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Lead Manufacturing Engineer

Advastar, Inc. | Recruiting & Staffing
Sycamore, IL Full Time
POSTED ON 10/10/2026
AVAILABLE BEFORE 11/8/2026

A long-established industrial manufacturer with multiple U.S. production facilities is hiring a Manufacturing Engineering Lead to run day-to-day technical leadership for its plant engineering team. This is a hands-on leadership seat: you'll coach engineers, keep capital and continuous improvement projects on track, and act as the go-to technical partner for the site's senior engineering leader. You'll have real authority over how projects get planned and executed across multiple plants, without the title yet carrying full people-management weight. Strong track record leading capital projects and developing engineers gets you a serious look.


  • Anticipated $125K-$135K, based on experience
  • Full suite of benefits: Health/Dental/Vision, PTO, 401K w/match


Overview


  • Own day-to-day technical leadership and coaching for a team of plant manufacturing engineers
  • Keep capital and continuous improvement projects on schedule and within budget across four manufacturing sites
  • Review project scopes, timelines, risk, and resource needs before they become problems
  • Step in as technical lead during equipment failures, production disruptions, and major quality events
  • Standardize project management practices and engineering documentation across facilities
  • Mentor engineers — from early-career through experienced — on problem-solving, project management, and manufacturing decision-making
  • Partner directly with Operations, Maintenance, Quality, and Production to move plant performance
  • Run post-project reviews and turn lessons learned into repeatable process


Preferred Skills/Experiences


  • Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or related field
  • 5 years of manufacturing engineering experience
  • Proven track record leading capital equipment projects of $1M from concept through startup
  • Deep working knowledge of manufacturing processes, equipment, automation, maintenance, and continuous improvement
  • Track record influencing engineers and cross-functional teams without relying on formal authority
  • Multi-site manufacturing experience
  • Experience mentoring or developing engineers
  • Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma background
  • ERP/CMMS system experience


KEYWORDS: manufacturing engineering, engineering leadership, capital projects, continuous improvement, CI projects, project management, plant engineering, process engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, equipment reliability, root cause analysis, cross-functional leadership, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, ERP, CMMS, multi-site manufacturing, engineering mentorship, manufacturing operations, technical leadership, capital equipment startup, production support


EEO

Salary : $125,000 - $135,000

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