Industrial Manufacturing Engineer

Caterpillar Brazil; Pontiac (IL); On-site; USD 98,000 - 146,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

401(k) plan

Paid time off

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Caterpillar Inc. in Pontiac, IL is seeking an Industrial Manufacturing Engineer to lead end-to-end material flow design and throughput optimization at a large-scale facility.

You will drive Lean initiatives, design labor strategies, and coordinate across production, supply chain, quality, and maintenance to meet operational goals. This on-site role offers relocation assistance and a competitive compensation package.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and significant relevant experience.
• Experience leading Lean manufacturing initiatives and end-to-end value streams.
• Strong project management and cross-functional leadership.
• Solid problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Knowledge of capacity planning and production scheduling.

Responsibilities

• Plan, design, and implement a greenfield facility layout and material flow.
• Develop labor strategies and staffing plans for current and future demands.
• Optimize end-to-end material and process flows across the value stream.
• Drive throughput by reducing WIP, lead time, and bottlenecks.
• Lead Lean and problem-solving initiatives to eliminate waste.
• Collaborate with production, supply chain, quality, and maintenance teams.

Skills

Capacity Planning

Project Management

Lean Manufacturing

Decision Making

Problem Solving

Education

Bachelor’s degree and significant relevant experience

Tools

MODAPTS certification

Job description

Career Area: Manufacturing Job Description: Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc. When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.

Role Definition

The Industrial Manufacturing Engineer serves as a technical and operational leader within a large-scale manufacturing facility, focusing on end-to-end process flow, throughput optimization, and workforce alignment. This role operates as an individual contributor without direct reports but requires strong informal leadership, coordination across functions, and ownership of key operational outcomes. The person in this role will be responsible for designing and improving material flow, balancing production systems, and ensuring efficient pull-through of work across the value stream.

What You Will Do

• Lead the planning, design, and implementation of a greenfield manufacturing facility, ensuring optimal layout, material flow, space utilization, and operational scalability.
• Design labor strategies, organizational structures, staffing plans, and workforce deployment models to support current and future production demands.
• Design, analyze, and optimize end-to-end material and process flows across the manufacturing value stream.
• Drive throughput improvements by reducing WIP, minimizing lead time, and eliminating bottlenecks.
• Lead digital transformation initiatives, including production KPI digitization and integration of autonomous robotics.
• Act as a lead engineer, influencing cross-functional teams to achieve flow, productivity, and performance goals.
• Lead Lean and continuous improvement initiatives using structured problem-solving (A3, DMAIC) to eliminate waste.
• Partner with production, supply chain, quality, and maintenance teams to align materials, staffing, and execution with operational priorities.

Degree Requirement

Bachelor’s degree and significant relevant experience.

What Skills You Have

• Capacity Planning & Management – MFG: Knowledge of tools, approaches and practices for determining production demand and ability to manage resources needed to provide satisfactory levels of service. Works with R&D (research & development) staff to plan resource and capacity requirements for products under development. Creates consolidated forecasts for multiple product lines and production facilities. Advises on multiple cycles of short and long-term capacity planning for product or site. Compares and contrasts alternative approaches and tools for capacity planning. Develops estimates and costs for incremental capacity requirements. Translates demand forecasts into production and capacity requirements.
• Project Management: Knowledge of effective project management strategies and tactics; ability to plan, organize, monitor, and control projects, ensuring efficient utilization of technical and administrative resources to achieve project objectives. Utilizes preferred tools, techniques and methods for estimating project cost and time. Plans, estimates, staffs, organizes and monitors significant projects. Identifies risks and vulnerabilities; creates contingency plans. Conducts regular and ad-hoc project reviews with project team, sponsors, and clients. Maintains open communication among project participants and interested parties. Communicates reporting requirements; creates monitoring and control mechanisms.
• Lean Manufacturing: Knowledge of the philosophy, principles and implementation approaches of lean manufacturing; ability to integrate and implement lean manufacturing philosophy into existing production and management processes. Discusses considerations for work cell design and effectiveness monitoring. Finds solution for key technical and people problems associated with transformation to lean. Explains issues and considerations of implementing lean in own function or area. Selects and utilizes tools, techniques and measurements associated with a lean assessment. Explains benchmarks and measures of effectiveness of lean.
• Decision Making and Critical Thinking: Knowledge of the decision-making process and associated tools and techniques; ability to accurately analyze situations and reach productive decisions based on informed judgment. Applies an assigned technique for critical thinking in a decision-making process. Identifies, obtains, and organizes relevant data and ideas. Participates in documenting data, ideas, players, stakeholders, and processes. Recognizes, clarifies, and prioritizes concerns. Assists in assessing risks, benefits and consideration of alternatives.
• Problem Solving: Knowledge of approaches, tools, techniques for recognizing, anticipating, and resolving organizational, operational or process problems; ability to apply knowledge of problem solving appropriately to diverse situations. Identifies and documents specific problems and resolution alternatives. Examines a specific problem and understands the perspective of each involved stakeholder. Develops alternative techniques for assessing accuracy and relevance of information. Helps to analyze risks and benefits of alternative approaches and obtain decision on resolution. Uses fact-finding techniques and diagnostic tools to identify problems.

Top Candidates May Also Have

• Power Apps experience for workflow automation.
• Data analytics skills with a focus on actionable insights.
• Working knowledge of AI tools.
• Leadership or team guidance experience.
• MODAPTS certification.

Additional Information

This position requires the selected candidate to work on-site five days a week in the Pontiac, IL facility. Travel of up to 25% may be required after the first six months of employment. Domestic relocation assistance is available. VISA sponsorship is not available for this position. Summary Pay Range: $97,530.00 - $146,290.00 Compensation and benefits offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, job level, market location, job-related knowledge, skills, individual performance and experience. Please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Caterpillar.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision benefits
• Paid time off plan (Vacation, Holidays, Volunteer, etc.)
• 401(k) savings plans
• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)
• Health Lifestyle Programs
• Employee Assistance Program
• Voluntary Benefits and Employee Discounts
• Career Development
• Incentive bonus
• Disability benefits Life Insurance Parental leave Adoption benefits Tuition Reimbursement

These benefits also apply to part-time employees

This position requires working onsite five days a week. Relocation is available for this position. Visa Sponsorship is not available for this position.

Equal Opportunities

Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer, Including Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities. Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply.

We hire smart, friendly people and it shows in our culture. We hold ourselves to high standards and make sure our values of integrity, excellence, teamwork, commitment and sustainability come to life in the way we work. We make sure our employees feel continuously challenged while also supported. We provide professional growth opportunities, including leadership programs. We celebrate the diversity of our team, while also working together as one Caterpillar. Our culture, like everything at our company, is made possible by each employee's contribution. Person by person, we create the environment we work in, and we are proud of the Caterpillar we've built.