.
Support post-launch stabilization, coordinating engineering support for early production issues until the program is formally handed off to sustaining/Manufacturing teams.

Cross-Functional Relationship Management

Serve as the primary Engineering point of contact for Quality on new product programs, coordinating DFMEAs, PFMEAs, control plans, inspection criteria, validation requirements, corrective actions, and design-related quality concerns.
Partner with Manufacturing Engineering on process design, tooling, fixturing, and manufacturability feedback, ensuring input is incorporated into the design before design freeze where practical.
Coordinate with Manufacturing on line/cell readiness, staffing, training needs, and production trial support ahead of launch.
Align with Program Management, Sales, and Finance on program scope, timing, customer commitments, commercial assumptions, and change impacts, ensuring engineering and industrialization plans…