Director of Tooling & Manufacturing Excellence

Aprios - Diversified Plastics, Inc.; Brooklyn Park (MN); On-site; USD 160,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Aprios Custom MFG in Brooklyn Park, MN, seeks a Director of Tooling & Manufacturing Engineering to lead tooling, engineering, and manufacturing functions. The role blends hands-on mold work with strategic leadership across process optimization, product launches, and vendor collaboration.

The ideal candidate has 15+ years in injection molding environments, strong CAD/DFM knowledge, and a track record of driving efficiency, quality, and cost reductions in a fast-paced custom molding setting.

Qualifications

• 15+ years in injection molding, mold design, toolmaking, or related fields.
• Hands-on tooling operations, mold construction, tool room management, and production support.
• Proven leadership managing engineering teams while remaining hands-on.
• Deep understanding of injection mold design, machining, tooling systems, and manufacturing operations.
• Experience launching new products from RFQ to production.
• Ability to diagnose root-cause tooling issues and implement corrective actions.
• Experience collaborating with mold makers, machinists, process technicians, and customers.
• Knowledge of CAD, tooling standards, mold flow, DFM, and manufacturing best practices.
• Experience with capacity planning, cost estimation, tooling quotations, supplier management, and make-vs-buy decisions.

Responsibilities

• Lead Tooling, Manufacturing Engineering, Process Engineering, and Project Management teams while remaining involved in technical operations.
• Serve as senior technical expert for injection molding, tooling, mold design, manufacturability, and process optimization.
• Review mold designs, tooling concepts, engineering changes, and new product launch plans.
• Partner with toolmakers, machinists, mold designers, process technicians, and production leadership.
• Guide customer programs from RFQ 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 and cycle times.
• Work with customers to develop practical and cost-effective manufacturing solutions.
• Lead manufacturing engineering initiatives focused on process improvement, automation, and waste reduction.
• Coach and mentor engineers and tooling teams.
• Drive continuous improvement to improve productivity and profitability.

Skills

Injection molding

Mold design

Tooling engineering

Manufacturing engineering

Leadership

Project management

Root-cause analysis

CAD software

Mold flow

DFM

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Tools

CAD/CAM software

Moldflow

Automation equipment

Job description

Aprios Custom MFG in Brooklyn Park, MN, seeks a Director of Tooling & Manufacturing Engineering to lead tooling, engineering, and manufacturing functions. The role blends hands-on mold work with strategic leadership across process optimization, product launches, and vendor collaboration.

The ideal candidate has 15+ years in injection molding environments, strong CAD/DFM knowledge, and a track record of driving efficiency, quality, and cost reductions in a fast-paced custom molding setting.