Lean Manufacturing Lead Engineer

Zobility; Westminster (MD); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Zobility is seeking a Lean Manufacturing Lead Engineer to partner with the Director of Manufacturing Engineering to design, optimize, and scale vehicle assembly lines from start to finish. You will apply Lean methods to boost production, improve safety, and implement traceable processes across all lines.

You will lead major CI initiatives, develop SWIs, and mentor manufacturing staff while coordinating with quality, sales, and purchasing to ensure alignment with project timing and mitigation

Qualifications

• Requires 17 years of Automotive Engineering, Design & Manufacturing experience.
• Lean Manufacturing experience to reduce waste and improve throughput.
• Knowledge of GD&T, tolerance stack‑up, and structural design in steel/aluminum.

Responsibilities

• Improve safety and quality in vehicle manufacturing.
• Increase production rates by Lean processes and optimize plant layout.
• Coordinate with supervisors on daily priorities and process issues.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives to reduce waste and costs.
• Develop standard work instructions for lines and stations.
• Design new vehicle assembly lines in CAD (SolidWorks).
• Investigate automation to improve safety, quality, cost and timing.
• Create manufacturing performance metrics and best practices.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams to ensure requirement coverage.

Skills

Lean Manufacturing

Dimensional Management

Root Cause Analysis

Quality Tools (Ishikawa, 5-Whys)

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Associate degree in Technology

Tools

SolidWorks

MS Office

ERP systems

Job description

• The Lean Manufacturing Lead Engineer will work with the Director of Manufacturing Engineering to Engineering, Design and Manufacturing of part production & vehicles assembly lines of all Client, such as Ambulance, Rear Entries, Side Entries & Full-size Vans, from start to finish. He will optimize and increase production on all lines.
• He will ensure all production activities are performed safely and efficiently by providing the necessary tooling, technology and traceable processes to support the company's growth and profitability.

Responsibilities

• Improve Safety & Quality in the manufacturing of our vehicles.
• Increase Production rates on all lines by implementing Lean Manufacturing processes and optimize the overall Plant Layout for efficiency, by analyzing and planning workflow, space requirements, workforce utilization, space constraints and equipment layout.
• Coordinate with plant supervisors on daily production priorities and process issues.
• Work on major Continuous Improvement initiatives aligned with business objectives, to reduce waste, optimize designs, and cost saving projects.
• Troubleshoot production challenges and perform root cause analysis for defects or inefficiencies and monitor labor and materials data across vehicle lines.
• Develops, investigates and implements cost reduction efforts and related activities to reduce product and operating cost and timing.
• Create Production Standard Work Instructions (SWI), per line, per station & per worker
• Engineer, Design and Develop new vehicle assembly lines in CAD (SolidWorks)
• Investigate Automation to improve assembly process safety, quality, cost and timing.
• Assures product and process quality by designing testing methods; testing finished- product and process capabilities; establishing standards and confirming manufacturing processes are met.
• Provides manufacturing decision-making information by calculating production, labor, and material costs, reviewing production schedules & estimating future requirements.
• Design Fixtures for all assemblies, including but not limited to Suspensions, Structures and Closures (doors & liftgates).
• Plan for design, procurement, assembly and validation requirements that align with overall Project Timing and Mitigation Strategies.
• Mentor, Guide and Inspire Manufacturing personnel to produce quality vehicles.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (Manufacturing, Quality, Sales, Purchasing) to ensure the production of our vehicles accounts for all requirements.
• Suggest low-cost alternatives, common designs and standardization. Constantly improving manufacturing processes and timing.
• Participate in design reviews to ensure all vehicle conversions account for manufacturability, assembly processes and fixturing methodology to meet or exceed our requirements.
• Conduct monthly reviews of manufacturing performance metrics (Labor efficiency, throughput and bottleneck analysis). Create Manufacturing Best Practices.

Requirements

• Without a degree; 17 years of Automotive Engineering, Design & Manufacturing experience.
• Lean Manufacturing experience is a most and how to eliminate waste and improve production throughput.
• Mechanism Design knowledge is preferred, and how to integrate it into the design, considering all tolerances and tolerance stack.
• Dimensional Management and Understanding of GD&T required.
• Knowledge of new project analysis, tooling needed for the line, line balancing & time studies.
• Experience creating Standard Work Instructions (SWI).
• Understanding of what is required for reliable structural design in Steel & Aluminum, how sheet metal fabrication (forming) works & what are the welding requirements.
• Understanding of vehicle systems like; Body Structures, Closures, Suspensions, Fuel, Exhaust, Cooling and Braking systems, materials and industry standards.
• Solid working knowledge of quality, design and validation tools including FEA, DFA/M, D/PFMEA, DVP&R, Problem Solving (Ishikawa Fishbone & 5-Whys), Dimensional Management (GD&T and Tolerance Stack-up).
• Must be detail-oriented, self-starter and can function well under the high demand project timelines.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills needed. Extremely organized, accurate and possesses a strong attention to detail required.
• Windows (computer), Outlook (email), SolidWorks, MS Office, and familiar with ERP systems.

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering is preferred with min. 5 years of automotive experience.
• Associate degree in Technology with min.13 years work experience in automotive industry.