Manufacturing Engineer

industrialelectricmanufacturing; Tualatin (OR); On-site; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

IEM is hiring a Manufacturing Engineer to lead FoK builds and process development for electrical distribution equipment. You will drive manufacturability improvements, DFMA feedback, and transition from pilot runs to full production on the manufacturing floor.

The role requires collaboration with Product Engineering, Quality, Production, and Supply Chain to ensure safe, efficient, and compliant production that meets customer requirements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical, Electrical, or Industrial Engineering.
• 3+ years in manufacturing, product launch, process engineering, or related.
• Experience reading drawings, BOMs, and manufacturing documentation.
• Experience with prototype/first‑of‑kind to production launches.
• Knowledge of lean principles, PFMEA, and control plans.
• Strong collaboration with technicians, engineers and quality teams.
• Proficiency with MS Office, CAD drawings, and ERP/MRP systems.
• Experience with electrical distribution equipment or similar assemblies.

Responsibilities

• Lead manufacturing engineering activities for FoK builds, prototypes, and pilot runs.
• Review designs, BOMs, specifications for manufacturability, serviceability, quality and cost.
• Identify design, process, material, tooling, and quality risks before release.
• Develop and document manufacturing methods, work instructions, and standard work.
• Create and maintain build plans, validation plans, and lessons learned.
• Lead structured problem‑solving using 5 Why, fishbone, PFMEA, and corrective actions.
• Support development of fixtures, tooling, test equipment, and assembly aids.
• Establish production‑ready labor estimates, cycle times, staffing, and line balance.
• Coordinate with Quality on CTQs, inspection points, and acceptance criteria.
• Partner with Supply Chain and suppliers on material availability and lead risks.
• Participate in design reviews and provide DFMA feedback.
• Support transition from pilot builds to production and track improvements.
• Ensure processes meet safety, quality, electrical, and regulatory requirements.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of existing equipment and processes.

Skills

Manufacturing Eng

Process Dev

DFMA

Education

Bachelors in Manufacturing Eng

Tools

AutoCAD

SolidWorks

EPLAN

Job description

At IEM, we're not just building innovative electrical distribution systems, we're shaping the future. IEM is dedicated to delivering world-class solutions for complex power needs. After 75 years, we continue to push the boundaries of what's possible. Whether you're an experienced professional or just starting out, you'll have the opportunity to contribute, grow, and make a lasting impact on industries that power the world's most dynamic markets.

Position Summary

The Manufacturing Engineer - First-of-Kind (FoK) & Process Development will lead and support the transition of new electrical distribution equipment from engineering design through first-of-kind builds, pilot runs, validation, and successful production launch. This hands‑on role is ideal for an engineer with an electrical or mechanical background who enjoys working directly on the manufacturing floor, solving build issues, improving designs for manufacturability, and developing repeatable production methods.

The engineer will partner with Product Engineering, Quality, Production, Supply Chain, Test, and Manufacturing teams to ensure new products can be built safely, efficiently, consistently, and to customer requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead manufacturing engineering activities for first‑of‑kind electrical distribution equipment builds, prototype builds, and pilot production runs.
• Review product designs, drawings, bills of material, specifications, and customer requirements for manufacturability, serviceability, quality, safety, and cost.
• Identify design, process, material, tooling, ergonomic, and quality risks before product release to production.
• Assist in development and documentation for manufacturing methods, sequence of operations, work instructions, standard work, process flow, routings, visual aids, and required tooling.
• Create and maintain build plans, process validation plans, lessons learned, issue logs, and action‑item tracking for FoK and pilot builds.
• Lead structured problem‑solving activities using tools such as 5 Why, fishbone analysis, PFMEA, control plans, and corrective‑action methods.
• Support development and validation of fixtures, assembly aids, test equipment, material presentation, workstations, and error‑proofing solutions.
• Establish production‑ready labor estimates, cycle times, staffing needs, line balance requirements, and capacity assumptions.
• Coordinate with Quality to define critical‑to‑quality characteristics, inspection points, test requirements, acceptance criteria, and quality documentation.
• Partner with Supply Chain and suppliers to identify material availability, alternate components, long‑lead risks, packaging needs, and supplier quality concerns.
• Participate in design reviews and provide Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA) feedback.
• Support the transition from pilot builds to production.
• Track build performance, defects, rework, test failures, throughput, and lessons learned; drive improvements before full production release.
• Ensure manufacturing processes comply with applicable safety, quality, electrical, and regulatory requirements.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives for existing electrical distribution equipment and manufacturing processes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or related engineering discipline.
• 3+ years of manufacturing, product launch, process engineering, electrical equipment, panel assembly, or related experience.
• Electrical or mechanical aptitude with the ability to understand assembly drawings, wiring diagrams, schematics, bills of material, and manufacturing documentation.
• Experience supporting prototype, first‑of‑kind, pilot, new‑product introduction, or production‑launch activities.
• Working knowledge of manufacturing‑process development, standard work, work instructions, tooling, fixtures, ergonomics, and lean principles.
• Experience with root‑cause analysis, PFMEA, control plans, and corrective actions.
• Strong floor presence and ability to work collaboratively with technicians, production leaders, engineers, and quality personnel.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office; ability to work with CAD drawings and ERP/MRP systems.
• Experience manufacturing electrical distribution equipment, switchgear, switchboards, panelboards, power distribution units, industrial controls, or similar electrical assemblies.
• Experience with UL requirements, NEC, NFPA 70, NFPA 79, UL 508A, or other applicable electrical manufacturing standards.
• Familiarity with electrical testing, torque requirements, wire routing, busbar assembly, enclosure fabrication, and mechanical fit‑up.
• Experience with Lean manufacturing, value‑stream mapping, time studies, line balancing, and capacity planning.
• Knowledge of AutoCAD, SolidWorks, EPLAN, or similar design tools.

Physical Demands

Office work is performed in an office setting that is climate controlled. Warehouse work is not