Manufacturing Engineer - 249002

Position overview

The Contract Manufacturing Engineer will provide immediate, hands-on support to a high-mix, precision machining operation focused on Swiss machining and wire EDM. The role is a 6‑month contract with a strong convert-to-hire pathway, serving as a proving ground for long-term fit, technical capability, and cultural alignment within a highly driven engineering team.

Compensation and structure

• Pay Rate (Candidate): $50–53/hr (W2 or equivalent structure per agency policy)
• Contract Duration: 6 months
• Direct Hire Conversion Target: $110,000 annually (after successful contract period)

Key responsibilities

• Provide immediate floor-level support, spending the majority of time on the production floor walking whiteboards, reviewing work-center boards, and engaging directly with operators and supervisors.
• Drive daily problem solving using OEE, output, and scrap data.
• Conduct board walks and interpret daily OEE metrics posted at each work center.
• Compare actual vs expected output per shift and investigate underlying causes such as operator availability, equipment performance, or process issues.
• Perform root-cause investigations on production variances and scrap.
• Identify patterns by shift, operator, machine, and job.
• Collaborate with Quality Engineers to address scrap spikes and recurring defects.
• Support and coach relatively inexperienced but dedicated operators by providing technical troubleshooting on Swiss and wire EDM processes and helping them understand performance expectations and process controls.
• Utilize SolidWorks to support sustaining engineering activities, including navigating multi-sheet drawings, interpreting stack-ups and tooling interactions, and updating process drawings and documentation (no new fixture design required).
• Use ERP (Oracle or similar) to review jobs, routers, and item data, identify variances between system standards and actual performance, and support updates to routings or standard times.
• Participate in Gemba walks and continuous improvement activities, supporting the transition from basic count tracking to robust, OEE-driven performance management.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Production, Planning, Quality, and other Engineers to keep operations moving and relieve fire-fighting pressure on the current engineering team.

Required qualifications

Technical skills

• SolidWorks proficiency: Navigate, interpret, and update process drawings; understand stack-ups and how tooling interacts with components; identify when tooling or fixtures do not match design intent and coordinate with vendors as needed.
• Manufacturing floor experience: Comfortable spending most of the day on the shop floor, walking boards, engaging operators, and troubleshooting live issues.
• Problem-solving mindset: Demonstrated ability to dig beyond surface-level explanations, using data and observation to find root causes in throughput, scrap, and downtime.
• Speeds and feeds knowledge: Working understanding of machining fundamentals (spindle speeds, feed rates, tool life) to avoid burning up tooling and to stabilize processes.
• ERP navigation: Experience with Oracle or similar ERP, including jobs, routers/routings, and variance analysis between standards and actuals.
• OEE and metrics: Able to read and interpret OEE and related daily metrics, breaking performance down by availability, performance, and quality.
• Analytical depth: Comfortable moving beyond averages to identify shift-, machine-, or operator-specific issues and to quantify performance gaps.