Head of Product Engineering & NPI

Kauffman Engineering; Lincolnshire (IL); On-site; USD 135,000 - 155,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision insurance

Flexible spending accounts

Company paid life insurance

Disability insurance

Annual bonus program

Job summary

Kauffman Engineering is seeking a strategic and hands‑on Director of Product Engineering to build and scale the product engineering organization from RFQ to launch. You will lead Customer Engineering, Quoting, and NPI, aligning with operations, sales, and plant leadership to reduce risk and improve performance while protecting quality and margin.

The role requires overseeing NPI across plants, managing APQP/PPAP, and driving lean improvements from quoting through production launches.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Industrial, Mechanical, Electrical, or equivalent preferred).
• Minimum 7–10 years of engineering experience in manufacturing or industrial environments.
• Demonstrated leadership overseeing Customer Engineering, NPI, and/or Quoting functions.
• Proven experience with APQP, PPAP, and launch execution in production environments.
• Strong knowledge of Core Tools (APQP, PPAP, FMEA, SPC, MSA).
• Experience driving engineering standardization and process improvement.
• Understanding of material and labor costing, manufacturability, and cost drivers.
• Project management and cross‑functional leadership experience.
• Familiarity with Lean Manufacturing, continuous improvement, and Six Sigma preferred.
• Strong communication, organizational, and problem‑solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead, manage and oversee all engineering activities related to New Product Introduction (NPI) across all plants, including onboarding new customers and programs.
• Ensure NPI teams fully execute APQP activities across all phases, including PPAP readiness and launch execution.
• Drive Continuous Improvement activities to improve our lean approach from Quoting to NPI, focusing on Safety, Speed, Quality, Delivery and Cost.
• Lead Customer Engineering as the primary technical interface between customers and the organization.
• Lead, Manage and track a pipeline of VA/VE activities to drive efficiencies and strengthen customer relationships.
• Provide engineering leadership for the RFQ‑to‑quote process and ensure feasibility, costs, risks, and manufacturability are included in quotes.
• Collaborate with Sales, Finance, Purchasing, and Operations to protect margin and readiness.
• Promote continuous improvement in engineering methods, tools, and cross‑functional coordination.
• Collaborate with Quality, Supply Chain, Maintenance, and Operations for integrated execution.
• Lead CAPEX planning and long‑term engineering capability development.

Skills

Leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Project management

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Tools

APQP

PPAP

FMEA

SPC

MSA

Lean Manufacturing

Six Sigma

Job description

Kauffman Engineering is seeking a strategic and hands‑on Director of Product Engineering to build and scale the product engineering organization from RFQ to launch. You will lead Customer Engineering, Quoting, and NPI, aligning with operations, sales, and plant leadership to reduce risk and improve performance while protecting quality and margin.

The role requires overseeing NPI across plants, managing APQP/PPAP, and driving lean improvements from quoting through production launches.