Manager, Mechanical Engineering New Product Development

Henny Penny Corporation; Eaton, Northern (OH, KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)

Annual performance bonus

Work from home 2 days/week

Tuition reimbursement

LinkedIn Learning access

401(k) with company match

Paid holidays

PTO

Wellness clinic on site

Job summary

Henny Penny Corporation is seeking a senior Mechanical Engineering leader to drive NPD projects within our Center of Excellence. You will mentor engineers, shape system architectures, and collaborate with product management to meet quality, schedule and cost targets.

In this role you will guide budgets, develop long-range capital plans and lead cross-functional teams across global suppliers. A strong track record in capital goods or food-service equipment is preferred.

Qualifications

• Requires a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, Mechanical Engineering Technology, Aerospace Engineering, or Physics.
• Master’s degree in engineering or MBA a plus.
• Minimum 10+ years of combined engineering experience; starting as individual contributor, then moving to management.
• Minimum 3 years of supervisory experience and technical leadership.
• Track record of growing and scaling high-performing engineering teams with a collaborative culture.
• Experience in capital goods or food service equipment industry preferred.
• Ability to work with outside resources to achieve budget and project objectives.
• Ability to lead cross-functional meetings and teams professionally.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and motivate department team members to meet defined objectives and develop competencies within the Mechanical Engineering Center of Excellence.
• Responsible for hiring and staff development of Mechanical Engineers.
• Monitor quality of engineering solutions and improve effectiveness and efficiency.
• Coordinate with teams and vendors to review system architectures for sustained growth.
• Ensure products engineered and manufactured in compliance with quality, schedule and cost targets.
• Establish and manage budgets for New Product Development.
• Develop annual plans for major new product development projects and process improvements.
• Maintain relationships with Quality and Manufacturing teams to ensure smooth hand-offs of new products.
• Provide thought leadership for strategic direction of mechanical systems, IoT and related technologies.

Skills

Mechanical engineering expertise

Technical leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Verbal and written communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering

Master’s degree in engineering or MBA

Job description

What We Offer

• An opportunity to work for a company that is 100% employee owned.
• As an employee-owner, you will be enrolled in our employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) program following one year of service.
• Annual company performance bonus in addition to base salary
• Flexibility to work from home 2 days per week
• Defined career paths so you’ll always know what’s next and what steps can get where you want to go
• Professional development opportunities including tuition reimbursement and unlimited free access to LinkedIn Learning courses
• A competitive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, 401(k) with company match, PTO, and paid holidays
• Expanded onsite wellness clinic offering preventive care services such as wellness screenings, annual physicals, and related lab work at no cost to employee-owners
• Achieve total well-being at our new Wellspring and Owners Hall facility, featuring 24/7 fitness center with a wide variety of cardio and strength training equipment. This facility reflects our continuous evolution in supporting our valued employee owners.
• Activities including department outings, holiday parties, and our annual company-wide Thanksgiving Dinner

What You’ll Be Doing

• Lead and motivate department team members to ensure that NPD projects meet defined objectives and develop competencies within the Mechanical Engineering Center of Excellence.
• Responsible for hiring and staff development of Mechanical Engineers
• Monitor the quality of engineering solutions generated by the teams with a focus on continuously improving their effectiveness and efficiency.
• Work closely with teams and key component vendors to create and/or review system architectures to enable sustained growth.
• Coordinate with product management (PM) personnel to ensure that designated products are engineered and manufactured in compliance with quality, schedule and cost targets.
• Establish and manage expense and capital budgets for New Product Development.
• Maintain a long‑term capital plan to provide future visibility of major capital needs.
• Develop an annual plan for major new product development projects, development process enhancements, staffing needs, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Maintain a relationship with the Henny Penny Quality and Manufacturing teams to allow input into the manufacturing process and to enable the smooth hand-off of new products.
• Execute and control required design activities to support intellectual property, reliability, safety and performance objectives for our controls and equipment.
• Create and maintain an environment of ownership and accountability of projects and timelines for all team members.
• Provide thought leadership for the strategic direction of our mechanical systems, associated customer interfaces, IoT, and other related technologies.
• Consistently models company values and expected behaviors.
• Other duties as assigned.

What We’re Looking For

• Requires a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, Mechanical Engineering Technology, Aerospace Engineering, or Physics.
• Master’s degree in engineering or MBA a plus.
• Minimum 10+ years of combined engineering experience; ideally starting as an individual contributor, then transitioning to management roles.
• Minimum 3 years of supervisory experience and technical leadership.
• Track record of growing and scaling high performing engineering teams with a collaborative culture.
• Experience in the capital goods or food service equipment industry preferred.
• Ability to effectively utilize & partner with outside resources to achieve the budget and project objectives.
• Ability to work with highly technical products at a global level of support.
• Ability to effectively lead and organize cross‑functional meetings and teams in a professional manner.
• Excellent verbal and written (including presentation) communication skills.
• Good listening skills and receptive to the ideas of others.

About Us

We’re known in our industry for making the best commercial food equipment in the world. Every day, millions of people eat in restaurants operating Henny Penny equipment. We’re a behind-the-scenes engine in the world’s most demanding kitchens, including long‑term partners like McDonald’s, Chick‑fil‑A, KFC, and Wendy’s.

We’re a behind-the-scenes engine in the world’s most demanding kitchens, including long‑term partners like McDonald’s, Chick‑fil‑A, KFC, Wendy’s, Arby’s, Sonic, Cracker Barrel, Chili’s, Jack in the Box, Burger King and many more.

We’re Employee Owners making lives remarkably better. We design, build and service the world’s most reliable and easy‑to‑use equipment. Every day 100 million people eat in restaurants powered by Henny Penny equipment. We’re a behind the scenes engine in the world’s most demanding kitchens.

We’re recognized as a Best Place to Work in the Dayton region and our approach to winning puts People First at the core of our strategy. At HP, People First means giving all employee owners the opportunity to be the best version of themselves through developing in their career, having the best manager, and focusing on their overall well-being.

Henny Penny is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants are considered without regard to race, creed, color, religion, alienage or national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, physical or mental disability or handicap, sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth and pregnancy‑related conditions), marital status, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity or expression (including transgender status), or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.

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