Manager – Sustaining/Auto Controls Engineering

Position Summary

The Manager, Sustaining/Auto Controls Engineering is responsible for the reliability, maintainability, technical performance, and continuous improvement of production equipment and manufacturing processes supporting CelLink’s manufacturing operations, partnering closely  with the Equipment Maintenance team on equipment maintenance and reliability activities for production equipment.

Equipment Reliability & Equipment Maintenance

• Partner with the Equipment Maintenance team to align on preventive, predictive, corrective, and emergency equipment maintenance priorities for production equipment across assigned manufacturing areas
• Establish and continuously improve preventive and predictive equipment maintenance programs designed to increase production equipment availability, reliability, and useful life.
• Monitor equipment performance using metrics including uptime, downtime, MTBF, MTTR, preventive equipment maintenance completion, repeat failures, and equipment-related production losses.
• Ensure equipment maintenance priorities are aligned with production requirements and that critical equipment issues receive appropriate technical escalation and resources.
• Develop equipment recovery, troubleshooting, and escalation standards that support rapid restoration of production while maintaining safety and quality requirements.
• Establish appropriate equipment spare-parts strategies, critical-spares requirements, and equipment maintenance inventory controls in partnership with Supply Chain and technical teams.
• Ensure equipment maintenance activities and equipment modifications are appropriately documented within applicable equipment maintenance, equipment, and change-control systems.

Sustaining Engineering

• Lead engineering support for released production equipment, processes, tooling, fixtures, and manufacturing systems.
• Drive resolution of recurring equipment and process problems through structured root-cause analysis, corrective action, and permanent technical countermeasures.
• Identify and implement engineering improvements that increase throughput, equipment capability, reliability, quality, ergonomics, and manufacturability.
• Partner with Process Engineering, Automation & Controls, Manufacturing Engineering, and Equipment Engineering to resolve complex technical issues requiring cross-functional expertise.
• Evaluate equipment and process performance trends to identify emerging risks before they result in significant downtime, quality issues, or production disruption.
• Support qualification, validation, and implementation of equipment modifications, upgrades, replacement components, and engineering changes.
• Ensure lessons learned from equipment failures and production issues are incorporated into future equipment designs, equipment maintenance standards, and operating practices.

Production & Technical Support

• Maintain a strong daily presence on the manufacturing floor to understand equipment condition, production constraints, and emerging technical issues.
• Partner closely with the Manager, Operations and production leadership to prioritize technical resources based on safety, quality, delivery, and production requirements.
• Establish clear technical ownership and escalation paths for equipment and process issues across all operating shifts.
• Ensure appropriate sustaining engineering coverage is available, and coordinate with Equipment Maintenance leadership to confirm equipment maintenance coverage supports production equipment in a 24/7 manufacturing operation
• Participate in daily production, Gemba, performance, and escalation meetings and ensure technical actions are clearly assigned and driven to closure.
• Support structured handoffs between shifts and functions for unresolved equipment and process issues.

Continuous Improvement & Performance

• Analyze equipment losses, downtime, recurring failures, equipment maintenance costs, and process performance to identify improvement priorities.
• Lead technical improvement initiatives focused on increasing OEE, throughput, equipment availability, process capability, and manufacturing efficiency.
• Establish standard work and technical best practices for equipment troubleshooting, equipment maintenance, repair, and sustaining engineering.
• Partner with Operations and Engineering to identify opportunities to eliminate chronic production constraints and improve overall manufacturing flow.
• Support cost-reduction initiatives involving equipment reliability, spare parts, equipment maintenance practices, tooling, consumables, and technical labor utilization.

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead, develop, coach, and hold accountable sustaining engineers, technicians, and other assigned technical resources; partner with Equipment Maintenance leadership on cross-functional training, qualification, and technical standards for maintenance personnel.
• Build technical depth within the organization through structured training, cross-training, troubleshooting standards, qualification programs, and succession planning.
• Establish clear expectations for technical ownership, urgency, communication, documentation, and follow-through.
• Develop employees’ ability to diagnose problems using data, structured problem-solving, and sound engineering judgment rather than relying primarily on reactive troubleshooting.
• Assess staffing and skill requirements based on equipment complexity, production schedules, new equipment introductions, and manufacturing growth.
• Foster strong collaboration between engineering, equipment maintenance, operations, and technical support functions.

Safety, Quality & Compliance

• Ensure equipment maintenance and sustaining engineering activities are performed in accordance with applicable safety requirements, including lockout/tagout, electrical safety, machine guarding, and other equipment-related standards.
• Partner with EHS to identify and resolve equipment-related safety risks and implement engineering controls where appropriate.
• Ensure equipment changes and repairs maintain required product quality, process capability, and configuration-control requirements.
• Support investigations involving equipment failures, quality escapes, safety incidents, and production disruptions.
• Reinforce disciplined adherence to documented procedures, engineering standards, change-control requirements, and equipment maintenance practices.

Planning & Business Management

• Develop and manage sustaining engineering priorities, resources, budgets, and improvement plans; provide technical input into equipment maintenance priorities in partnership with the Equipment Maintenance leadership.
• Participate in capital planning and provide technical input regarding equipment replacement, refurbishment, upgrades, reliability improvements, and lifecycle risk.
• Evaluate repair-versus-replace decisions using equipment condition, reliability, capacity, cost, risk, and long-term manufacturing requirements.
• Support planning for new equipment and manufacturing expansion by providing maintainability, reliability, serviceability, and lifecycle input.
• Develop appropriate department metrics and regularly communicate performance, risks, priorities, and recovery plans to manufacturing leadership.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechatronics, or another relevant technical discipline, or equivalent combination of education and directly applicable experience.
• 7+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing engineering, sustaining engineering, equipment engineering, equipment maintenance, reliability, or related technical operations.
• 3+ years of experience leading engineers, technicians, equipment maintenance personnel, or multidisciplinary technical teams.
• Demonstrated experience supporting automated or highly technical manufacturing equipment in a production environment.
• Strong working knowledge of preventive and corrective equipment maintenance, equipment troubleshooting, structured root-cause analysis, and reliability improvement.
• Experience using production and equipment performance data to identify losses, prioritize improvements, and drive measurable results.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical problem-solving during production interruptions and high-pressure manufacturing situations.
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively with technicians, operators, engineers, manufacturing leaders, senior leadership, suppliers, and other stakeholders.
• Ability to organize multiple competing priorities, establish clear ownership, and drive technical actions through completion.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in high-volume, highly automated, automotive, electronics, battery, semiconductor, aerospace, or advanced manufacturing environments.
• Experience managing engineering and equipment maintenance teams supporting production equipment.
• Experience with CMMS systems and reliability-centered equipment maintenance practices.
• Working knowledge of OEE, MTBF, MTTR, predictive equipment maintenance, condition-based monitoring, TPM, and equipment lifecycle management.
• Experience with PLC-controlled equipment, robotics, industrial automation, motion systems, machine vision, controls, or manufacturing software systems.
• Experience supporting equipment commissioning, qualification, production ramp, and transition from equipment launch to sustaining operations.
• Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, TPM, or reliability-related certification or experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong technical leadership and engineering judgment.
• Advanced troubleshooting and structured problem-solving capability.
• Strong understanding of equipment reliability and equipment maintenance strategy.
• Ability to distinguish immediate containment from permanent corrective action.
• Ability to interpret equipment performance, production, and reliability data.
• Strong root-cause analysis and corrective-action skills.
• Ability to develop engineers, technicians, and equipment maintenance personnel at varying levels of technical experience.
• Strong organizational, prioritization, and execution skills.
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced manufacturing environment with changing priorities.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration and influencing skills.
• Ability to communicate complex technical issues clearly to both technical and nontechnical audiences.
• Demonstrated ownership, urgency, accountability, and follow-through.

Key Performance Indicators

• Equipment uptime and availability.
• Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).
• Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF).
• Mean Time to Repair (MTTR).
• Preventive equipment maintenance completion and schedule adherence.
• Unplanned equipment downtime.
• Repeat or chronic equipment failures.
• Equipment-related scrap, defects, and production losses.
• Technical corrective-action closure and recurrence rates.
• Equipment maintenance cost and spare-parts performance.
• Engineering improvement execution and documented productivity gains.
• Technical team capability, qualification, development, and retention.

Working Conditions / Hours / Physical Requirements

Full-time/exempt.

This position directly supports an active, high-volume manufacturing environment operating on a 24/7 schedule. The employee’s regular work area may be located on or immediately adjacent to the manufacturing floor.

This is not primarily a desk-based position. The employee is expected to spend a significant portion of the workday in production and equipment areas observing operations, evaluating equipment condition, troubleshooting technical issues, engaging with technicians, engineers, operators, and manufacturing leaders, and driving resolution of equipment and process constraints.

The employee regularly moves throughout a large manufacturing facility and may stand or walk for extended periods. The position may require climbing stairs, bending, reaching, crouching, kneeling, or working in varied positions while inspecting, troubleshooting, or observing manufacturing equipment.

The role requires the ability to safely work around automated manufacturing equipment, industrial machinery, electrical systems, moving equipment, and other conditions typical of an advanced manufacturing environment.

The position may require work outside normal business hours, including early mornings, evenings, nights, weekends, or holidays, to respond to significant equipment failures, manufacturing interruptions, production ramps, equipment installations, or other business-critical technical issues.

Career Path

Employees in this role may progress to Director, Technical Operations; Director, Manufacturing; Senior Director, Manufacturing or Operations; or other broader operations leadership roles based on business need, sustained performance, leadership capability, technical depth, and demonstrated ability to manage increasing scope.