Manufacturing Engineering Manager

Job Description:

Brooks Instrument ( www.brooksinstrument.com ), an industry leader in flow and pressure instrumentation for critical applications, is seeking candidates for a Manufacturing Engineering Manager position that will be based at the company headquarters in Hatfield, Pennsylvania (suburban Philadelphia). The company has manufacturing locations in Pennsylvania, California, Hungary, Malaysia and Korea, and also maintains sales and service offices throughout the world. Our high-tech products are used in laboratory and process applications in end markets such as: oil & gas, petrochemical, medical devices, waste water, life sciences, and analytical instruments.

Brooks is a division of ITW (Illinois Tool Works), a fortune 200 company. ITW is one of the world’s leading diversified manufacturers of specialized industrial equipment, consumables, and related service businesses. The company has operations in 56 countries and employs over 50,000 employees. These talented employees, many of whom have specialized engineering or scientific expertise, contribute to ITW’s global leadership in innovation. The company is proud of its broad portfolio of nearly 10,000 active patents, and is focused on fully leveraging its highly differentiated business model to deliver solid growth with consistent best-in-class margins and return on capital.

Basic Function

The Manufacturing Engineering Manager provides leadership and direct oversight for the manufacturing engineers and engineering technicians supporting Semi Thermal products at the Brooks Instrument facility in Hatfield, Pennsylvania. The position is accountable for the technical support, manufacturing processes, equipment, tooling, documentation, and improvement initiatives required to achieve safety, quality, delivery, cost, capacity, and productivity objectives for new and existing products.

Working closely with the Production Operations and Service Manager, Production Supervisors, Product and Design Engineering, Quality, Materials, Supply Chain, Business Unit leadership, and other partners, the manager establishes priorities, develops team capability, supports daily production, and ensures manufacturing engineering resources are focused on the highest-impact business needs. The role also leads manufacturing readiness for new product introductions and drives sustainable process improvements through the ITW Toolbox, Lean Manufacturing, and structured problem-solving methods.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

- Provide direct leadership, supervision, coaching, and development for the manufacturing engineers and engineering technicians supporting Semi Thermal products.
- Establish team goals, project priorities, resource assignments, performance expectations, and development plans aligned with business and operational objectives.
- Ensure timely manufacturing engineering support for first-, second-, and third-shift production, including effective prioritization, escalation, communication, and follow-through on critical issues.
- Partner with Production Operations leadership to evaluate daily performance, resolve production constraints, reduce downtime, and address safety, quality, equipment, material, yield, and delivery concerns.
- Own the development, implementation, validation, and continuous improvement of manufacturing processes, methods, equipment, tooling, fixtures, test systems, work instructions, and production standards.
- Ensure the manufacturing engineering team responds promptly and effectively to production support requests, equipment issues, technical help requests, and recurring process problems.
- Lead structured problem-solving and root-cause analysis for complex manufacturing issues and ensure corrective actions are implemented, documented, and sustained.
- Monitor and improve manufacturing key performance indicators, including safety, yield, scrap, rework, labor efficiency, productivity, cycle time, equipment uptime, process capability, cost, and on-time delivery.
- Use performance data, statistical methods, and process observations to identify trends, prioritize improvement opportunities, and measure the effectiveness of implemented changes.
- Drive Lean Manufacturing, ITW Toolbox, error-proofing, standard work, flow, waste reduction, and other continuous improvement initiatives throughout the assigned value streams.
- Interface with Product, Design, and Sustaining Engineering as well as product marketing and sales teams during product development, product changes, and special product requests from customers to ensure manufacturability, cost effectiveness, quality, capacity, serviceability, and production readiness are considered throughout the process.
- Lead the manufacturing engineering execution of new product introductions, including manufacturing plans, process development, tooling, equipment, documentation, training, capacity analysis, pilot builds, and production release activities.
- Ensure consistent completion of Gate 5 pre-pilot and pilot deliverables, process validations, reports, recommendations, PFMEAs, control plans, work instructions, and other required manufacturing-readiness documentation.
- Oversee hardware, software, equipment, and database validations before release to Operations and ensure approved changes are implemented through the applicable engineering change process.
- Review, communicate, and implement engineering change orders affecting production processes, equipment, tooling, documentation, cost, yield, quality, or capacity.
- Develop and maintain a sustainable preventive maintenance and technical support strategy for production equipment, tooling, fixtures, and test systems within the team's scope.
- Identify capital equipment and technology needs; develop business cases and appropriation requests and manage approved projects to scope, schedule, budget, validation, and operational handoff.
- Support make-versus-buy, equipment selection, vendor evaluation, line layout, capacity planning, automation, and other manufacturing strategy decisions as assigned.
- Partner with Quality to ensure manufacturing processes comply with the Brooks Quality Management System, ISO 9001 requirements, validation standards, and applicable customer or regulatory requirements.
- Support customer complaint investigations, internal and external audits, nonconformance review, corrective and preventive actions, and production-related failure analysis as required.
- Coordinate manufacturing engineering activities with Operations, Quality, Materials, Supply Chain, Service, Engineering, Information Technology, Environmental Health and Safety, and other Brooks locations.
- Build organizational capability by selecting, onboarding, training, coaching, and retaining qualified engineering talent and by establishing succession and development plans for critical roles.
- Set clear performance expectations, provide timely feedback, administer performance-management processes, and address employee performance or conduct concerns in partnership with Human Resources.
- Develop and manage the department budget, staffing and headcount plans, project portfolio, capital plan, outside services, and other resources needed to achieve business objectives.
- Prepare and communicate project, staffing, capital, risk, and manufacturing performance updates to Engineering, Operations, and Business Unit leadership.
- Promote a safe, respectful, accountable, collaborative, and customer-focused work environment.
- Support company continuous improvement initiatives and perform other duties as assigned. Marginal functions not listed among the essential duties may also be required.

Education and Experience

- Bachelor's degree in mechanical, electrical, industrial, manufacturing, or a related engineering discipline required. A master's degree in engineering, business, or operations is preferred.
- Minimum of seven years of progressive manufacturing engineering experience in a technical manufacturing environment required.
- Minimum of three years of direct people-leadership experience, including responsibility for engineers, engineering technicians, or other technical employees, required.
- Experience supporting multi-shift production operations and balancing daily production support with longer-term engineering projects strongly preferred.
- Experience with semiconductor, thermal, flow-control, instrumentation, electromechanical, or other complex technical products preferred.
- Demonstrated experience with new product introduction, process development, equipment and process validation, PFMEA, engineering change control, tooling, and capital projects required.
- Demonstrated experience using Lean Manufacturing, continuous improvement, structured problem solving, and manufacturing performance metrics to deliver measurable results required.
- Experience working within an ISO 9001 or similarly regulated quality-system environment preferred.

Knowledge Skills and Abilities

- Proven ability to lead, prioritize, and develop a team of engineers and technicians supporting a fast-paced manufacturing operation.
- Strong knowledge of manufacturing processes, production equipment, tooling, process validation, capacity planning, work instructions, engineering change control, and production support.
- Working knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, mistake-proofing, standard work, root-cause analysis, statistical process control, process capability, and continuous improvement methods.
- Ability to understand and communicate complex mechanical, electrical, thermal, software, and electromechanical product and process information.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to evaluate data, assess risk, identify root causes, and implement sustainable technical solutions.
- Strong project-management skills with the ability to manage competing production needs, technical projects, budgets, resources, and deadlines.
- Excellent verbal, written, presentation, and cross-functional communication skills, including the ability to influence decisions and communicate effectively at all organizational levels.
- Strong business judgment and the ability to balance safety, quality, delivery, cost, capacity, customer, and technical priorities.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications; experience with ERP, manufacturing execution, product lifecycle management, quality, CAD, statistical, or data-reporting systems preferred.
- Ability to work onsite in Hatfield and provide manufacturing engineering support and leadership visibility across production shifts as business needs require.

Benefits

Our employees enjoy competitive, merit-based salary plus excellent benefits including:

- Health and dental insurance
- Company Paid Life Insurance
- Short and Long Term Disability
- 401K plan with generous company match
- Vacation, personal days and holidays
- Continuing education reimbursement program
- Flexible spending accounts

The opportunity to join a well established (80 years in business) yet dynamically changing organization that works together as a team to meet the challenges of satisfying customers’ needs and managing rapid growth to better compete in a global marketplace.

ITW is an equal opportunity employer. We value our colleagues’ unique perspectives, experiences and ideas and create workplaces where everyone can develop their careers and perform to their full potential.

As an equal employment opportunity employer, ITW is committed to equal employment opportunity and fair treatment for employees, beginning with the hiring process and continuing through all aspects of the employment relationship.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, age, disability, protected Veteran status or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws.