Bearings Manufacturing Engineering Manager

Bearings Manufacturing Engineering Manager

Worcester, Massachusetts | Onsite | $140,000-$160,000 | Full-Time

Lead the engineering team responsible for bearing applications, product development, manufacturing performance, tooling, quality, and cost improvement.

Position Overview

We are seeking a hands-on Manufacturing Engineering Manager to lead engineering activities supporting custom bearing products and their production processes. This leader will manage and develop the engineering team while remaining technically involved in bearing design, stamped and machined components, assembly, tooling, heat treatment, quality, customer requirements, and new-product launches.

The strongest candidate combines deep metal-component manufacturing knowledge with practical leadership. This person must be credible with customers and Sales, engineers and designers, toolmakers and operators, Quality and Manufacturing, and senior management.

Why Join Us?

• Join a stable American manufacturer with roots dating to 1945.
• Lead visible engineering work in a family-owned, approximately 110-person company without a large-corporate feel.
• Own the full connection from customer application and bearing design through tooling, launch, production, quality, and continuous improvement.
• Develop engineers, designers, and technical employees while shaping succession and future manufacturing capability.
• Influence new products, intellectual property, automation, cost reduction, tooling performance, and customer satisfaction.
• Competitive salary of $140,000-$160,000.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop the Manufacturing Engineering team.
• Set priorities and assign resources across customer, production, quality, tooling, and development needs.
• Conduct performance evaluations and support employee growth, succession planning, and workforce development.
• Promote accountability, teamwork, technical rigor, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Provide technical direction while remaining engaged in difficult engineering and manufacturing problems.

Applications & Product Engineering

• Guide Sales support through design layouts, sales drawings, bearing and assembly databases, technical presentations, and customer issue resolution.
• Oversee bearing assemblies, components, internal drawings, vendor drawings, calculations, estimates, and design reviews.
• Review customer requirements and build-to-print designs for manufacturability.
• Apply DFMA principles and evaluate materials, specifications, standards, and engineering practices.
• Develop cost models and business cases for new opportunities.
• Support new-product development and intellectual-property growth.

Manufacturing, Tooling & Quality

• Develop and improve manufacturing processes and tooling methods for bearing components and assemblies.
• Oversee manufacturing plans, design controls, work instructions, engineering changes, and production support.
• Guide progressive and compound die design for jackets, ball cases, races, retainers, and related components.
• Partner with toolmakers through tool design, build, troubleshooting, modification, and implementation.
• Improve tooling life, reliability, productivity, setup time, equipment utilization, and downtime.
• Resolve escalated issues involving performance, cost, quality, schedule, delivery, machining, stamping, assembly, heat treatment, or tooling.
• Partner with Quality on control plans, inspection methods, PPAP, validation, capability studies, root cause, corrective action, ISO compliance, scrap, defects, and complaints.

Continuous Improvement & Project Execution

• Lead Lean and Kaizen initiatives that improve productivity, quality, cost, flow, and waste.
• Identify automation and efficiency opportunities across manufacturing processes.
• Lead engineering projects from concept through implementation.
• Define timelines, budgets, resources, milestones, documentation, and stakeholder communication.
• Coordinate customers, suppliers, Manufacturing, Quality, Tool Room, Sales, and Customer Service.
• Deliver projects and product launches on schedule and within budget.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline preferred; equivalent education and experience may be considered.
• Five or more years of engineering experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Strong knowledge of bearing design and manufacturing or closely related precision mechanical components.
• Working depth in metal stamping, progressive/compound dies, machining, assembly, tooling, and manufacturing engineering.
• Blueprint, engineering-drawing, GD&T, tolerance, and specification proficiency.
• Supervisory leadership or substantial project/team leadership experience.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, project-management, organizational, and communication skills.
• Ability to work onsite in both office and production environments and travel occasionally.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct bearing applications, product-design, or bearing-manufacturing experience.
• Experience leading engineers, designers, and technical personnel.
• Case-hardening and heat-treatment knowledge.
• PPAP, process validation, capability, control-plan, ISO, root-cause, and corrective-action experience.
• Lean/Kaizen leadership and measurable cost, scrap, efficiency, or tooling improvement results.
• AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Access.

Performance Expectations

Area

Expected Result

New products

Launch on schedule and within budget while meeting prototype and production milestones.

Efficiency

Improve labor productivity, setup time, equipment use, and manufacturing performance.

Scrap / quality

Reduce scrap and defects, improve yield, and support customer corrective actions.

Responsiveness

Provide timely engineering changes, production support, and customer issue resolution.

Tooling

Increase tool life and reliability while reducing tooling-related downtime.

Improvement

Lead Lean/Kaizen activity and identify annual cost-saving opportunities.

Projects / people

Deliver projects to milestones and build a stronger, accountable engineering team.