Manufacturing Project Engineer

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SUMMARY OF POSITION:

The Manufacturing Project Engineer is responsible for planning, leading, and executing large-scale capital projects within a fast-paced contract sheet metal fabrication and welding manufacturing environment. This role integrates advanced manufacturing principles, continuous improvement techniques, and cross-functional collaboration to enhance production capabilities, improve quality, and reduce operational costs. The Manufacturing Project Engineer will manage the full project lifecycle from concept through commissioning, while ensuring alignment with safety, quality, and productivity objectives.

This position also supports capital investments in infrastructure critical to data center operations, including mechanical systems, precision enclosures, and thermal management solutions, ensuring manufacturing readiness for customer-specific requirements and evolving market demands.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Capital Project Management

• Lead the design, justification, procurement, and installation of new manufacturing equipment, tooling, and automation systems for sheet metal fabrication and welding.
• Conduct time studies, workflow mapping, and root cause analysis to identify performance gaps and improvement opportunities.
• Develop project charters, budgets, schedules, and risk assessments for capital improvement initiatives.
• Coordinate contractors, suppliers, and internal resources to ensure on-time, on-budget project delivery.
• Oversee equipment commissioning, validation, and handoff to production teams.
• Support the execution of capital projects related to data center infrastructure, including the production of thermal enclosures, HVAC-integrated housings, and electrical component integration.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and external partners to meet specific capital investment requirements for high-growth data center clients.

Continuous Improvement

• Apply Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, and other CI methodologies to optimize workflows, reduce waste, and improve efficiency in fabrication, welding, finishing, and assembly processes.
• Conduct time studies, workflow mapping, and root cause analysis to identify performance gaps and improvement opportunities.
• Implement process standardization, visual management, and 5S practices across project work.

Technical Process Support

• Collaborate with design engineering to ensure manufacturability of new products and efficient transition to production.
• Develop and maintain manufacturing process documentation, including work instructions, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and preventive maintenance plans.
• Support troubleshooting of complex production issues, particularly during new equipment integration.
• Provide technical support for capital projects associated with data center customer product lines , ensuring high-precision fabrication and compliance with thermal, electrical, and structural requirements.

Safety & Compliance

• Ensure all projects comply with OSHA, environmental, and industry-specific regulations.
• Integrate safety by design principles into all capital improvement initiatives.

Performance Metrics

• On-time, on-budget delivery of capital projects.
• Reduction in production cycle time, scrap rates, and downtime.
• Measurable improvements in productivity and process efficiency.
• Successful integration of new technologies with minimal disruption to operations.
• Successful execution of data center-related capital projects that meet customer performance specifications and industry standards.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Industrial, Manufacturing Engineering, or related field and 3+ plus years of related experience in manufacturing project management, preferably in metal fabrication or contract manufacturing, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrated experience managing capital projects from concept through implementation.
• Strong knowledge of sheet metal fabrication processes (laser cutting, punching, forming, welding, powder coating, assembly).
• Experience supporting capital infrastructure and component manufacturing for data centers, telecom, or critical power industries is highly desirable.
• Proficiency with CAD software and project management tools (e.g., AutoCAD, SolidWorks, MS Project).
• Familiarity with Lean, Six Sigma, and other CI tools; certification preferred.
• Excellent communication, organizational, and problem-solving skills.

SCOPE:

The job is responsible for the development and improvement of manufacturing processes in support of specific goals for quality, cost, delivery and safety. This position works independently with little supervision and without direct reports.

COMPETENCIES:

Action-Oriented: Enjoys working hard, is action oriented and full of energy for the things he/she sees as challenging; not fearful of acting with a minimum of planning; seizes more opportunities than others.

Creativity: Comes up with a lot of new and unique ideas; easily makes connections among previously unrelated notions; tends to be seen as original and value-added in brainstorming settings.

Learns on the fly : Learns quickly when facing new problems; a relentless and versatile learner; open to change; analyzes both successes and failures for clues to improvement; experiments and will try anything to find solutions; enjoys the challenge of unfamiliar tasks; quickly grasps the essence and the underlying structure of anything.

Organized : Can gather resources (people, funding, material, support) to get things done; can orchestrate multiple activities at once to accomplish a goal; uses resources effectively and efficiently; arranges information and files in a useful manner.

Problem Solving: Uses rigorous logic and methods to solve difficult problems with effective solutions; probes all fruitful sources for answers; can see hidden problems; is excellent at honest analysis; looks beyond the obvious and doesn’t stop at the first answers.

Process Management: Good at figuring out the processes necessary to get things done; knows how to organize people and activities; understands how to separate and combine tasks into efficient work flow; knows what to measure and how to measure it; can see opportunities for synergy and integration where others can’t; can simplify complex processes; gets more out of fewer resources.

This job description provides a general overview of the responsibilities and duties associated with this role but is not an exhaustive list of all tasks or functions. The organization reserves the right to modify responsibilities based on business needs. Additionally, reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities will be considered to enable them to perform the essential functions of the position, provided such accommodations do not create an undue hardship on the organization."

Maysteel is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer of all qualified individuals. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state or local laws. Maysteel also prohibits harassment of applicants or employees based on any of the protected characteristics. Maysteel participates in E-Verify to verify the employment status of all persons hired to work in the United States.