Manufacturing Engineering Manager

Competitive Engineering Inc; Tucson (AZ); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Competitive Engineering Inc. in Tucson, AZ seeks an Engineering Manager to lead and develop the manufacturing engineering and programming staff.

You will own interviewing, onboarding, performance reviews, and a cross-training plan while aligning work with the production schedule and budget constraints. You will act as the primary engineering interface to Production, Scheduling, Quality, and Purchasing; drive continuous improvement, ensure AS9100 compliance, and manage tools, documentation, and

Qualifications

• 5+ years in a manufacturing environment, including 3+ years directly managing technical or skilled-trade staff.
• Experience hiring, developing, and retaining technical talent in a competitive labor market.
• Ability to read engineering drawings and follow shop-floor and machining discussion with credibility.
• Experience with ERP-driven make-to-order manufacturing (Epicor preferred).
• Experience in an AS9100-certified aerospace or defense manufacturing environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop the manufacturing engineering and programming staff.
• Own interviewing, onboarding, and retention for the department.
• Conduct performance reviews and set development goals.
• Maintain a cross-training plan so no machine platform or part family depends on a single individual.
• Manage attendance, PTO coverage, and workload sustainability.

Skills

Reading engineering drawings

ERP systems (Epicor)

Team leadership

Scheduling coordination

Lean / continuous improvement

Tools

Epicor ERP

Job description

Competitive Engineering Inc. (CEI), founded in 1987, is a precision engineering and manufacturing company, focused on delivering high-value solutions to a global customer base. The Engineering Manager leads the people and the workflow of the engineering department. The position is accountable for the department running well: the right people hired and developed, work assigned and prioritized against the production schedule, commitments tracked and met, and problems escalated early.

Essential Job Functions

Team Leadership and Development

• Manage, coach, and develop the manufacturing engineering and programming staff.
• Own interviewing, onboarding, and retention for the department.
• Conduct performance reviews and set development goals.
• Maintain a cross-training plan so no machine platform, customer, or part family depends on a single individual.
• Manage attendance, time reporting, PTO coverage, and workload sustainability.

Workload and Priority Management

• Assign engineering work and maintain a visible queue: new part development, revision changes, sustaining support, and floor troubleshooting requests.
• Set and communicate priorities against the production schedule and rebalance when the schedule moves.
• Track engineering deliverables to committed dates — program release, setup documentation, fixture readiness, tooling on hand — and flag slippage before it becomes a late job.
• Protect the team from unmanaged interrupt-driven work by routing floor requests through a defined intake process.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Serve as the primary engineering interface to Production, Scheduling, Quality, and Purchasing.
• Represent engineering in production and scheduling meetings, communicating readiness status and constraints.
• Coordinate tooling, fixture, and outside-processing purchase requests with Purchasing.

Process Discipline and Departmental Operations

• Hold the department to established documentation and revision-control standards: setup sheets, tool lists, program control, and standard work kept current.
• Support AS9100 audit readiness for engineering records and document control.
• Maintain compliance with ITAR and EAR handling requirements for controlled technical data within the department.
• Own the engineering department budget, software license administration, and training plan.
• Prepare and administer capital and tooling requests.
• Track and report department metrics: programming lead time, on-time engineering release, engineering-attributable rework and scrap, and backlog.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Minimum

• 5+ years in a manufacturing environment, including 3+ years directly managing technical or skilled-trade staff.
• Demonstrated success hiring, developing, and retaining technical talent in a competitive labor market.
• Ability to read engineering drawings and follow shop-floor and machining discussion with credibility — enough technical literacy to prioritize intelligently, ask the right questions, and know when to elevate. Programming or design capability is not required.
• Proven capability managing a shared work queue against a shifting production schedule.
• Working knowledge of ERP-driven make-to-order manufacturing (Epicor preferred).
• Must be a U.S. Person as defined by ITAR 22 CFR 120.62 due to export-controlled and DPAS-rated work.
• Experience in an AS9100-certified aerospace or defense manufacturing environment.
• Prior hands-on machining, programming, or quality background — valued for credibility with the team, though not the basis of the role.
• Familiarity with aerospace special processes and their supply base.
• Lean or structured continuous-improvement training.