Senior Manufacturing Excellence Engineer

Nextpower Inc; Mesa, Northern (AZ, KY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Nextpower Inc. in Mesa, AZ is seeking a Chief Engineer, Manufacturing Excellence to lead the technical strategy and governance of manufacturing excellence across internal operations and contract manufacturers for utility-scale inverter systems.

The role focuses on standardizing processes, design-for-manufacturability, validation, ramp-up, and continuous improvement to boost yield, throughput, and cost efficiency while mentoring teams and ensuring safety and regulatory compliance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing, Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial, Systems Engineering, or related field; master’s degree preferred.
• Twelve+ years in manufacturing engineering, excellence, or operations engineering.
• Experience with power electronics, inverters, energy systems, or complex electromechanical equipment.
• Advanced knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma, SPC, PFMEA, APQP, process validation, and capability analysis.
• Proven track record in factory readiness, launches, development, and continuous improvement.
• Experience managing technical relationships with contract manufacturers and suppliers.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing test systems, MES/ERP data, traceability, dashboards.

Responsibilities

• Lead multi-site standardization of processes, work instructions, control plans, and quality checks across internal and contract manufacturers.
• Define manufacturing excellence standards, methods, and technical requirements.
• Lead design-for-manufacturability and design-for-test reviews for new products.
• Establish process architecture, control plans, and standard work.
• Own PFMEA, SPC, APQP, validation, and production-readiness activities.
• Direct factory readiness, pilot builds, ramp-up, and continuous improvement programs.
• Drive improvements in yield, throughput, cycle time, cost, and defect reduction.
• Provide technical leadership for automation, tooling, fixtures, end-of-line testing, and data systems.
• Resolve complex manufacturing issues using structured problem-solving and 8D.
• Partner with Engineering, Quality, Reliability, Supply Chain, IT, and Operations to implement changes.
• Mentor manufacturing engineers and develop Lean Six Sigma capability.

Skills

Lean Manufacturing

Six Sigma

PFMEA

APQP

Process Validation

Capability Analysis

Production Launches

Cross-functional Leadership

Problem-Solving

Project Leadership

Factory Readiness

Automation/Testing

Data Dashboards/MES/ERP

Education

Bachelor's degree in Manufacturing/Mechanical/Electrical/Industrial/Systems Engineering

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

MES/ERP systems

Job description

Nextpower Inc. in Mesa, AZ is seeking a Chief Engineer, Manufacturing Excellence to lead the technical strategy and governance of manufacturing excellence across internal operations and contract manufacturers for utility-scale inverter systems.

The role focuses on standardizing processes, design-for-manufacturability, validation, ramp-up, and continuous improvement to boost yield, throughput, and cost efficiency while mentoring teams and ensuring safety and regulatory compliance.