Mechanical Design Engineering Manager

ebi; Simsbury (CT); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Company (EBAD) seeks a Mechanical Design Engineering Manager to lead the Mechanical Design organization across the product lifecycle, delivering production-ready designs with strong emphasis on manufacturability, reliability, and safety.

You will build talent, set engineering standards, and implement the EBAD Operating System (EBOS) to drive cadence, disciplined problem solving, and cross-functional collaboration with Operations, Supply Chain, and customers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related technical discipline.
• At least 10 years of progressive mechanical engineering and product-development experience in aerospace/defense or similar demanding engineered products.
• Proven people leadership with setting clear expectations and building team capability.
• Strong mechanical design and development experience from concept through production, including DfX principles.
• Strong technical judgment to engage engineers in problem-solving discussions, assess feasibility and risk, and guide decisions.
• Experience establishing or improving engineering standards, design reviews, release-readiness practices, or development processes.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead the Mechanical Design Organization.
• Integrate the Simsbury and Moorpark teams under a common functional operating model.
• Identify critical skill gaps, support recruiting, and develop business cases for headcount and capital investment (machining and 3D printing).
• Establish and improve mechanical design standards, reviews, and release-readiness expectations across sites and programs.
• Prioritize Mechanical Design resources across projects and align capacity with program needs.
• Strengthen Design for X (DfX) practices early in product development.

Skills

Leadership

Mechanical design

Problem solving

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Job description

Mechanical Design Engineering Manager

Location: Simsbury, CT | Reports to: Design Engineering Director

Build Mechanical Design Capability. Improve Design Execution. Deliver Production-Ready Products.

Position Summary

At Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Company (EBAD), our products perform in environments where technical rigor, reliability, and safety are essential. The Mechanical Design Engineering Manager leads EBAD's Mechanical Design organization and strengthens mechanical design capability across the product-development lifecycle. This leader owns the evolution of the mechanical design function supporting mission-critical aerospace and defense products, with responsibility spanning mechanical product design, enclosures, tooling, packaging, and rapid prototyping. The role builds the team, standards, capabilities, and operating practices needed to deliver production-ready designs with less rework while balancing manufacturability, assembly, testability, cost, safety, performance, and reliability.

What You'll Do

Build and Lead the Mechanical Design Organization

Lead, coach, and develop the Mechanical Design team, with clear expectations, effective one-on-ones, candid feedback, development plans, accountability for results, and succession strength.

Integrate the Simsbury and Moorpark Mechanical Design teams and activities-including product, enclosure, tooling, packaging, and rapid prototyping-under a common functional operating model.

Build the team and capabilities needed for future growth by identifying critical skill gaps, supporting recruiting, and developing business cases for headcount and capital investment, including machining and 3D-printing capabilities.

Strengthen Design Standards and Execution

Establish and improve mechanical design standards, methods, design reviews, release-readiness expectations, and operating cadence to make execution more consistent, scalable, and effective across sites and programs.

Establish a consistent approach for prioritizing Mechanical Design resources across projects and aligning functional capacity with program needs.

Strengthen Design for X (DfX) practices early in product development, balancing manufacturability, assembly, testability, cost, safety, performance, and reliability.

Improve Product Quality and Technical Outcomes

Deliver production-ready designs with less rework through disciplined tolerancing, design reviews, early validation, DFMEA, rapid prototyping, and collaboration with Operations and Supply Chain.

Provide technical credibility and judgment in problem-solving discussions by assessing feasibility and risk, challenging assumptions, broadening the solution space, and removing obstacles without needing to be the subject-matter expert in every detail.

Use the EBAD Operating System (EBOS) to reinforce operating cadence, visual management, structured problem solving, and kaizen within Mechanical Design.

Influence Across the Business

Partner across Program Management, Business Development, Engineering, Operations, and customers to align mechanical design decisions with technical performance, manufacturability, cost, schedule, quality, configuration control, and customer outcomes.

Influence product decisions from concept through production by enabling rapid prototyping and early validation and by resolving cross-functional tradeoffs before release.

Translate complex mechanical design considerations into clear risks, recommendations, and business implications for senior leaders, customers, and cross-functional partners.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or another relevant technical discipline.
• At least 10 years of progressive mechanical engineering and product-development experience supporting complex aerospace, defense, space, or similarly demanding engineered products.
• Proven people leadership, including setting clear expectations, providing candid feedback, holding people accountable, and building team capability and succession strength.
• Strong mechanical design and product-development experience across the lifecycle from concept through production, including practical application of DfX principles.
• Strong technical competence and judgment sufficient to engage engineers in substantive problem-solving discussions, assess feasibility and risk, and guide decisions.
• Experience establishing or improving engineering standards, design reviews, release-readiness practices, or development processes that improve quality, speed, rigor, and predictability.
• Experience using structured, data-driven problem solving and continuous-improvement methods to improve engineering performance.
• Strong influence and communication skills, with the ability to partn