Engineering Manager - Custom Castings

Nordstern Group; Winnipeg; Hybrid; CAD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hiring bonus

Competitive salary

4-day workweek for weekday shifts

3-day workweek for weekend shifts

Off-shift premiums

Paid lunch and coffee breaks

RRSP matching

Comprehensive training

Career advancement

Boots and safety glasses reimbursement

Continuous improvement culture

Social committee

Job summary

Custom Castings, a member of the Nordstern Group, seeks an Engineering Manager to lead the Design Engineering team and coordinate resources across the Group. This role drives NPD, tooling standards, and cross-functional collaboration with Operations, Quality, and Sales.

You will oversee engineering workloads, manage customer communications during development, and mentor engineers in mechanical design and manufacturing processes. This role blends office and shop-floor work.

Qualifications

• Post-secondary degree in Mechanical/Manufacturing Engineering or related discipline.
• 7+ years of engineering experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Proven experience leading projects, coordinating technical work, and mentoring staff.
• Demonstrated experience in mechanical design, tooling, and new product development.
• Foundry/aluminum casting or related manufacturing experience is an asset.
• Strong leadership, coaching, and team development skills.
• Excellent project management, prioritization, and organizational abilities.
• Strong customer communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Actively manage and lead the Design Engineering team with clear expectations, accountability, and technical support.
• Control intake and prioritization of engineering requests across the Group based on customer needs, business impact, urgency, and capacity.
• Balance workload across the shared engineering resource pool and act as the primary escalation point for day-to-day Design Engineering matters.
• Serve as the primary engineering contact for external customers during new product development from design review to production launch.
• Maintain clear communication with customers on project status, technical issues, risks, and required decisions.
• Develop and maintain tooling design standards, review processes, and engineering best practices.
• Incorporate lessons learned from tooling trials and production performance into future designs.
• Drive improvements toward first-shot success with fewer tooling revisions and delays.
• Lead or support structured problem-solving where engineering input is required.
• Support quotation, FAI, PPAP, and other technical activities requiring engineering input.
• Work closely with Operations, Quality, Tooling, Maintenance, Sales, and senior leadership across the Group.
• Identify technical risks, resource constraints, and priority conflicts early and take appropriate action.
• Provide visibility on engineering workload, priorities, project status, and significant risks.

Skills

Mechanical design

People leadership

3D CAD modelling

Manufacturing processes

Customer-facing technical projects

Project management

Education

Post-secondary education in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Casting simulation software

Job description

Custom Castings is a member of the Nordstern Group of Companies, which also includes Protek Surface Technologies, Forte Tooling Technologies, and Sure Cast Aluminum Foundry. We are an integrated, single-source solutions provider delivering consistent, high-quality aluminum permanent mold castings to our customers.

We are currently seeking an experienced Engineering Manager to lead our Design Engineering team and coordinate engineering resources across the Nordstern Group of Companies.

Why Join Custom Castings?

What makes us a Great Place to Work? Our people and our culture matter! We are committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and respectful workplace where values are recognized.

• $2000 hiring bonus

• Competitive Salary

• 4-day workweek for weekday shifts and 3-day workweek for weekend shifts

• Off-shift premiums

• Paid lunch and coffee breaks

• Absent Time Paid hours

• Full benefits package including RRSP matching

• Comprehensive training program

• Opportunities for career advancement

• Work boots and Safety Glasses reimbursement

• Continuous Improvement culture with employee rewards

• Active Social Committee

Key Responsibilities:

Engineering Team Coordination

• Actively manage and lead the Design Engineering team with clear expectations, accountability, and technical support.
• Control the intake and prioritization of engineering requests across the Group based on customer needs, business impact, urgency, and available capacity.
• Balance workload across the shared engineering resource pool and resolve competing priorities while serving as the primary escalation point for day-to-day Design Engineering matters.

New Product Development & Customer Coordination

• Act as the primary engineering contact for external customers during new product development, frominitialdesign review through production launch.
• Maintain clear communication with customers on project status, technical issues, risks, and required decisions.

Tooling Design Systems & Standards

• Develop andmaintaintooling design standards, review processes, and engineering best practices.
• Incorporate lessons learned from tooling trials and production performance into future designs.
• Drive improvement toward first-shot success, with fewer tooling revisions and launch delays.

Manufacturing & Technical Support

• Lead or support structured problem-solving where engineering input isrequired.
• Support quotation, FAI, PPAP, and other technical activities requiring engineering input.

Cross-Functional & Business Support

• Work closely with Operations, Quality, Tooling, Maintenance, Sales, and senior leadership across the Group.
• Identifytechnical risks, resource constraints, and priority conflicts early and ensureappropriate actionis taken.
• Provide visibility on engineering workload, priorities, project status, and significant risks.

What You Bring:

• Post-secondary education in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Engineering Technology, or a related discipline.
• 7+ years of engineering experience in a manufacturing environment, includingdemonstratedexperience leading projects, coordinating technical work, and/or mentoring engineering staff.
• Previousexperience leading, supervising, or mentoring engineering professionals is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience in mechanical design, tooling, manufacturing processes, new product development, and customer-facing technical projects.
• Foundry, aluminum casting, machining, tooling, or related manufacturing experience would be considered an asset.
• Strong people leadership, coaching, and team development skills.
• Strong project management, prioritization, and organizational capability.
• Strong customer communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Strong mechanical design and manufacturing knowledge.
• Familiar with 3D CAD modelling and engineering drawing generation.
• Practical, hands-on problem-solving capability.
• Ability to balance customer requirements, technical needs, manufacturability, cost, and timing.
• Exposure to casting simulation or solidification software is considered an asset.

Work Environment:

• Combination of office and manufacturing-floor work.
• Regular interaction with foundry, tooling, machining, finishing, assembly, maintenance, and other manufacturing environments across the Group.
• Exposure to industrial machinery, elevated temperatures, and molten-metal processes.