Prototype Manufacturing Engineer - Defense Systems

Oshkosh Corporation; Town of New Hudson (NY); On-site; USD 73,000 - 118,000; Full time

Job summary

Pratt Miller, an Oshkosh company in the United States, seeks a Manufacturing Engineer to drive prototype builds, ensure build readiness, and coordinate across design, product engineering, and shop floor teams to deliver defense-focused mechanical systems.

The role demands hands-on shop floor leadership, DFMA awareness, and experience with GD&T, 3D CAD, and ERP/MRP systems. A security clearance may be required, with 8–4 work hours and travel as needed.

Qualifications

• BS in Mechanical, Manufacturing, or Industrial Engineering (MS preferred).
• 5+ years of relevant experience in mechanical system manufacturing, preferably in defense, automotive, or high-performance industries.
• Experience with GD&T, tolerance stack-ups, and CMM measurement.
• Proficiency with 3D CAD (Creo, NX, Catia, or SolidWorks).
• Working-level background in MS Word, Excel, MS Project, and PowerPoint.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary manufacturing point of contact between project leadership, design engineering, product engineering, and shop floor teams to ensure alignment between design intent and build execution.
• Lead and coordinate prototype build activities, including build planning, sequencing, manpower estimates, and daily execution to meet program timing and quality objectives.
• Assess and drive build readiness by ensuring parts, tooling, equipment, facilities, documentation, and resources are in place to support successful assembly and integration.
• Track and manage all material deliverables, including in-house fabrication, purchased components, outsourced parts, and final assemblies, ensuring alignment to build schedules.
• Provide hands-on manufacturing and assembly support on the shop floor, troubleshooting issues in real time and driving resolution through cross-functional collaboration.
• Capture, document, and drive resolution of build issues, nonconformances, and process gaps; communicate status and risks to program stakeholders.
• Collaborate with design engineering to support DFM/DFA, ensuring manufacturability, assembly efficiency, and design feasibility early in the product lifecycle.
• Develop and manage build plans, schedules, and resource forecasts; identify and mitigate risks to cost, schedule, and delivery.
• Assist in defining and implementing assembly processes, work instructions, build sequences, and physical build layouts to support efficient and repeatable builds.
• Support facility planning and capital equipment needs by identifying gaps and specifying tooling, equipment, and infrastructure required for build execution.
• Participate in design reviews, test readiness activities, and validation efforts, ensuring systems are prepared for integration, testing, and delivery.
• Coordinate logistics activities including shipping, off-site work, test support, and build-related scheduling.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with manufacturing, quality, purchasing, program management, and leadership to ensure program alignment, execution, and continuous improvement.

Skills

GD & T

3D CAD

MS Word

Excel

MS Project

PowerPoint

Security clearance

Education

BS in Mechanical/Manufacturing/Industrial Engineering

Tools

Creo

NX

Catia

SolidWorks

ERP/MRP systems (Sage, SAP, Epicor)

Windchill PLM

Job description

Pratt Miller, an Oshkosh company in the United States, seeks a Manufacturing Engineer to drive prototype builds, ensure build readiness, and coordinate across design, product engineering, and shop floor teams to deliver defense-focused mechanical systems.

The role demands hands-on shop floor leadership, DFMA awareness, and experience with GD&T, 3D CAD, and ERP/MRP systems. A security clearance may be required, with 8–4 work hours and travel as needed.