Production- Application Engineer

About the role

We are seeking an Application Engineer to act as the technical bridge between customers and manufacturing operations across various manufacturing capabilities. This role involves managing the customer quoting process, production planning, design for manufacturability (DFM) consultation, and assembly planning. The position requires a broad technical understanding of manufacturing and assembly processes and the ability to translate customer requirements into executable production plans.

Responsibilities

• Review customer requirements, BOMs, technical drawings, and assembly documentation to assess project feasibility.
• Generate accurate quotes including material costs, labor estimates, assembly effort, and lead times.
• Provide design for manufacturability (DFM) and design for assembly (DFA) feedback to optimize products for production.
• Recommend optimal manufacturing and assembly approaches based on product complexity, cost, quality, and delivery requirements.
• Collaborate with customers to refine designs, specifications, and assembly requirements.
• Support the Customer Success team with technical expertise during customer interactions.
• Prepare manufacturing documentation including assembly work instructions, build plans, routers, and production travelers.
• Plan and schedule jobs across manufacturing and assembly operations to optimize throughput and meet delivery commitments.
• Conduct capacity planning to balance customer demand with available manufacturing and assembly resources.
• Estimate labor requirements for fabrication, integration, assembly, testing, and inspection activities.
• Cook up with production and assembly teams to manage workload, staffing, and production schedules.
• Analyze product designs to determine optimal assembly methods and production processes.
• Evaluate material selection, purchased components, and subassemblies to support manufacturing objectives.
• Identify potential manufacturing and assembly challenges and recommend design modifications.
• Assess trade-offs between cost, quality, manufacturability, and lead time.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives focused on assembly efficiency, quality, and cost reduction.
• Partner with manufacturing teams to ensure a smooth transition from quote to production.
• Support Quality Engineers on inspection requirements, first article inspections, and validation activities.
• Coordinate multi-step manufacturing and assembly workflows for complex electromechanical products.
• Support Business Development with technical assessments for new products, processes, and manufacturing capabilities.
• Collaborate with manufacturing, assembly, quality, and supply chain teams to ensure production readiness.

Essential Skills

• 3+ years of manufacturing, production, or assembly engineering experience.
• Strong knowledge of mechanical and/or electromechanical assembly processes.
• Experience interpreting engineering drawings, BOMs, assembly instructions, and GD&T.
• Proficiency with 3D CAD software and manufacturing documentation.
• Strong analytical skills for cost estimation, labor planning, and capacity planning.
• Experience supporting production, assembly, or manufacturing operations.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• 5+ years of manufacturing, assembly, or production engineering experience.
• Experience in contract manufacturing or customer-facing technical roles.
• Familiarity with Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA) principles.
• Experience supporting low-volume/high-mix or prototype-to-production environments.
• Knowledge of mechanical assembly, electromechanical integration, testing, and quality processes.
• Experience developing work instructions, assembly procedures, and manufacturing documentation.
• Project management experience supporting multiple concurrent projects.
• Proficiency with CAD software such as SolidWorks or Fusion 360.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills for customer interactions.

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract position based out of Seattle, WA.

Pay And Benefits

The pay range for this position is $50.00 - $53.00/hr. Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® winner for both client and talent service. The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law. If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email actalentaccommodation@actalentservices.com for other accommodation options.