Manufacturing Engineering Lead

This opportunity is located within our Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Company business, a global leader of mission-critical hardware and systems solutions including precision energetics systems and innovative explosive solutions.Click here to learn more.

Job Description

The Manufacturing Engineering Lead is an exciting opportunity for an experienced engineer ready to expand their leadership impact while remaining closely connected to the technical work. In this role, you will lead and develop a talented team of Manufacturing Engineers, own the technical performance of assigned product lines, and partner across Operations, Quality, Programs, and Engineering to solve complex problems and support continued business growth.

Supporting our Linear Transfer Systems (LTS) Value Stream, you will play a key role in strengthening our products, manufacturing processes, and engineering capabilities while building a high-performing team prepared to meet both current and future business needs.

Responsibilities

As the Manufacturing Engineering Lead, you will:

• Lead and develop a team of Manufacturing Engineers, providing coaching, technical guidance, prioritization, and ongoing development to strengthen individual and team capabilities.

• Own the technical performance of assigned product lines, serving as a key engineering resource throughout the product lifecycle.

• Partner closely with Production and cross-functional teams to prioritize engineering support based on business, customer, quality, and operational needs.

• Drive structured problem solving and lead technical teams through root cause analysis, failure investigations, corrective actions, and risk mitigation.

• Champion Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and ensure manufacturing considerations are incorporated into new product development and design decisions.

• Support key technical and business activities, including risk assessments, Technical Data Package (TDP) reviews, design reviews, bids and proposals, and technical investigations.

• Drive continuous improvement across assigned product lines through Lean manufacturing, process optimization, SPC, SMED, cell design, and other improvement methodologies.

• Identify opportunities to improve product quality, manufacturability, cost, delivery, and overall operational performance.

• Partner with customers and internal stakeholders to resolve technical challenges and provide effective, timely engineering support.

• Build the technical depth and capability of the Product Engineering organization to support current priorities and future business growth.

• Foster a collaborative, accountable, and continuous-improvement-focused team environment.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering required; Mechanical, Manufacturing, or a related engineering discipline preferred. Master's degree is a plus.

• 5​+ years of relevant manufacturing, product, or project engineering experience.

• Demonstrated experience with structured problem solving, root cause analysis, corrective and preventive action, and failure investigation.

• Ability to lead cross-functional technical teams through complex engineering and manufacturing challenges.

• Experience with project management, technical writing, and cost estimating.

• Working knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Continuous Improvement, or similar operational excellence methodologies.

• Strong technical judgment with the ability to balance engineering rigor with production, customer, schedule, and business requirements.

• Strong communication and collaboration skills with the ability to work effectively across Engineering, Operations, Quality, Programs, and other functions.

• Experience developing or improving manufacturing processes is strongly preferred.

• Experience with energetic systems, ordnance devices, missile systems, launch vehicles, or other aerospace and defense products is beneficial.

• Must have or be able to obtain a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) security clearance and be eligible to work on U.S. DoD and ITAR-restricted programs.

Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE). Qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, national origin, or veteran status.