Lead Manufacturing Engineer

Product Engineering Lead – Manufacturing

Granby, CT - Onsite

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Product Engineering Lead to lead and mentor a team of approximately 4–6 Manufacturing/Product Engineers supporting complex manufacturing programs. This position combines technical engineering ownership, people leadership, and manufacturing process improvement. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in manufacturing engineering with hands-on experience driving Lean initiatives, improving production processes, and developing engineering teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and provide technical direction to a team of Manufacturing/Product Engineers.
• Drive manufacturing process development, optimization, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Lead Lean manufacturing activities including Kaizen events, cell improvements, SPC implementation, and SMED.
• Promote Design for Manufacturability (DFM) throughout new product development programs.
• Own the technical performance and manufacturing support of assigned product lines.
• Partner with production leadership to prioritize engineering activities and resolve manufacturing challenges.
• Support root cause investigations, corrective actions, failure analysis, and risk mitigation.
• Participate in technical reviews, design reviews, technical data package reviews, and proposal activities.
• Identify production bottlenecks and implement solutions that improve quality, efficiency, cost, and throughput.
• Develop engineering talent through coaching, mentoring, technical guidance, and performance development.
• Support customer technical discussions and resolution of manufacturing or product-related issues.
• Build a collaborative, team-oriented engineering environment focused on execution and continuous improvement.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• Approximately 7–10+ years of engineering or manufacturing experience.
• 3+ years of leadership, technical leadership, or engineering mentorship experience. Candidates with strong indirect leadership experience may also be considered.
• Strong background in manufacturing process development and process improvement.
• Experience with Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Kaizen, or Continuous Improvement methodologies.
• Strong understanding of root cause analysis, corrective/preventive actions, and structured problem solving.
• Experience leading cross-functional technical teams and engineering projects.
• Ability to work directly with manufacturing teams to troubleshoot production issues and implement sustainable solutions.
• Strong communication, technical writing, and organizational skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience within aerospace, defense, energetic systems, ordnance, missile, launch vehicle, or other highly regulated manufacturing environments.
• Experience developing manufacturing processes for complex mechanical or electromechanical products.
• Familiarity with SPC, SMED, DFM, risk assessments, failure investigations, and cost estimating.
• Previous experience directly managing or mentoring a team of engineers.
• Ability to obtain a U.S. Department of Defense security clearance.
• Ability to work with ITAR-controlled and U.S. DoD-restricted programs.

Ideal Background

The strongest candidate will combine manufacturing engineering expertise with proven leadership ability. This person should be comfortable spending time with engineers and production teams, identifying process problems, leading Kaizen and continuous improvement efforts, and developing a high-performing engineering team.