Lean Manufacturing Project Engineer - Improvement Leader

Caterpillar Inc.; Decatur (IL); On-site; USD 113,000 - 169,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision benefits

401(k) plan

HSA & FSAs

Paid time off

Career development

Incentive bonus

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

Caterpillar Inc. seeks a Manufacturing Project Engineer in Decatur, IL to lead high-impact improvement projects across plant operations.

You will apply Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma DMACI, and project-management best practices to boost safety, quality, productivity, and cost performance while coaching teams and sharing data-driven insights. You will partner with Operations, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, Maintenance, Safety, Product Engineering, and external suppliers to

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Business, or related technical discipline.
• 5–10 years of Lean Continuous Improvement leadership in manufacturing.
• Six Sigma Black Belt certification or proven improvement project history.
• Strong project management with cross-functional teams.
• Analytical, problem-solving, and data-driven decision making.

Responsibilities

• Lead manufacturing projects and CI initiatives across plant ops.
• Use Lean and Six Sigma DMAIC to drive transformations and standard work.
• Develop and execute project plans with scope, timelines, budgets, risks, and business cases.
• Identify improvement opportunities and establish metrics to measure impact.
• Provide manufacturing engineering support for process development and equipment implementation.
• Collaborate with Ops, Manufacturing Eng, Supply Chain, Quality, Maintenance, Safety, Product Eng, and suppliers.
• Coach teams on Lean and problem-solving, leading cross-functional teams.

Skills

Capacity planning & management

CAD (Computer-Aided Design) & Eng.

Decision making & critical thinking

Manufacturing engineering

Project management

Robotics & automated manufacturing

Technical troubleshooting

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Business, or related technical discipline

Job description

Caterpillar Inc. seeks a Manufacturing Project Engineer in Decatur, IL to lead high-impact improvement projects across plant operations.

You will apply Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma DMACI, and project-management best practices to boost safety, quality, productivity, and cost performance while coaching teams and sharing data-driven insights. You will partner with Operations, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, Maintenance, Safety, Product Engineering, and external suppliers to