Industrial Engineering Manager
About the role
The Industrial Engineering Manager leads and develops a team of Industrial Engineers and continuous improvement professionals. They establish departmental goals aligned with plant and corporate objectives, manage workload prioritization and resource allocation, provide coaching, mentoring, and performance management, develop and maintain labor standards, conduct time studies, work measurement analyses, and line balancing activities, identify and implement opportunities to improve productivity, efficiency, and throughput, drive ergonomic assessments and workstation optimization initiatives, drive Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement initiatives, monitor and report key operational performance indicators, develop capacity models to support business growth and customer demand, analyze labor utilization and recommend staffing adjustments, support annual budgeting, capital planning, and workforce planning activities, conduct bottleneck analyses and propose corrective actions, support new product launches and engineering changes, develop labor and equipment requirements for new programs, participate in APQP activities and launch readiness reviews, collaborate with customers and cross-functional teams to ensure successful program execution, develop performance dashboards and plant metrics, prepare reports and presentations for leadership review, utilize engineering and ERP systems to monitor operational performance, ensure compliance with OSHA, environmental, and company safety requirements, promote a culture of safety, quality, and continuous improvement, support compliance with IATF 16949, ISO 14001, and customer-specific requirements.
Responsibilities
- Serves as a key strategic partner to plant leadership, responsible for leading manufacturing process optimization, labor efficiency initiatives, capacity planning, and continuous improvement activities within a Tier 1 automotive manufacturing environment.
- Drives operational excellence by implementing lean manufacturing principles, improving productivity, reducing costs, and ensuring efficient utilization of labor, equipment, and facility resources.
- Leads a team of industrial engineers and collaborates closely with production, quality, maintenance, supply chain, and program management teams to meet customer, safety, quality, delivery, and cost objectives.
- Develops and maintains labor standards, production rates, and staffing models.
- Conducts time studies, work measurement analyses, and line balancing activities.
- Identifies and implements opportunities to improve productivity, efficiency, and throughput.
- Supports manufacturing launches and production ramp-up activities.
- Drives ergonomic assessments and workstation optimization initiatives.
- Drives Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement initiatives including value stream mapping, Kaizen events, 5S programs, standard work, visual management, and waste elimination.
- Facilitates continuous improvement projects focused on safety, quality, delivery, and cost performance.
- Makes bottleneck analyses and proposes corrective actions.
- Supports new product launches and engineering changes.
- Develops labor and equipment requirements for new programs.
- Participates in APQP activities and launch readiness reviews.
- Collaborates with customers and cross-functional teams to ensure successful program execution.
- Develops performance dashboards and plant metrics.
- Prepares reports and presentations for leadership review.
- Utilizes engineering and ERP systems to monitor operational performance.
- Ensures compliance with OSHA, environmental, and company safety requirements.
- Promotes a culture of safety, quality, and continuous improvement.
- Supports compliance with IATF 16949, ISO 14001, and customer-specific requirements.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or related field, or equivalent experience.
- 7+ years of manufacturing experience in an automotive or Tier 1 supplier environment, along with experience managing a team.
- Experience implementing Lean Manufacturing and continuous improvement methodologies.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, Excel, Power BI, and manufacturing reporting tools.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and project management skills.
- Excellent communication and leadership abilities.
Preferred Qualifications
- Six Sigma Green Belt, Black Belt, or Lean Certification.
- Experience with automotive OEM customer requirements.
- Knowledge of APQP, PPAP, PFMEA, Control Plans, and IATF 16949 standards.
- Experience with ERP and MES systems.
- Familiarity with automation, robotics, and Industry 4.0 technologies.