Manufacturing Applications Engineering Manager - CNC

Job Description

The Manager of Applications Engineering serves as the operational leader of the Chicago Technical Center Applications Engineering organization.

Reporting directly to the Director of Applications Engineering, this individual will serve as the Director's right hand and be responsible for the day-to-day leadership, execution, and technical operations of the department. The successful candidate will ensure engineering priorities are executed, customer commitments are met, demonstrations are delivered, showroom readiness is maintained, and the engineering team continues operating at a world-class level whether the Director is onsite or supporting strategic initiatives, customers, or other Technical Centers.

This position is ideal for someone who enjoys leading people, solving manufacturing challenges, mentoring engineers, and building an organization known for technical excellence.

Job Responsibilities

• Lead the daily operations of the Applications Engineering Department.
  
• Coordinate engineering priorities, workloads, schedules, and technical resources.
  
• Ensure customer demonstrations, turnkey projects, machine validations, training events, and engineering activities are successfully executed.
  
• Maintain overall readiness of the Chicago Technical Center and ensure showroom machines are customer-ready.
  
• Lead execution of IMTS demonstrations, Open Houses, customer events, and strategic engineering initiatives.
  
• Mentor, coach, and develop Applications Engineers while fostering a culture of accountability, ownership, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
  
• Support customer visits, executive demonstrations, technical presentations, machine evaluations, and manufacturing assessments.
  
• Collaborate with Sales, Service, Operations, Facilities, Marketing, and Executive Leadership to ensure successful project execution.
  
• Build and maintain strong relationships with strategic technology partners.
  
• Develop engineering standards, best practices, and technical documentation.
  
• Identify process improvements and remove obstacles that prevent the engineering team from being successful.
  
• Support recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and development of engineering personnel.
  
• Lead engineering operations and ensure continuity of execution.
  
• Support global engineering initiatives and collaborate with international engineering teams.
  

Job Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related field preferred. Equivalent hands-on manufacturing experience will be given equal consideration.
  
• Minimum eight years of progressive hands-on experience in CNC machining, manufacturing engineering, applications engineering, machine tool applications, or turnkey manufacturing.
  
• Previous experience as a CNC Machinist, CNC Programmer, Manufacturing Engineer, Applications Engineer, or similar hands-on manufacturing role.
  
• Demonstrated experience leading technical teams while remaining actively engaged in engineering activities.
  
• Extensive hands-on experience with CNC machine setup, programming, prove-out, tooling selection, workholding, fixture design, and process optimization.
  
• Expert knowledge of multi-axis machining, mill-turn, and multitasking machine tools.
  
• Experience with Fanuc and/or Siemens CNC controls.
  
• Experience with one or more major CAM systems such as Mastercam, Siemens NX CAM, hyperMILL, ESPRIT, GibbsCAM, or similar.
  
• Strong understanding of advanced workholding, cutting tools, fixture design, manufacturing strategy, and machining process optimization.
  
• Excellent communication, leadership, organizational, and customer-facing skills.
  
• Approximately 10% travel.
  

Who We're Looking For

• We're looking for someone who built their career through hands-on manufacturing experience.
  
• Someone who has personally programmed CNC machines, set up machine tools, proven out new processes, solved difficult machining problems, and understands what it takes to successfully execute projects in a real manufacturing environment.
  
• This is not a position for someone who has managed engineering from behind a desk.
  
• We're looking for someone who has earned the respect of engineers by doing the work themselves.
  
• Our engineers should be able to walk into your office with a programming question, a machining issue, or a fixture concept and know they are talking to someone who has been there before.
  
• The ideal candidate is equally comfortable on the shop floor, mentoring engineers, meeting with customers, presenting technical solutions, coordinating projects, and leading a high-performing engineering organization.
  
• Most importantly, we're looking for someone who naturally takes ownership.
  
• Someone who sees problems before they become problems.
  
• Someone who removes obstacles for the team.
  
• Someone who develops people.
  
• Someone who drives execution.
  
• Someone who wants to help build one of the premier manufacturing engineering organizations in North America.
  

Company Benefits

We offer competitive pay based on experience.

• 401(k)
  
• Health, Vision, and Dental Insurance
  
• Life Insurance and Short-Term Disability
  
• Paid Time-Off including vacation, sick time, and Holidays.
  
• Employee Referral Program
  
• Learn more / grow more.