Engineering Leader - NPI

The Engineering Leader will be based out of Whitehall, Michigan and will be located within Whitehall Casting Operations and is responsible for managing and providing technical leadership of the NPI Engineering team. Responsibilities involve supervising salaried employees, managing all engineering services; providing technical assistance to assigned engineers to meet or exceed quality, cycle time, profitability and customer requirements; coordinating the transition of technologies into production; facilitating process standardization; driving continuous improvement of manufacturing processes and systems; establishing and maintaining excellent customer relationships.

Primary Responsibilities 

• Manage and direct the New Product Introduction (NPI) initiative ensuring product development in accordance with overall project timelines, budget, and quoted standards
• Participate with our customers to advance our technical capabilities while delivering added benefits to the customers’ design.
• Work in conjunction with other groups to advance our technical capabilities and reduce cost of manufacturing processes
• Function as a liaison between tooling suppliers, core supplier and casting house on NPI projects
• Collaborate and provide project support to the Program Management team
• Work in conjunction with NPI engineering, NPI leadership and Plant Sales to ensure that outgoing quotes are based on accurate cost estimations for material, scrap and labor.
• Direct and participate in run at rate analysis of future products, technology advancements needed and capital requests and implementation. 
• Report status of NPI program to Plant Manager and BU leaders
• Manage monthly revenue targets for NPI programs
• Direct and participate in the conception, evaluation and implementation of yield/cost improvement, product improvement and production problem solving activities
• Coordinate manufacturing and scrap reduction initiatives with the HRC and Corporate Engineering technical staff
• Establish professional working relationship with Engineering Managers and Engineering Team at each casting facility and promote engineering team communication regarding product status and issues
• Responsible for creating an environment of engagement and fostering development of Engineering Staff
• Manage training development strategies for the Engineering Staff
• Work in conjunction with the production engineering managers to align technical leaders with engineers to grow technical talent.

Job Roles 

• Accountability and follow-through--interacts within organizational matrix understanding the inherent interdependence of roles and functions; takes ownership of outcomes; acts in the best interest of the team, group, function and enterprise
• Rigor--continuous focus on repeatable processes at scale; analyzes efforts; recalibrates as needed; considers multiple inputs from multiple stakeholders; exhibits detail orientation
• Tactical agility--inspires team to proactive improvements while maintaining ability to react to issues as they arise; functions well under pressure of production and time expectations; able to manage the tension of speed and specification demands 
• Practical and adaptive thinking--understands organizational capabilities and introduces solutions within existing frameworks while simultaneously adapting to changes, developments in technology and marketplace demands 
• Versatile leadership--technically capable, yet able to detach to gain perspective; deploys resources strategically and works alongside team when necessary
• Possibility thinking--proactively challenges the status quo and seeks to solve problems differently than we have in the past; explores the boundaries of technology and current practice; embraces and champions change including automation, smart manufacturing and progress in data gathering and interpretation
• Relationship-oriented--establishes and maintains connections with team, peers and cross functionally; collaborates and compromises for the good of the enterprise; provides thought partnership; creates and scales best practices across enterprise
• Prioritization--understands the business and its technical, financial and strategic direction and goals; prioritizes work accordingly and communicates rationale for decisions; advocates for customers within the context of organizational capability and goals; understands the implication of decisions on other facets of the enterprise
• Communication--listens well and takes multiple perspectives into consideration; articulates priorities and future possibilities clearly and frequently; interacts with operators, managers and customers and customizes approach to each stakeholder group
• Coach/Mentor/Manager--provides direction, review, reassurance, encouragement, challenge, recognition on an individual basis; promotes growth and development in associates; inspires risk; continually assesses and reassesses talent and fit to role based on individual and collective performance
• Resource and expertise deployment--understands where to invest to ensure resolution; solicits and directs the expertise and involvement of others and enables their success
• Customer coordination--responds directly to customer inquiries, interfaces with customer
• Influence without direct authority--provides justification for decisions and direction; presents a compelling case for needed efforts or change to parties with varying interests and priorities; aligns peers and stakeholders to achieve both tangible and anticipated objectives

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering from an accredited institution
• 5 or more years of experience in engineering, including experience in new product launches

• 1 or more year of supervisory or management experience

   

• Employees must be legally authorized to work in the United States.  Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.  Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

 Preferred Qualifications

• BS in Material Science, Mechanical, Metallurgy, or Manufacturing Engineering from an accredited institution
• Demonstrated proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, Project
• Strong knowledge of financial data 
• Competent working knowledge of investment casting processes, customer specifications, and quality systems
• Demonstrated leadership of cross-functional product teams
• Self-driven - ability to organize people and activities to get things done.
• Interpersonal savvy and communication skills (written and verbal)
• Organizational skills and excellent attention to detail
• Outstanding problem-solving skills