Tooling Manager

Job Juncture; Miami (FL); On-site; USD 95,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

Job Juncture is seeking a Tooling Manager in Miami, FL to lead day-to-day tooling and mold repair operations, ensuring safety, quality, and cost efficiency. This role reports to senior leadership and drives continuous improvement across tooling programs.

You will oversee tooling design, development, and vendor coordination, while coaching technicians and coordinating tool refurbishments. A strong background in plastics tooling and leadership is essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent.
• Certified Machinist or Toolmaker or Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering background.
• 10+ years in plastics tooling/production environment preferred.

Responsibilities

• Oversee design, development, release, and repair of injection tooling.
• Lead Tooling Technicians/Toolmakers at the Miami facility.
• Coordinate refurbishments and vendor visits for tooling projects.
• Provide direction and training to tooling staff to improve skills.
• Report progress and issues in daily meetings.
• Drive waste reduction and profitability improvements in tooling operations.
• Review tool designs and interface with vendors for quotes.
• Support mold design, build, and repair functions.
• Ensure tooling meets quality requirements with QA support.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives in the Tooling Department.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Spanish speaking

Education

B.S. Mechanical Engineering

Certified Machinist/Toolmaker

Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering

Tools

AutoCAD

Pro/E

3D Modeling

CNC Programming

Job description

Tooling Manager: Duties and Responsibilities

POSITION SUMMARY

The Tooling Manager is responsible for day-to-day operations of the entire Tooling and Mold Repair Operations, to include safety, quality, efficiencies, and meeting customer and corporate expectations. This includes strategic plans and processes that ensure goals are met in the most cost-effective manner delivering expected results. The Tooling Manager plays a critical role in value creation and must be comfortable operating in a results-driven, metric-oriented environment with regular reporting to the General Manager and the Senior Leadership group.

Position Scope:

The Tooling Manager oversees the design, development, release, repair, and continuous improvement of injection molding tooling to ensure safe, cost-effective, high-quality production of plastic parts. Tooling Manager provides problem-solving support to produce both new and replacement tooling programs and leads the Tooling Technicians/Toolmakers at the Miami, Florida location.

• Provide input for all tooling decisions and serve as key contact for project coordination and status.
• Coordinate the interval refurbishments of injection mold tooling onsite.
• Lead vendor quoting and site visits for outside tooling suppliers to support complex repairs that cannot be completed in-house.
• Provide direction, training, and coaching to Tooling Technicians to enhance employee skill set and performance
• Report on progress, roadblocks, successes, and open issues in daily accountability meetings.
• Study existing manufacturing operations and processes to identify opportunities to drive out waste and improve profitability.
• Develop common work standards, identify and reapply best practices.
• Review 3D part designs and submit them to vendors for tooling quotes.
• Support mold design, build, and repair functions.
• Travel to Injection Mold vendors (US/Mexico/Canada) to attend trials and review tool progress.
• Help solve tool design problems, offer suggestions, review designs, and support vendor selection. Provides primary input for all tooling decisions.
• Work as part of a cross-functional team with a focus on the product value stream, including a basic understanding of process flow, equipment, and operations.
• Assist sales, design, or customers with “part” design reviews to optimize manufacturability and cost.
• Maintain and update tooling records..
• Hold design review meetings with appropriate personnel to review the tooling designs.
• Select and interface with tooling vendors to ensure tooling is built to specifications.
• Coordinate repairs and rework efforts to ensure that changes are made in a timely, cost-effective, efficient, and effective manner.
• Provides support to manufacturing personnel during tooling sampling runs and through production launch to ensure parts are manufacturable for our processes as designed.
• Works with Quality Assurance personnel to ensure that parts produced from tooling meet quality requirements.
• Provides problem-solving and maintenance support to Production as required.
• Maintain awareness of the relevance and importance of activities and how each contributes to achieving quality objectives. Understand the importance of ensuring customer quality standards are met. Responsibilities may include the selection of special characteristics, setting quality objectives and related training, corrective and preventive actions, product design and development, capacity analysis, logistics information, customer scorecards, and customer portals.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives within the Tooling Department.

Performance Skills and Experience:

• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Certified Machinist or Toolmaker, Industrial, or Manufacturing Engineering or equivalent from an accredited college or university. Extended education and experience as an injection mold/Machinist journeyman is also suitable for consideration, or like experience.
• Three (10+) or more years of plastics manufacturing engineering experience in a production environment.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in plastics tool design.
• Knowledge and full understanding of blueprints, proficiency in AutoCAD/PRO E, 3-D modeling software. CNC Programming and Mathematical capabilities required of a Toolroom Leader.
• Strong leadership skills and Communication Ability. Spanish Speaking a Plus.
• This position requires regular presence on the manufacturing floor; exposure to heat, noise, and machinery is expected.
• Must be able to stand and walk for extended periods and occasionally lift up to 50 lbs.
• Flexibility to work varied shifts and be available off-hours for operational emergencies as needed.