Mechanical Engineering Manager

Leadership Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary engineering organization consisting of Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Test Engineering, CAD Design, and Configuration Management personnel.
• Provide direct leadership, coaching, performance management, and career development for a team of approximately 10-15 engineering professionals.
• Establish a culture of accountability, technical rigor, continuous improvement, and professional development.
• Drive engineering staffing plans, workforce forecasting, hiring activities, onboarding, and organizational growth initiatives.
• Manage contractor resources and engineering resource allocation across multiple programs and development efforts.
• Develop future engineering leaders and support succession planning activities.
• Partner with technical subject matter experts and Chief Engineers to ensure effective alignment between technical strategy and execution.

Engineering Process & Governance

• Own and continuously improve the company’s engineering processes and product development framework.
• Define, implement, and maintain engineering procedures, work instructions, standards, and best practices.
• Ensure engineering activities comply with AS9100 requirements and applicable customer, regulatory, and contractual obligations.
• Drive process standardization and organizational consistency across engineering disciplines.
• Lead engineering continuous improvement initiatives focused on reducing technical debt, increasing efficiency, and improving product development outcomes.

Configuration Management Ownership

• Own the engineering configuration management system and associated governance processes.
• Establish and maintain product baseline management processes.
• Ensure proper configuration control throughout the product lifecycle.
• Maintain governance over CAD and PDM systems, engineering documentation, and design records.
• Establish and enforce part numbering standards, release procedures, and engineering document control processes.
• Conduct configuration audits and ensure compliance with internal and external requirements.

Design Review & Technical Governance

• Serve as chairperson for formal engineering reviews, including SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, PRR, and other lifecycle review activities.
• Establish review criteria, review readiness requirements, and closure expectations.
• Drive accountability for action item completion and risk mitigation activities.
• Approve engineering releases and ensure designs meet established quality, technical, manufacturing, and program requirements.
• Facilitate communication and decision-making between technical teams, program leadership, and executive management.
• Partner with Chief Engineers and technical authorities to ensure appropriate technical oversight and engineering rigor.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner closely with Program Management to ensure alignment between technical execution, schedules, resources, and program objectives.
• Collaborate with Manufacturing to improve producibility, production readiness, and product transition activities.
• Work closely with Quality to maintain compliance, resolve audit findings, implement corrective actions, and improve engineering quality systems.
• Support Supply Chain and Operations teams in resolving technical supplier issues and configuration-related concerns.
• Cook up coordination with Test Engineering to ensure verification and validation activities are effectively planned and executed.

Engineering Performance & Metrics

• Establish and maintain engineering performance metrics and organizational KPIs.
• Monitor and improve on-time design release performance.
• Track and manage design review closure effectiveness.
• Monitor engineering utilization and resource loading across programs.
• Manage engineering backlog and resource constraints.
• Track technical debt and support prioritization of corrective actions.
• Monitor requirements verification status and engineering execution performance.
• Provide regular reporting and recommendations to engineering leadership.