Staff Industrial Engineer

Flex; Milpitas (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Flex is looking for a Staff Industrial Engineer to join our Milpitas, CA campus. You will drive operational excellence across NPI and high-volume production, partnering with cross-functional teams to improve labor efficiency, capacity, and factory design.

The role emphasizes lean manufacturing, data-driven decision-making, and the implementation of Industry 4.0 initiatives, including automation and digital manufacturing. A strong IE, Six Sigma, and analytics background is required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in industrial, manufacturing, or related engineering.
• 8+ years of industrial engineering experience in manufacturing.
• Experience in electronics/EMS/semiconductor preferred.
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt preferred.
• Proven productivity improvement and operational excellence programs.

Responsibilities

• Develop labor standards using time studies and industrial engineering methods.
• Lead labor planning and direct labor optimization for manufacturing.
• Perform line balancing, bottleneck analysis, takt-time optimization.
• Analyze production data to identify productivity, quality, and cost improvements.
• Support NPI with production readiness and capacity planning.
• Lead Kaizen and continuous improvement initiatives across the campus.
• Partner with Automation teams for automation opportunities and ROI analyses.

Skills

Industrial Engineering

Lean Six Sigma

Data analytics

Project leadership

Education

Bachelor’s/Master’s degree in industrial engineering or related

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification

Tools

MOST

REFA

Statistical software

Job description

Flex is the diversified manufacturing partner of choice that helps market-leading brands design, build and deliver innovative products that improve the world. A career at Flex offers the opportunity to make a difference and invest in your growth in a respectful, inclusive, and collaborative environment. If you are excited about a role but don't meet every bullet point, we encourage you to apply and join us to create the extraordinary.

To support our extraordinary teams who build great products and contribute to our growth, we’re looking to add a Staff Industrial Engineer located in Milpitas, CA.

The Staff Industrial Engineer will be responsible for driving operational excellence through advanced industrial engineering strategies, capacity planning, productivity improvements, factory optimization, and automation initiatives. This role partners cross-functionally to improve manufacturing performance, labor efficiency, and scalable growth while serving as a subject matter expert in lean manufacturing, labor standards, factory design, and data-driven decision-making across NPI and production environments.

What a typical day looks like:

Industrial Engineering & Productivity

• Develop and maintain labor standards using time studies, MOST, REFA, work sampling, and other industrial engineering methodologies.
• Lead labor planning and direct labor optimization activities for manufacturing operations.
• Conduct line balancing, bottleneck analysis, takt-time optimization, and workflow improvements to maximize throughput.
• Perform detailed capacity analysis and resource planning to support business growth, new customer ramps, and operational readiness.
• Establish and maintain productivity measurement systems and operational performance dashboards.

Manufacturing Optimization

• Analyze production data to identify trends, constraints, and opportunities for productivity, quality, and cost improvements.
• Optimize factory layouts, material flow, workstation design, and overall space utilization.
• Support process simulations and manufacturing flow analysis to improve site efficiency and scalability.
• Drive initiatives that reduce waste, cycle time, non-value-added activities, and operational variation.

NPI & Business Growth

• Support quoting activities through labor modeling, process time estimation, and capacity assessments.
• Partner with NPI teams to establish production readiness plans, labor requirements, manufacturing layouts, and operational strategies.
• Review prototype and pilot build results and provide recommendations to improve manufacturability, efficiency, and scalability.
• Support customer growth initiatives through strategic capacity and footprint planning.

Lean Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement

• Lead Kaizen events, Lean Manufacturing initiatives, and Continuous Improvement projects across the campus.
• Facilitate value stream mapping, standard work development, visual management systems, and waste elimination programs.
• Drive operational excellence initiatives focused on improving productivity, throughput, quality, and cost performance.
• Serve as a site resource for Lean, Six Sigma, and structured problem-solving methodologies.

Automation & Future Factory

• Partner with Automation and Manufacturing Engineering teams to identify automation opportunities and business cases.
• Develop ROI analyses and investment justifications for automation projects.
• Support implementation of Industry 4.0, Smart Factory, and Digital Manufacturing initiatives.
• Lead productivity transformation projects involving robotics, autonomous material handling, machine connectivity, and advanced analytics.

Data Analytics & Strategic Support

• Develop and maintain operational models supporting headcount planning, capacity forecasting, and capital investment decisions.
• Use statistical tools and advanced analytics to identify improvement opportunities and support management decision-making.
• Create executive-level reports and presentations that translate operational data into actionable business insights.
• Support strategic operational planning and performance reviews with data-driven recommendations.

Leadership & Influence

• Serve as the site's Industrial Engineering subject matter expert.
• Mentor Industrial Engineers and cross-functional teams in Industrial Engineering methodologies and best practices.
• Lead large-scale operational improvement initiatives that impact multiple production areas, customers, or business units.
• Drive cross-functional alignment to ensure successful execution of operational and strategic objectives.

The experience we’re looking to add to our team:

• Bachelor’s degree and/or master’s degree in industrial engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Operations Engineering, or related technical discipline.
• 8+ years of Industrial Engineering experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Proven experience in electronics manufacturing, EMS, semiconductor, data center, networking, or related high-technology industries preferred.
• Demonstrated success leading productivity improvement and operational excellence programs.
• Experience supporting both NPI and high-volume production environments.
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification prefer.

Flex is an Equal Opportunity Employer and employment selection decisions are based on merit, qualifications, and abilities. We do not discriminate based on: age, race, religion, color, sex, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability, pregnancy status, or any other status protected by law. We're happy to provide reasonable accommodations to those with a disability for assistance in the application process. Please email [e-mail] and we'll discuss your specific situation and next steps (NOTE: this email does not accept or consider resumes or applications. This is only for disability assistance. To be considered for a position at Flex, you must complete the application process first).