Senior Manufacturing Engineer – Advanced Electromechanical Systems
Position Summary
Sapphire Technologies is seeking a Senior Manufacturing Engineer to industrialize and scale advanced electromechanical products incorporating high-speed rotating machinery, active magnetic bearings, electric machines, power electronics, controls, liquid cooling, and precision mechanical assemblies. The role supports a major product platform serving rapidly growing energy and data-center infrastructure applications. The program is progressing from development into production and will require a significant manufacturing scale-up.
Why Join Sapphire
Learning Develop manufacturing expertise across precision rotating assemblies, electric machines, magnetic bearings, power electronics, fluid systems, production testing, and contract-manufacturing operations. Impact Directly influence product quality, cost, yield, assembly time, reliability, and Sapphire’s ability to execute a major production ramp supporting data-center infrastructure. Become a manufacturing leader with opportunities to own product industrialization, factory strategy, contract-manufacturing deployment, process technology, and future production platforms.
Requirements
What Success Looks Like
First 90 Days — Establish Manufacturing Readiness
Understand the product architecture, assembly sequence, build history, manufacturing risks, and production strategy.
Lead DFM and DFA reviews, focusing on tolerances, assembly methods, inspection, testing, serviceability, and cost.
Define the manufacturing process flow, critical-to-quality characteristics, tooling needs, control plans, and production-readiness plan.
Establish a manufacturing risk register and close the most urgent gaps before production-intent builds.
First 180 Days — Lead manufacturing readiness and execution for production-intent builds at Contract Manufacturers.
Develop work instructions, tooling, fixtures, inspection methods, process controls, and test requirements.
Capture build data and resolve assembly, quality, supplier, and documentation issues through structured root-cause analysis.
Incorporate lessons learned into product designs and manufacturing processes.
First Year — Deliver a documented and validated manufacturing process ready for commercial production and continued scale-up.
Establish line layout, staffing, capacity, tooling, training, quality gates, and production-test requirements.
Support transfer of the product to qualified contract-manufacturing partners.
Improve yield, throughput, labor content, rework, and cost through process optimization.
Establish a manufacturing roadmap addressing automation, capacity expansion, and continued cost reduction.
Core Responsibilities
Lead product industrialization from prototype through production launch and scale-up.
Drive DFM and DFA decisions early in product development.
Develop manufacturing strategies, process flows, routings, assembly methods, and capacity plans.
Create fixtures, tooling, gauges, process equipment, and production-test systems.
Define assembly, alignment, balancing, leak-test, inspection, and functional-test processes.
Create controlled work instructions, process specifications, quality checkpoints, and training materials.
Lead PFMEA, process validation, build-readiness reviews, and manufacturing-risk mitigation.
Provide hands-on support during prototype, pilot, validation, and production builds.
Lead structured investigations into manufacturing defects, yield loss, rework, and process variation.
Improve throughput, quality, labor efficiency, safety, and production cost.
Support contract-manufacturer selection, qualification, technology transfer, training, and launch.
Partner with engineering, quality, supply chain, operations, suppliers, and program management.
Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing, Mechanical, Industrial Engineering, or a related discipline.
Eight or more years of manufacturing-engineering experience with complex electromechanical or industrial products.
Demonstrated experience transitioning products from prototype development into commercial production.
Strong experience with NPI, DFM, DFA, process development, tooling, and production scale-up.
Experience creating work instructions, process documentation, PFMEAs, control plans, and production metrics.
Experience transferring products to contract manufacturers or outsourced production partners.
Knowledge of Lean manufacturing, process validation, structured root-cause analysis, and continuous improvement.
Experience with ERP/MRP systems and manufacturing-planning processes.
Strong technical judgment, communication, and cross-functional leadership skills.
Preferred Experience
High-speed rotating machinery, compressors, turbines, pumps, motors, or generators
Active magnetic bearings and precision rotor assemblies
Alignment, balancing, leak testing, pressure testing, or performance testing
Power electronics, PCB assemblies, sensors, and control systems
Liquid cooling, thermal-management, or fluid-handling systems
Precision machining, castings, electric-machine assembly, or high-voltage integration
Production transfer to contract manufacturers or outsourced production partners
Leadership Attributes
Strong ownership and bias for action
Hands-on approach to production problems
Ability to bridge engineering design and manufacturing execution
Practical judgment balancing quality, cost, schedule, and scalability
Data-driven continuous-improvement mindset
Clear communication and effective cross-functional influence
Work Environment
Work will be divided among office, laboratory, manufacturing-floor, supplier, and contract-manufacturing environments.
Occasional travel may be required for supplier development, manufacturing transfer, production launch, and troubleshooting.
Benefits
We offer a competitive benefits package designed to support the health, well-being, and financial security of our employees.
Eligible team members receive paid vacation, paid sick time, comprehensive health benefits, and participation in a 401(k) retirement plan with company match.