Senior Manager, Manufacturing Engineering & Facilities

Sapphire Technologies group; Cypress (CA); On-site; USD 155,000 - 209,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) plan with company match

Health benefits

Paid time off

Job summary

Sapphire Technologies is seeking a hands-on leader to build and lead manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering, and facilities capabilities to support rapid growth. You will shape production systems, tooling, layouts, and capacity planning to drive reliability and scalable manufacturing.

This role combines technical execution with functional leadership, influencing decisions early in product development to ensure factory readiness, cost control, and strong operational performance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical, manufacturing, industrial engineering, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years in manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering, or related function.
• 5+ years leading technical teams or cross-functional programs.
• Experience developing and improving assembly processes, tooling, and capacity analysis.
• Experience managing capital, equipment, facility, or infrastructure projects.
• DFM/DFA, EC, lean manufacturing, and production-readiness experience.
• Ability to read engineering drawings and specifications.
• Strong project, financial, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Hands-on technical work with functional leadership in a growing org.
• Experience supporting factory startups, expansions, or transfers.
• Experience working with suppliers/contract manufacturers on transfers.
• Familiarity with ISO 9001 or similar quality systems.

Responsibilities

• Establish and manage the manufacturing, industrial engineering, and facilities functions.
• Develop phased roadmaps for manufacturing capability and facility readiness.
• Define process flows, routings, work instructions, and tooling needs.
• Collaborate with Design Engineering on manufacturability and assembly.
• Plan pilot and production-intent builds and resolve readiness issues.
• Own integrated facility plan for manufacturing, testing, and storage areas.
• Define requirements for utilities, electrical infra, and production test systems.
• Develop capacity models, bottlenecks, and line balancing.
• Apply Lean Six Sigma and standardized work practices.
• Manage capital and facilities project scope, cost, and schedules.
• Support APQP/PPAP through feasibility reviews and transfers.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to meet business objectives.

Skills

Manufacturing engineering

Industrial engineering

Facilities management

Lean Six Sigma

Project management

DFM/DFA

Capacity planning

Continuous improvement

Education

Bachelor's degree in mechanical/manufacturing/industrial engineering

Tools

ERP systems

CAD

Layout tools

Maintenance-management systems

Job description

Senior Manager, Manufacturing Engineering & Facilities

Cypress, United States |

• Compensation The annual salary range for this position is from $$154,581 to $$209,139; salary is commensurate with level of experience.
• Industry Manufacturing
• City Cypress
• State/Province California
• Country United States
• Job Type Operations

Job Description

About Us:

Sapphire Technologies delivers power and cooling to energy infrastructure. Our FreeSpin ® In-line Turboexpander recovers the energy wasted when high-pressure gas is stepped down, converting it into clean electricity and low-temperature cooling. To better serve our customers in the data center industry, we are now expanding our high-speed turbo-machinery offerings into oil-free compressors for chilling applications.

Our hands-on engineering team takes products from concept to field deployment, with work spanning rotating machinery, power electronics, controls, and systems integration.

We are a mission-driven organization with one common goal: building a more sustainable world. Our employees are our biggest asset, and we are looking for change agents to join us on our journey.

Position Summary:

Sapphire Technologies is seeking a hands-on leader to buildand lead the manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering, and facilitiescapabilities required to support the company's growth. This role is responsiblefor developing the production system, including manufacturing processes,facility layout, assembly and test infrastructure, tooling, equipment, capacityplanning, technical documentation, and equipment reliability.

The position supports industrialization and productionof complex electro-mechanical equipment, including rotating machinery andassociated electrical systems. It translates product designs and businessrequirements into safe, repeatable, and scalable manufacturing methods andfactory infrastructure. This role also leads integrated planning forproduction, testing, material flow, offices, and customer-facing areas.

This is a functional leadership role with significanthands-on involvement and will shape how an emerging energy-technology businessbuilds and scales its manufacturing capabilities. The successful candidate willinfluence manufacturing decisions early in product development and have adirect impact on factory readiness, capacity, product quality, cost, andoperational performance. It does not directly manage production operators orown daily production scheduling at this time and will be responsible for hiringand interviewing for future roles in Process Engineering, ManufacturingEngineering, and Industrial Engineering as we continue to scale.

Key Responsibilities:

• Establish and Manage the manufacturingengineering, industrial engineering, and facilities function in alignment withproduct, production, and growth plans.
  
• Develop and Manage a phased roadmap formanufacturing capability, facility readiness, equipment investment, processimprovement, and technical staffing.
  
• Establish and Manage process flows, assemblysequences, routings, work instructions, tooling requirements, andproduction-readiness criteria.
  
• Partner with Design Engineering on design formanufacturability and assembly, including accessibility, tolerances, assemblymethods, serviceability, and testability.
  
• Plan and support pilot and production-intentbuilds, resolve manufacturing-readiness issues, and incorporate lessons learnedinto products and processes.
  
• Own the integrated facility plan formanufacturing, testing, material flow, equipment, storage, office,collaboration, and customer-facing areas.
  
• Define operational requirements for facilityutilities, high-power electrical infrastructure, production test systems,lifting and handling equipment, environmental conditions, and supporting services.
  
• Develop capacity models and evaluatebottlenecks, labor content, line balance, material movement, work-in-process,ergonomics, and space utilization.
  
• Apply Lean Six Sigma manufacturing methods,standardized work, visual management, 5S, and structured continuousimprovement.
  
• Manage the specification, technical evaluation,installation, commissioning, and production hand-off of tooling, fixtures,equipment, and manufacturing test infrastructure.
  
• Develop and Manage capital and facilitiesprojects, including scope, cost, schedule, supplier performance, commissioning,and operational acceptance.
  
• Support supplier APQP and PPAP throughmanufacturing-feasibility reviews, process-risk assessments, validationevidence, technical transfers, and production-readiness reviews.
  
• Collaborate with Production, Engineering,Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, Marketing, and external partners to deliverbusiness objectives.
  

Base Pay Range:

Theinformation below is a general guideline. Actual compensation depends on the candidate’s experience and qualifications, as well as market and business factors.

Salary Range: $154,581 - $209,139

Requirements

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical, manufacturing,industrial engineering, or a related technical discipline, or an equivalentcombination of relevant education and directly applicable experience.
• 10+ years of progressively responsibleexperience in manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering,industrialization, or a closely related function.
• 5+ years leading technical teams or substantialcross-functional manufacturing programs with responsibility for priorities,resources, and deliverables.
  
• Experience with developing and improvingassembly processes, production tooling, manufacturing documentation, equipmentimplementation, facility or production layouts, and capacity analysis.
  
• Experience managing capital, equipment,facility, or infrastructure projects from requirements through implementation.
• Working knowledge of DFM/DFA, engineering changecontrol, structured problem-solving, lean manufacturing, andproduction-readiness practices.
• Ability to interpret engineering drawings,technical specifications, and manufacturing requirements.
• Strong project-management, financial-analysis,communication, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Ability to combine hands-on technical work withfunctional leadership in a growing organization.
• Experience supporting a factory startup,expansion, relocation, or manufacturing transfer.
• Experience working with suppliers and/orcontract manufacturers on technical transfer and production readiness.
• Familiarity with ERP systems, digitalmanufacturing documentation, CAD or layout tools, and maintenance-managementsystems.
• Experience working within an ISO 9001 orcomparable quality-management environment.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with rotating equipment, motors,generators, turbo-machinery, precision assemblies, or comparable industrialequipment.
• Experience defining operational requirements forhigh-power electrical infrastructure, production test systems, and supportingutilities in an industrial environment.
• Exposure to electrical assembly, powerelectronics, instrumentation, liquid cooling, or electro-mechanical productiontesting.

This role is primarily on-site and involves work in office, manufacturing, equipment-installation, and test environments. Appropriate personal protective equipment and adherence to site safety requirements are required. Some activities may require coordination outside normal operating hours. Travel to suppliers, manufacturing partners, or other company locations may be required.

We offer a competitive benefits package designed to support the health, well-being, and financial security of our employees. Eligible team members receive paid vacation, paid sick time, comprehensive health benefits, and participation in a 401(k) retirement plan with company match.

Additional Information:

The above job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow other instructions and perform other related duties as assigned by their supervisor. Management reserves the right to change, rescind, add, or delete the duties and responsibilities of positions within this job classification at any time.

Sapphire Technologies is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, or veteran status. This policy applies to recruiting, hiring, transfers, promotions, terminations, compensation, and benefits.