Manufacturing Process Engineer

We got our start over 125 years ago when Joseph Lodge founded the Blacklock Foundry in South Pittsburg, TN. His scrappy, hardworking spirit continues to lead us today. As a team, we believe cast iron is for everyone. We’re dedicated to manufacturing American-made cookware that we’re proud to use in our very own homes and excited to bring to kitchens, backyards, and campfires around the world.

Day in and day out, we work together to stay safe, have fun, and be better than we were the day before.

By now, you may have caught on to the fact that we’re serious about spreading the joys of cast iron. And while we’re always on the lookout for ways to innovate, we believe in the adage:
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s why we stand by a simple recipe of just iron and oil (no forever chemicals, since forever!). It’s also why we’re passionate about keeping our campus in our hometown of South Pittsburg, Tennessee, providing great jobs to our community. As we bring our cookware to the next generation of cast iron chefs, we’re looking for people to help us stay true to our roots every step of the way.

Does that sound like something you can get behind?

Reporting to the Director of Engineering Services, the Manufacturing Process Engineer will spend time where the work happens—on the plant floor, in conversations with operators and maintenance, and at your desk making sense of what you’ve observed. Some days call for diagnosing a recurring bottleneck; others involve working through a proposed line change with colleagues or preparing for an equipment trial.

The role moves between immediate production needs and longer-term improvements, so you’ll need to understand how a change in one step affects the rest of the process. You’ll see your ideas tested in real production and refine them with the people who use the process every day.

You’re curious about why a process works the way it does and willing to ask questions before proposing a fix. You listen to operators, explain your reasoning plainly, and bring people with different priorities toward a workable decision. You can move from an initial observation to a disciplined investigation, and you know when a practical improvement is ready to try. You follow through after implementation, learn from what happens on the floor, and take satisfaction in making work safer, more reliable, and easier to repeat.

• Design and optimize production line layouts and process flows for cast iron part manufacturing, from molding and pouring through cleaning, machining, and finishing.
• Develop and document standard processing methods, cycle times, and capacity models for new and existing product lines.
• Lead new line and cell layout projects, including equipment specification, plant floor arrangement, material flow, and ergonomics.
• Program and optimize CNC machining operations (part programs, tooling, and cutting parameters) to support new and existing processes, and partner with automation resources to incorporate robotic equipment into line designs.
• Support process qualification, PFMEA, and control plan development for new or changed processes.
• Conduct time studies, capacity analysis, and line balancing to optimize throughput and staffing.
• Participate in capital equipment and line projects, including specification, installation, runoff, and qualification, with travel as needed.
• Perform root cause analysis on process and quality issues using Shainin, 8D, and 5-Why methodologies.
• Develop and maintain process documentation, layouts, and standard work.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including quality, maintenance, and controls engineering, to support overall plant performance.

• BS in…