Job Description:
The Advanced Manufacturing Project Engineer works in a highly collaborative team environment and partners closely with Product Engineering, Product Marketing, Quality Engineering and Reliability Engineering, GAME Technology, suppliers, and global manufacturing sites. The Manufacturing Project Engineer is accountable for cross-functional coordination, project visibility, and manufacturing readiness, while GAME Technology and other technical experts provide deeper technical leadership for specialized processes, equipment, and manufacturing technologies.
Specific Duties Include:
- Project Management and VIGOR Execution
- Coordinate assigned manufacturing projects and workstreams from early product development through equipment delivery, process validation, production launch, and handoff to site operations.
- Own Operations VIGOR milestone planning and execution for assigned projects, ensuring required deliverables are completed accurately and on time.
- Develop and maintain integrated project schedules, action logs, risk registers, decision records, and milestone-readiness plans.
- Facilitate recurring cross-functional project meetings, document decisions and actions, and follow up with owners to ensure timely completion.
- Track project scope, schedule, cost, quality, capacity, and resource requirements; escalate risks and barriers with clear recommendations.
- Communicate project health, milestone readiness, key decisions, and recovery plans through concise written updates and presentations.
- Support fact-based trade-off discussions involving cost, schedule, quality, capacity, manufacturability, risk, and total business impact.
- Coordinate project handoffs and ensure responsibilities are clearly defined across GAME, GAME Technology, equipment suppliers, and manufacturing sites.
- Capture project lessons learned and incorporate them into future programs, standards, and execution templates.
Cross-Functional Coordination:
- Build effective working relationships with Product Engineering, Product Marketing, Quality Engineering, Reliability Engineering, Supply Chain, GAME Technology, equipment suppliers, and site manufacturing teams.
- Represent manufacturing requirements, risks, assumptions, and readiness needs in project and milestone reviews.
- Partner with Product Engineering to support Design for Manufacturability and Assembly reviews and ensure production requirements are considered early in product development.
- Partner with Quality Engineering and Reliability Engineering to align manufacturing controls, validation activities, inspection methods, and risk-mitigation plans with product requirements.
- Partner with Product Marketing and project leadership to understand product timing, business priorities, demand assumptions, and launch requirements.
- Work closely with site manufacturing teams to define production-readiness expectations, training needs, documentation, staffing assumptions, and support plans.
- Engage GAME Technology and other subject-matter experts when projects require deeper expertise in processes, equipment, automation, controls, data systems, or emerging manufacturing technologies.
- Coordinate technical activities and decision timing while respecting the technical ownership of GAME Technology and designated subject-matter experts.
Manufacturing Readiness and Engineering Support:
- Support the development and maintenance of manufacturing deliverables, including process flows, line layouts, capacity models, equipment plans, PFMEAs, control plans, validation plans, work instructions, and launch-readiness checklists.
- Assist with evaluating product and process concepts for manufacturability, quality, cost, capacity, safety, scalability, and serviceability.
- Support equipment concept reviews, design reviews, supplier communication, acceptance testing, installation, validation, and production ramp activities.
- Participate in prototype and production builds to identify manufacturing risks, collect data, document issues, and coordinate corrective actions.
- Apply foundational engineering tools such as process mapping, risk analysis, capability analysis, root-cause analysis, and structured problem solving.
- Support basic technical and financial analyses, including equipment capacity, labor requirements, capital estimates, manufacturing cost, and project timing.
- Use data to evaluate manufacturing performance and assist the cross-functional team in resolving quality, throughput, yield, and reliability issues.
- Support the creation and standardization of manufacturing documentation across motor and battery programs and global manufacturing sites.
- Develop working knowledge of relevant manufacturing processes, which may include automation, material handling, joining, dispensing, inspection, testing, laser welding, resistance welding, ultrasonic welding, motor winding, fusing, balancing, and related assembly technologies.
- Follow applicable safety, quality, documentation, and change-control requirements throughout project execution.
Role Requirements:
- Ability to travel domestically and internationally to support supplier reviews, equipment acceptance, site installation, validation, and production launches.
- Estimated annual travel: 20%–25%.
- Trips may extend one to two weeks and may include weekend travel.
- Ability to work effectively across functions, cultures, time zones, and global manufacturing locations.
- Ability and willingness to participate hands-on during prototype builds, equipment reviews, process validation, and launch problem-solving.
- Ability to learn technical material quickly, ask effective questions, and seek support from technical experts when appropriate.
- Ability to manage multiple assignments, maintain attention to detail, and adapt priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Education and Experience Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering, Engineering Technology, or a related technical discipline required.
- Entry-level position; zero to two years of relevant manufacturing, engineering, operations, or project experience preferred.
- Internship, co-op, senior-design, laboratory, or other hands-on engineering project experience preferred.
- Foundational understanding of manufacturing processes, engineering problem solving, and project execution.
- Exposure to project-management practices, including schedules, action tracking, risk management, milestone reviews, and status reporting preferred.
- Exposure to manufacturing engineering tools such as process flow development, PFMEA, control plans, capability analysis, Design for Manufacturability and Assembly, root-cause analysis, or process validation preferred.
- Experience with high-volume assembly, motors, batteries, automation, equipment development, inspection, testing, or joining processes is beneficial but not required.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications required.
- Experience with project-management, data-analysis, visualization, statistical, or CAD tools is preferred.
- Strong written, verbal, organizational, analytical, and interpersonal skills.
Milwaukee Tool is an equal opportunity employer.
