Mgr, Experimental Test & Facilities

About the role

The Engineering Experimental Test & Facility Manager leads a diverse team of 10 salaried and hourly employees conducting experimental testing and product development of locomotives and locomotive systems in support of new product development, reliability improvement and continuous product improvement. The group is also responsible for ensuring that the campus, buildings, and infrastructure are well maintained to provide a safe, productive, and environmentally friendly workplace for all employees.

Responsibilities

• Leads the execution of experimental testing of Locomotives, large diesel engines, traction motors, alternators, and various locomotive subcomponents in test cells and work areas on the LaGrange campus;
• Manages engineering materials warehouse, shipping, and receiving;
• Manages an extensive list of contracted services including Plant Security, Housekeeping, Groundskeeping, Snow Removal, Pest Control, Fire System, Trash and Recycling;
• Drives safety and good housekeeping standards in all areas of the workplace;
• Maintains compliance with recommended safety procedures;
• Selects, trains, develops, assigns work and evaluates immediate subordinates;
• Coordinates activities with staff of engineers and supervisors;
• Interprets divisional and departmental policy & sets priorities for supervisors as needed;
• Complies with the terms of the UAW local and national labor agreements;
• Nearly constant contact with others outside the work group;
• Prepares and manages departmental expense and CAPEX budgets;
• Provides resource estimates, cost estimates, and forecasts of expenditures;
• Interface with the Village of McCook, Village of LaGrange and neighboring business as needed.

Qualifications and Experience

• 10+ years of relevant work experience;
• Understanding of Caterpillar’s Code of Conduct and a track record of upholding Cat Values;
• Thorough knowledge of design, development and test engineering, manufacturing and assembly operators, material procurement processes, engineering processes and procedures;
• Knowledge of large diesel engine design and operation;
• Ability to read engineering drawings and sketches;
• Extremely high level of analytical ability where problems are very unusual and extremely difficult;
• Ability to apply engineering principles to design, test and other engineering procedures;
• Fluency in all MS Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint);
• High level of oral and written communication skills;
• Strong interpersonal skills to work effectively with others, motivate employees, and elicit work output;
• Prior Caterpillar work experience and knowledge of Caterpillar engine applications;
• Previous locomotive familiarity and test experience;
• Previous work with UAW represented employees;
• Leveraging lean manufacturing and process improvement experience;
• Certification in problem solving tools such as 6 Sigma, 8D, Shainin, of others.

Additional Information

• Chosen employee will be expected to be onsite during all core working hours, Monday through Friday. Remote work will be minimal and only permitted on an exception basis;
• There are minimal travel requirements.

Essential and Physical Activities

• Strength – Position involves work in both an office environment with daily visits to an industrial environment. Frequent sitting, standing and walking. Occasional light to medium-level lifting (up to 30 pounds);
• Motion – Position regularly requires standard motions associated with working in an office environment;
• Vision/Hearing Requirements – Frequent verbal communications, including both talking and hearing;
• Work Environment – Position is located in an office environment with daily visits to an industrial environment which may include a non-temperature-controlled environment, as well as exposure to noise (85+ decibels), occasional exposure to temperature changes, heavy machinery and other hazardous working conditions requiring the use of PPE;
• Emotional Demands – Very high level of responsibility. Must be able to coordinate diverse aspects of a project. Requires significant interpersonal skills while sustaining very high standards;
• Safety – This position requires the use of Personal Protective Equipment during visits to industrial areas.