Lead Mechanical Engineer – Maintenance of Line; MOL

Overview

About IEM Industrial Electric Mfg. (IEM) is the largest independent full-line manufacturer of custom power distribution systems in North America. Founded more than 75 years ago in Fremont, California, IEM grew alongside Silicon Valley and today operates over 1.7 million square feet of manufacturing capacity. With $1B+ in annual sales and 10,000+ commissioned projects across technology, data centers, commercial, energy, utilities, healthcare, industrial, and infrastructure markets, IEM continues to deliver exceptional product quality, dependable service, and the flexibility to meet complex technical requirements at scale.

Position Summary The Lead Mechanical Engineer – Maintenance of Line (MOL) is responsible for providing both technical and people leadership for the MOL mechanical engineering function supporting IEM’s medium voltage (MV) product designs. This role owns the integrity, reliability, and manufacturability of active product designs, standards, and procedures while leading a team of engineers to ensure sustained production capability across manufacturing operations.

This hands-on leadership role establishes technical direction for MOL activities, ensuring the long-term health of existing product lines and enabling design engineering teams to remain focused on DTO delivery. The Lead Engineer drives cross-functional alignment, resolves critical systemic issues, and ensures engineering standards, processes, and talent are developed to support business objectives.

• Provide technical and people leadership for the MOL mechanical engineering team, including direct supervision, coaching, and performance development.
• Set technical priorities and allocate resources to support production, quality, and DTO commitments.
• Lead resolution of high-impact, cross-site mechanical issues affecting production, quality, safety, or field performance.
• Establish, approve, and enforce mechanical design standards, material specifications, and SOPs.
• Review and approve complex mechanical designs, analyses, and engineering change activities.
• Lead and facilitate critical design reviews and technical risk assessments.
• Partner with project management, operations, and customers on escalated technical and delivery issues.
• Support hiring, onboarding, and development of mechanical engineering talent.

• Design Standards, Systemic Issue Resolution and DTO support:
  Own and govern Mechanical Engineering standards, work instructions, and procedures related to Maintenance of Line.
• Lead enterprise-level root cause analyses for major production stoppages, field failures, and quality escapes.
• Drive long-term reliability, safety, and manufacturability improvement initiatives.
• Identify systemic design or process gaps impacting DTO performance and lead cross-functional resolution.
• Assess technical and organizational risk and make final recommendations to management.

• Act as the primary technical and organizational escalation point.
• Partner with manufacturing engineering to institutionalize best practices.
• Lead and approve complex ECNs, process changes, and field updates.
• Directly manage and mentor engineers, fostering technical excellence and accountability.
• Ensure consistent engineering practices across sites.

• Extensive experience in design-to-order (DTO) or highly customized engineering environments.
• Expert-level root cause analysis and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Demonstrated ability to lead engineering teams.
• Advanced Lean manufacturing or Six Sigma knowledge (preferred).
• Deep understanding of mechanical systems and interfaces.
• Extensive experience with medium voltage switch gear or power distribution equipment.
• Strong technical judgment and leadership communication skills.
• Advanced Solid Works and AutoCAD proficiency; FEA experience preferred.
• Expert knowledge of UL, CSA, ANSI, IEEE, and NEMA standards (UL 891 / UL 1558).

• BSME or equivalent required
• 10+ years of experience in mechanical design, MOL, or DTO
• Prior leadership experience required.
• Professional Engineer (PE) licensure is strongly preferred.

The salary range for this role…