Manufacturing Engineer

Job Description & Responsibilities

Persistent Systems is seeking a hands-on, cross-functional manufacturing Engineer for our Manhattan production facility. This role is directly responsible for the company’s manufacturing processes, both in-house and at external manufacturing partners, ensuring the company continues to meet its production goals. This role requires collaboration across engineering, supply chain, operations, and quality. You will be working alongside an established team of manufacturing engineers. The ideal candidate combines practical mechanical, electrical, hardware, and systems engineering knowledge with strong troubleshooting and continuous improvement skills.

Position Responsibilities

• Own production readiness and engineering-to-production handover, ensuring product and production documentation, training, tools, equipment, and procedures are identified, established, and verified prior to product release
• Review and advise on product designs for manufacturability, complexity, and yield while driving closure of critical barriers to production. 
• Utilize value stream mapping techniques to identify, understand, and minimize bottlenecks within existing production processes and plan future processes.
• Partner with Product Development in defining and creating manufacturing processes and test equipment for our ever-growing line of products
• Own complex in-house and external manufacturing processes.
• Work with Quality and Operations to analyze manufacturing performance using relevant KPIs, with particular emphasis on production yield and on-time delivery (OTD) and drive corrective actions to address performance gaps.
• Optimize production output with a focus on lean manufacturing and eliminating waste. 
• Develop manufacturing methods and process improvements to reduce cost and cycle time
• Evaluate existing products and manufacturing processes to identify opportunities for standardization, improved reliability, reduced cost, and more efficient long-term production.
• Monitor production performance, identify capacity constraints and schedule risks, and communicate performance gaps and corrective action plans to Operations leadership.
• Establish and implement preventative maintenance and calibration requirements for critical equipment, systems, and tooling
• Troubleshoot electro-mechanical product and hardware interface test systems; implement corrective action to minimize interruptions and eliminate recurrence

Job Qualifications & Experience

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or other technical discipline or equivalent experience
• 5 years of direct experience in an electro-mechanical manufacturing environment
• Experience developing and implementing process improvements
• Experience with hands-on assembly, testing, and troubleshooting
• Experience using CAD & manufacturing methods to create tooling, fixtures, and prototypes
• Must have United States security clearance or the ability to obtain United States security clearance

Preferred Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical, computer, or mechanical engineering
• 5 or more years of direct experience in a manufacturing environment, including product launch and obsolescence
• Product design or product ownership experience
• Experience with Lean Six Sigma methods and systems
• Experience in the Aerospace and/or Defense industry
• Familiarity with ISO 9001 quality management standards
• Software programming and troubleshooting experience
• Experience with environmental product testing and methods, e.g. ingress protection, shock &vibe, thermal stress

The base pay for this role can vary from $146,000 to $182,000 a year based on individual qualifications. Eligibility for yearly discretionary bonus. Persistent Systems, LLC offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance; paid time off (sick time and vacation time); flexible spending accounts; 401(k) plan with company match; fitness membership reimbursement; tuition assistance; mental health benefits; and pet discounts. We will accept applications on a rolling basis until the role is filled.

Company Overview

Persistent Systems, LLC, a leader in defense technology, has been engineering secure Mobile Ad Hoc Networking (MANET) solutions since 2007, enabling joint forces and multinational coalitions to communicate, collaborate, and achieve mission success. Persistent created the Wave Relay® Ecosystem, a unified data network for unmanned systems, sensors, and software, empowering warfighters to accomplish tactical objectives across the operational area.  Built on the company’s Wave Relay MANET and Cloud Relay™ technologies, this ecosystem delivers a global data fabric for military, first responders, and commercial users. Persistent has offices in New York City, Colorado, North Carolina, Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming.