Manufacturing Engineering Leader — Automation & Continuous Improvement

Smalley-Steel-Rin; Lake Zurich (IL); On-site; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) match

Life insurance

Tuition reimbursement

PTO

Learning and development opportunities

Job summary

Smalley is seeking a Manufacturing Engineering Leader at our Lake Zurich, IL facility to guide the Manufacturing Engineering team and Packaging Engineer, driving safety, quality, throughput, and cost improvements. You will oversee capital projects, develop processes, and standardize tooling to reduce variation and improve repeatability.

The role requires 10+ years in manufacturing engineering and a Bachelor’s degree in engineering, with strong Lean/Six Sigma, PFMEA, SPC, and PLC/automation

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• 10+ years of progressive manufacturing engineering experience, including leading engineers or cross-functional projects.
• Demonstrated experience with metal forming, spring winding, precision manufacturing, tooling, automation, or comparable high‑mix manufacturing processes.
• Experience with packaging engineering or automated packaging systems, including product protection, labeling, and shipping performance.
• Proven ability to manage capital projects from concept and justification through installation, validation, and production handoff.
• Working knowledge of Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, PFMEA, control plans, SPC, and engineering change management.
• Proficiency with 3D CAD and engineering systems; PLCs/controls/automation or simulation tools is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead, develop, and manage the Manufacturing Engineering team and Packaging Engineer, including goal setting, coaching, performance management, workload prioritization, training, and succession planning.
• Promote a culture of safety, accountability, collaboration, documentation discipline, continuous learning, and data-based decision making.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on safety, quality, throughput, capacity, labor productivity, machine utilization, setup reduction, and manufacturing cost.
• Develop, optimize, and standardize manufacturing processes, tooling, setup methods, work instructions, and technical documentation to improve repeatability and reduce process variation.
• Ensure manufacturing drawings, routers, setup instructions, PFMEAs, control plans, process flow diagrams, and engineering changes accurately reflect production requirements and current practice.
• Lead capital equipment, automation, tooling, and facility improvement projects, including business justification, budgeting, specifications, RFQs, supplier coordination, installation, validation, commissioning, and results tracking.
• Partner with Manufacturing and Maintenance to improve overall equipment effectiveness, reduce downtime, increase equipment reliability, shorten setup time, and recover manufacturing capacity.
• Provide technical leadership for new product introductions, product and process transfers, manufacturability reviews, process development, production readiness, and customer-specific technical requirements.
• Lead structured problem solving, root cause analysis, corrective actions, SPC implementation, and process capability improvement to reduce scrap, rework, defects, and customer issues.
• Direct packaging engineering activities, including package design, material selection, product protection, shipping validation, labeling requirements, automation, standardization, and packaging cost reduction.
• Provide cross-functional technical leadership to Manufacturing, Quality, Maintenance, Production Control, Product Engineering, and Sales to resolve issues, manage risk, and implement sustainable improvements.
• Establish department goals, KPIs, project priorities, resource plans, and capital roadmaps aligned with Smalley’s business objectives and long-term manufacturing strategy.

Skills

Leadership

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Analytical thinking

Root cause analysis

PFMEA

Lean manufacturing

Six Sigma

Process improvement

Data-driven decision making

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering

Tools

3D CAD

Engineering systems

PLCs/Controls/Automation

Simulation tools

Job description

Smalley is seeking a Manufacturing Engineering Leader at our Lake Zurich, IL facility to guide the Manufacturing Engineering team and Packaging Engineer, driving safety, quality, throughput, and cost improvements. You will oversee capital projects, develop processes, and standardize tooling to reduce variation and improve repeatability.

The role requires 10+ years in manufacturing engineering and a Bachelor’s degree in engineering, with strong Lean/Six Sigma, PFMEA, SPC, and PLC/automation