Manufacturing Engineering Manager

Company Overview

AIS, a division of 1HMX, is a global leader in Human Machine eXperience (HMX) solutions, delivering innovative, high-performance products that power the future of human interaction with technology. Our portfolio includes electro-mechanical assemblies and immersive technologies, such as augmented/virtual reality systems, wearable electronics, telerobotic controls, night-vision equipment, EV and marine interfaces, infection control solutions, medical and industrial display/control panels, and touchscreen products.

Position Summary

The Manufacturing Engineering Manager leads the people, processes, and technical systems that connect product design to reliable, efficient production. This role is responsible for the Manufacturing Engineering team and provides leadership oversight for Bench Technicians and Electro-Mechanical Assemblers. The manager aligns process engineering, production test and equipment support, and hands-on assembly resources to support new product introduction (NPI), sustaining production, and continuous improvement.

As a hands-on leader, this individual sets priorities, develops team capability, and ensures that products move from prototype and pilot builds into production with appropriate processes, documentation, tooling, test systems, and training. The manager partners closely with Design Engineering, Operations, Quality, Program Management, and other 1HMX teams to improve safety, quality, delivery, and cost.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership & Resource Management

Lead, coach, and develop Manufacturing Engineers, Bench Technicians, and Electro-Mechanical Assemblers; establish clear expectations, accountability, and development goals appropriate to each function.

Oversee day-to-day priorities and resource allocation across NPI, sustaining engineering, production troubleshooting, test-system support, assembly needs, and continuous improvement projects.

Conduct regular one-on-ones, performance reviews, and career-development conversations; provide timely feedback and identify training or staffing needs.

Build a collaborative, customer-focused team culture that emphasizes safe work practices, quality, technical ownership, problem-solving, and continuous learning.

Coordinate workload and escalation paths so production issues receive timely technical support while longer-term engineering and process-development work continues to progress.

Support hiring, onboarding, cross-training, and succession planning for the teams under this role.

Manufacturing Engineering & New Product Introduction (NPI)

Lead Manufacturing Engineering activities for NPI, ensuring products enter production with mature and validated processes, complete documentation, appropriate tooling, and demonstrated readiness.

Partner with Design Engineering early in development to improve design for manufacturability and assembly (DFM/DFA), testability, reliability, and production scalability.

Oversee development and maintenance of manufacturing processes, assembly procedures, work instructions, routings, tooling requirements, and other production documentation.

Coordinate prototype builds, pilot runs, process validation, operator training, and handoff to full-rate production.

Ensure Manufacturing Engineering resources support both new programs and released products, including production changes, troubleshooting, Continuous Improvement, and process optimization.

Review and approve critical process documentation, including PFMEAs, control plans, validation reports, and tooling or fixture specifications, as appropriate.

Bench Technician, Test & Equipment Support

Oversee Bench Technician support for production test systems, fixtures, tooling, and equipment, including triage, troubleshooting, repair, upgrades, and preventative maintenance.

Ensure production test systems and fixtures are built, deployed, calibrated, maintained, and validated using applicable schematics, drawings, procedures, and technical requirements.

Coordinate technical support for product performance testing, design verification testing (DVT), and related test planning, procedures, reporting, and data analysis.

Ensure production teams have a clear escalation path for equipment, fixture, test-system, and product issues; coordinate with engineering teams when issues require additional expertise.

Support improvement of test methods, automation, fixtures, and production support equipment, including appropriate use of tools such as LabVIEW or related test software where applicable.

Electro-Mechanical Assembly Oversight

Provide leadership and operational coordination for the Electro-Mechanical Assembly team to support production priorities, quality requirements, and program schedules.

Ensure assemblers have current work instructions, appropriate tools and fixtures, required training, and access to timely technical support.

Partner with Manufacturing Engineering and Bench Technicians to resolve assembly, wiring, test, and equipment issues and to improve process repeatability.

Promote adherence to documented processes, workmanship expectations, ESD controls, and applicable safety and quality requirements.

Identify opportunities to improve assembly methods & documentation, training, work-cell readiness, throughput, and first-pass quality.

Process Engineering, Troubleshooting & Quality

Provide technical direction across electromechanical assembly, wiring and cable harnesses, PCB assembly and rework, machining, automated equipment, and test-system integration as applicable to AIS products.

Champion data-driven problem-solving and lead or sponsor root-cause investigations for significant production disruptions, nonconformances, customer escapes, field failures, or recurring quality issues.

Partner with Quality Engineering on Material Review Board (MRB) and Non-Conforming Material (NCM) processes, corrective and preventive actions (RCCA/CAPA), audit readiness, and compliance with applicable IPC, UL, ISO, and customer-specific requirements.

Ensure processes and production documentation are controlled and maintained in applicable systems, including Syteline ERP and manufacturing assembly procedures.

Provide technical training and coaching to engineers, technicians, and production personnel on new or revised processes, equipment, and troubleshooting methods.

Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence

Build and sustain a Lean manufacturing culture; lead or sponsor kaizen events, value-stream mapping, waste elimination, and other improvement initiatives.

Identify, evaluate, justify, and manage capital investments in production equipment, tooling, automation, fixtures, and test infrastructure.

Define and monitor relevant performance metrics, such as yield, cycle time, scrap, labor efficiency, equipment downtime, test-system availability, and NPI on-time readiness.

Drive measurable results, through the use of Visual Management tools and a structured Problem Solving methodology.

Use performance data and input from the production floor to prioritize improvements in safety, quality, delivery, cost, and process capability.

Work with Operations and Supply Chain to address material, tooling, capacity, and equipment constraints that affect production.

Cross-Functional & Organizational Leadership

Represent Manufacturing Engineering and its supporting production technical teams in site leadership discussions, program reviews, and planning activities.

Partner with Design Engineering, Quality, Operations, Program Management, and Supply Chain to resolve issues and align priorities.

Support customer and third-party technical audits and communicate manufacturing-process capabilities, risks, and corrective actions clearly.

Coordinate with 1HMX global engineering teams to share best practices, transfer processes, and align standards across sites.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

Bachelor’s d