Manufacturing Engineer - First-of-Kind & Process Development

Position Summary

The Manufacturing Engineer – First-of-Kind (FoK) & Process Development will lead and support the transition of new electrical distribution equipment from engineering design through first-of-kind builds, pilot runs, validation, and successful production launch. This hands-on role is ideal for an engineer with an electrical or mechanical background who enjoys working directly on the manufacturing floor, solving build issues, improving designs for manufacturability, and developing repeatable production methods.

The engineer will partner with Product Engineering, Quality, Production, Supply Chain, Test, and Manufacturing teams to ensure new products can be built safely, efficiently, consistently, and to customer requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead manufacturing engineering activities for first-of-kind electrical distribution equipment builds, prototype builds, and pilot production runs.
• Review product designs, drawings, bills of material, specifications, and customer requirements for manufacturability, serviceability, quality, safety, and cost.
• Identify design, process, material, tooling, ergonomic, and quality risks before product release to production.
• Assist in development and documentation for manufacturing methods, sequence of operations, work instructions, standard work, process flow, routings, visual aids, and required tooling.
• Create and maintain build plans, process validation plans, lessons learned, issue logs, and action-item tracking for FoK and pilot builds.
• Lead structured problem-solving activities using tools such as 5 Why, fishbone analysis, PFMEA, control plans, and corrective-action methods.
• Support development and validation of fixtures, assembly aids, test equipment, material presentation, workstations, and error-proofing solutions.
• Establish production-ready labor estimates, cycle times, staffing needs, line balance requirements, and capacity assumptions.
• Coordinate with Quality to define critical-to-quality characteristics, inspection points, test requirements, acceptance criteria, and quality documentation.
• Partner with Supply Chain and suppliers to identify material availability, alternate components, long-lead risks, packaging needs, and supplier quality concerns.
• Participate in design reviews and provide Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA) feedback.
• Support the transition from pilot builds to production.
• Track build performance, defects, rework, test failures, throughput, and lessons learned; drive improvements before full production release.
• Ensure manufacturing processes comply with applicable safety, quality, electrical, and regulatory requirements.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives for existing electrical distribution equipment and manufacturing processes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or related engineering discipline.
• 3+ years of manufacturing, product launch, process engineering, electrical equipment, panel assembly, or related experience.
• Electrical or mechanical aptitude with the ability to understand assembly drawings, wiring diagrams, schematics, bills of material, and manufacturing documentation.
• Experience supporting prototype, first-of-kind, pilot, new-product introduction, or production-launch activities.
• Working knowledge of manufacturing-process development, standard work, work instructions, tooling, fixtures, ergonomics, and lean principles.
• Experience with root-cause analysis, PFMEA, control plans, and corrective actions.
• Strong floor presence and ability to work collaboratively with technicians, production leaders, engineers, and quality personnel.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office; ability to work with CAD drawings and ERP/MRP systems.
• Experience manufacturing electrical distribution equipment, switchgear, switchboards, panelboards, power distribution units, industrial controls, or similar electrical assemblies.
• Experience with UL requirements, NEC, NFPA 70, NFPA 79, UL 508A, or other applicable electrical manufacturing standards.
• Familiarity with electrical testing, torque requirements, wire routing, busbar assembly, enclosure fabrication, and mechanical fit-up.
• Experience with Lean manufacturing, value-stream mapping, time studies, line balancing, and capacity planning.
• Knowledge of AutoCAD, SolidWorks, EPLAN, or similar design tools.

Physical Demands

• Office work is performed in an office setting that is climate controlled. Warehouse work is not climate controlled. Exposure to excessive heat and cold, wet/humid conditions, noise/vibration, hazards, dust, and fumes. Regularly required to stand, walk, and move throughout the production floor for extended periods (approximately 40% of the workday).
• Must be able to lift to 50 lbs.; Buddy lift up to 100 lbs. Mechanical assistance required for loads exceeding 100 lbs. (not added personnel).

Job Posting Salary Range: 3.0 - 6.0 USD