Engineering Head - Manufacturing Plant

Verified Company; India; On-site; INR 4,500,000 - 7,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Verified Company in Coimbatore seeks a Head of Engineering to lead end-to-end gear design and manufacturing excellence. You will steer product design, process engineering, tooling, maintenance, and quality engineering, aligning with strategic goals and driving cost competitiveness.

You will oversee manufacturing processes from forging and casting to gear cutting, heat treatment, and finishing, ensuring compliance with AGMA/DIN/ISO standards.

Qualifications

• BE / BTech in Mechanical Engineering mandatory.
• ME / MTech in Manufacturing / Design preferred.
• Certifications in Lean / Six Sigma / TPM (advantage) may be beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end engineering leadership across product design, process engineering, manufacturing engineering, tooling, maintenance engineering, quality engineering support, and continuous improvement.
• Oversee gear design for industrial, automotive, wind energy, and heavy-duty applications.
• Own process design and optimization for forging, casting, machining, gear cutting, heat treatment, and finishing processes.
• Drive adoption of Industry 4.0, digital twins, and ERP integration for BOM and costing.
• Mentor engineering teams and build technical competency frameworks.

Education

BE / BTech in Mechanical Engineering

ME / MTech in Manufacturing / Design

Tools

Creo

SolidWorks

AutoCAD

ANSYS

KISSsoft

Romax

NX CAM

Mastercam

SAP / Oracle (ERP)

Job description

Industry : Industrial Gears | Power Transmission | Precision Manufacturing

Location : Coimbatore / Manufacturing Plants

Reporting To : Business Head

Function : Engineering & Manufacturing Excellence

Role Purpose

The Head - Engineering will be responsible for end-to-end engineering leadership across product design, process engineering, manufacturing engineering, tooling, maintenance engineering, quality engineering support, and continuous improvement.

The role ensures world-class engineering capability, cost competitiveness, technology leadership, and manufacturing excellence aligned with Company's strategic goals.

Key Responsibilities

1. Product & Design Engineering

Lead gear design and engineering for industrial, automotive, wind energy, and heavy-duty applications.

Oversee:

• Spur, Helical, Bevel, Worm, Planetary, and Special Gearboxes
• High-precision and high-load gear applications
• Ensure compliance with AGMA, DIN, ISO, BS, JIS standards.
• Drive Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA).
• Validate designs through:
  • Strength, fatigue, noise & vibration analysis
  • Thermal and lubrication calculations
• Collaborate with customers on custom gear solutions and co-development programs.

2. Manufacturing & Process Engineering

Own process design and optimization for:

• Forging / Casting / Machining
• Gear cutting (Hobbing, Shaping, Skiving)
• Heat treatment (Carburizing, Nitriding, Induction Hardening)
• Grinding, lapping, honing, super-finishing
• Define routing, cycle time, line balancing, and takt time.
• Drive capacity planning and layout optimization.
• Reduce process variation using statistical and analytical methods.

3. Tooling, Fixtures & Automation

Lead design and development of:

• Jigs, fixtures, gauges, cutting tools
• Special purpose machines (SPMs)
• Implement automation and robotics for productivity, safety, and quality.
• Standardize tooling to reduce cost and setup time.
• Evaluate and implement Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing initiatives.

4. Maintenance & Reliability Engineering

• Establish preventive, predictive, and condition-based maintenance systems.
• Drive machine uptime, OEE improvement, and breakdown reduction.
• Oversee TPM implementation and asset lifecycle management.
• Manage critical spares strategy and AMC/vendor management.

5. Quality Engineering & Compliance Support

• Support Quality team in APQP, PPAP, FMEA, Control Plans and Root cause analysis (8D, Fishbone, 5 Why)
• Ensure adherence to ISO 9001, IATF 16949, ISO 14001, ISO 45001
• Drive process capability improvement (Cp, Cpk).
• Reduce rejection, rework, and warranty issues.

6. Technology & Digital Engineering Tools

Lead adoption of advanced engineering tools:

• CAD: Creo / SolidWorks / AutoCAD
• CAE: ANSYS, KISSsoft, Romax (gear analysis)
• CAM: NX CAM, Mastercam
• Use PLM systems for design control and documentation.
• Integrate engineering with ERP (SAP / Oracle) for BOM, routing, and costing.
• Implement digital twins, simulation, and predictive analytics where applicable.

7. Cost Engineering & Value Engineering

Lead cost reduction initiatives through:

• Value engineering
• Material substitution
• Process optimization
• Analyze product and process cost drivers.
• Support quotation, margin improvement, and pricing decisions.
• Drive VA/VE workshops across product lines.

8. New Product Development (NPD)

Own end-to-end NPD lifecycle:

• Concept - Design - Prototype - Validation - Production
• Ensure on-time launches meeting cost, quality, and performance targets.
• Coordinate with Sales, Quality, Production, and Supply Chain.

9. People Leadership & Capability Building

• Lead and mentor engineering teams across Design, Manufacturing engineering, Maintenance and Tooling
• Build succession planning and technical competency frameworks.
• Drive training on Gear technology, Lean manufacturing and Digital engineering tools
• Foster a culture of innovation, discipline, and continuous improvement.

Technical Knowledge & Tool Handling

Manufacturing Equipment

• CNC Gear Hobbing, Shaping, Skiving Machines
• CNC Turning, VMC, HMC
• Gear Grinding, Profile Grinding, Worm Grinding
• Heat Treatment Furnaces (Carburizing, Nitriding, Induction)
• CMM, Gear Measuring Centers, Profile Testers

Engineering & Quality Tools

• GD&T, Tolerance stack-up analysis
• SPC, MSA, FMEA
• Lean tools: VSM, SMED, Kaizen
• Six Sigma methodologies

Key Requirements

Education

• BE / BTech in Mechanical Engineering (mandatory)
• ME / MTech in Manufacturing / Design (preferred)
• Certifications in Lean / Six Sigma / TPM (advantage)

Experience

• 18-25 years in engineering leadership roles within Gear manufacturing /Heavy engineering /Auto components / industrial machinery
• Proven .