What are the responsibilities and job description for the Engineering Manager position at Precision Additive?
Position Summary
Precision Additive is seeking a hands-on Engineering Manager who has built whole products start to finish. You'll lead the design, development, and continuous improvement of our laser-based metal additive systems while managing a small multidisciplinary team — mechanical, electrical/electronics, controls, and materials.
This is a working manager role. You'll partner directly with the Founder to turn vision into an executable plan, own the CAD/CAE toolchain (Siemens NX, ANSYS CAE/CFD, SolidWorks), and stay close enough to the work to review designs and unblock problems yourself.
Key Responsibilities
Team Leadership
- Partner directly with the Founder to translate company vision and priorities into an executable plan
- Manage, coach, and grow a multidisciplinary team spanning mechanical, electrical/electronics, controls, and materials
- Stay hands-on: review designs, unblock technical issues, and step into the work when needed
- Coordinate and improve supply chain.
Whole-Product Ownership
- Own product development end to end — concept, design, prototype, test, beta, and production release
- Make the trade-off calls on design, cost, schedule, and manufacturability, and drive milestones and technical risk
- Partner with manufacturing to get designs production-ready and support yield improvement
CAD/CAE, Electronics & Controls
- Own the CAD/CAE toolchain: Siemens NX for design, drafting, and assembly modeling, with SolidWorks for early concepts and supplier data exchange
- Direct structural, thermal, and CFD simulation in ANSYS — laser optics cooling, powder/gas flow, and print-chamber thermal behavior
- Guide mechanical design of motion systems, enclosures, thermal systems, and powder handling
- Direct electronics and controls design — power systems, control hardware, sensor integration, and machine control
- Support metal AM process optimization, validation, and production readiness (LPBF) — print quality, density, and throughput
Qualifications Required
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Aerospace Engineering, or a related field
- Demonstrated ownership of whole products from concept through production release — hardware you personally got out the door, not roadmaps managed from a distance
- 5-10 years leading engineering teams, including hiring, coaching, and developing engineers
- Hands-on depth in CAD/CAE (Siemens NX and ANSYS CAE/CFD; SolidWorks a plus) and in electronics and controls
- Experience with capital equipment, industrial machinery, robotics, or advanced manufacturing systems
Preferred
- Metal additive manufacturing experience (LPBF, DED, or similar laser-based systems)
- Metallurgical or materials background — powder qualification, material characterization, and process-parameter relationships
- Background in laser systems, optics, or photonics
- Startup or high-growth experience partnering directly with a founder or small leadership team