Director of Tooling & Manufacturing Excellence

Aprios Custom MFG; Brooklyn Park (MN); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Aprios Custom MFG seeks a hands-on Director of Tooling & Manufacturing Engineering to lead tooling, engineering, and process initiatives. You will guide mold design, tooling validation, and production launches while collaborating with toolmakers, machinists, and production teams to solve complex manufacturing challenges.

You will shape world‑class tooling capabilities, drive process improvements, and mentor engineers to build future leaders in a fast‑paced custom injection molding environment.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of experience in injection molding, mold design, toolmaking, tooling engineering, manufacturing engineering, mold building, or custom manufacturing environments.
• Hands-on tooling operations, mold construction, tool room management, troubleshooting, repairs, and production support.
• Leadership experience managing engineering, tooling, or manufacturing engineering teams while remaining actively engaged in technical work.
• Deep understanding of injection mold design, machining processes, mold maintenance, tooling systems, and manufacturing operations.
• Experience launching new products and managing projects from RFQ through production.
• Ability to diagnose root-cause tooling and manufacturing issues and implement effective corrective actions.
• Experience collaborating with mold makers, machinists, process technicians, quality teams, production teams, and customers.
• Strong working knowledge of CAD systems, tooling standards, mold flow principles, DFM, and manufacturing best practices.
• Experience in capacity planning, cost estimation, tooling quotations, supplier management, and make-versus-buy decisions.

Responsibilities

• Lead Tooling, Manufacturing Engineering, Process Engineering, and Project Management teams while maintaining close involvement in technical operations.
• Serve as the company's senior technical expert for injection molding, tooling, mold design, manufacturability, and manufacturing process optimization.
• Review mold designs, tooling concepts, engineering changes, troubleshooting activities, and new product launch plans.
• Partner with toolmakers, machinists, mold designers, process technicians, and production leadership to solve tooling and manufacturing challenges.
• Guide customer programs from RFQ and concept development through tooling validation, sampling, qualification, and production launch.
• Develop and strengthen internal mold design, tooling, and manufacturing engineering capabilities.
• Evaluate tooling performance and drive improvements in mold reliability, cycle times, quality, throughput, and preventative maintenance practices.
• Work closely with customers to develop practical and cost‑effective manufacturing solutions.
• Lead manufacturing engineering initiatives focused on process improvement, operational efficiency, automation, and waste reduction.
• Coach and mentor engineers, mold designers, tooling personnel, and technical team members while developing future leaders.
• Drive continuous improvement activities that improve productivity, manufacturability, quality, and profitability.

Skills

Tooling leadership

Mold design

Injection molding

Project management

Cross-functional leadership

Manufacturing engineering

Process optimization

Root-cause analysis

Collaborative skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Journeyman Tool & Die (preferred)

Tools

CAD systems

Mold flow

Job description

Aprios Custom MFG seeks a hands-on Director of Tooling & Manufacturing Engineering to lead tooling, engineering, and process initiatives. You will guide mold design, tooling validation, and production launches while collaborating with toolmakers, machinists, and production teams to solve complex manufacturing challenges.

You will shape world‑class tooling capabilities, drive process improvements, and mentor engineers to build future leaders in a fast‑paced custom injection molding environment.