Engineering Manager at Wenthe-Davidson Manufacturing – New Berlin, Wisconsin

About Us

At Wenthe-Davidson, we’ve been leaders in custom tubular metal fabrication for over 80 years. As a 100% employee-owned company with more than 200 dedicated team members, every person here has a direct stake in our success. This means that our employees don’t just work for Wenthe-Davidson, they own a piece of it. Our commitment to continuous improvement, investment in state-of-the-art equipment, and long-term growth has fueled the recent expansion of our 109,000 sq. ft. facility with a new 27,000 sq. ft. addition.

What we're looking for

The ideal candidate will have a passion for optimizing quality, streamlining delivery, and managing total cost and have knowledge/experience in both hard and soft tool sheet metal processing.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Directs and oversees all engineering processes, including quoting/estimating, customer change requests, toolroom schedule, and new product development.
• Plans, coordinates and executes engineering projects, ensuring successful completion using project management tools and methods.
• Supports initiatives for developing new products, processes, and technologies, staying updated with industry trends, advancements, and software.
• Coordinate with operations, quality and procurement teams to drive project success and timelines.
• Oversees the accomplishment of company, departmental and team goals.
• Provides technical guidance for development or continuous improvement initiatives.

Team Leadership:

• Recruits, mentors, and develops a high-performing team consisting of manufacturing and industrial engineers, estimators, and toolroom personnel.
• Weighs make vs buy decisions regarding toolroom capability and capacity.
• Establishes performance goals and foster a culture of accountability and innovation.
• Promotes safety, collaboration and continuous improvement within the organization.
• Conducts regular meetings with Engineering team to review progress, address challenges, and ensure alignment with project goals.
• Collaborates with leadership to strategically determine and refine team composition to meet evolving needs.

Continuous Improvement:

• Drives continuous improvement initiatives to enhance efficiency and sustainability in engineering processes and production designs, reduce waste and improve quality.
• Completes engineering root cause analysis and implements corrective actions
• Champions risk assessments, time studies and process capability studies.
• Conducts post-project reviews to analyze outcomes, identifies lessons learned and applies insights to future projects and initiatives.
• Recommends customer deviation requests.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline and 6 years of engineering experience in a manufacturing environment.
• 3 years of experience directly managing others.
• Proficient in CAD design software and project management tools.
• Proven ability to lead and motivate teams, fostering a collaborative and innovative work environment.
• Ability to apply sound engineering principles to operational and design issues.
• Project management capabilities with experience managing complex projects, including scheduling, budgeting, and resource allocation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, organizational planning, teamwork, problem solving and adaptability in a fast paced, dynamic environment.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Outlook).
• Proven ability to understand and apply continuous improvement methodologies. Lean or Six Sigma certification preferred.
• Demonstrated history of holding self, internal/external teams accountable to deliver projects on time, within scope, and on budget.
• NPD Stage Gate and Gantt chart scheduling experience preferred.
• Knowledge in both hard and soft tool sheet metal processing preferred. Familiarity with mills, lathes, grinders, and other toolroom equipment is also a plus.