Design Engineering Lead

Job Location- Kansas City, MO

General Scope of Position:

The Design Engineering Lead provides technical leadership and daily coordination for the design engineering function while continuing to perform product design work. The position supports the Engineering Manager by organizing the flow of design assignments, addressing technical and operational questions, and ensuring that design work progresses from customer requirements through production readiness. The role supports custom process filtration products, where product design, material selection, manufacturability, costing, and production documentation must align.

The position serves as a primary point of coordination among Design Engineering, Sales, Product Management, Production, Quality, and other Sefar sites. The Lead provides technical guidance and follows through on departmental priorities and improvements established with the Engineering Manager. The position has no direct reports or formal personnel management responsibility. Travel to other sites for technical coordination, training, and project work is expected to be approximately 10–15% of the time.

Position Requirements:

•  A bachelor's degree in Engineering or a closely related technical field is required.

•  Substantial experience in product design within a manufacturing environment, including the use of CAD, manufacturing drawings, bills of material, routings, and ERP data. Experience with Infor LN is preferred.

•  Strong technical judgment and the ability to resolve complex custom design and manufacturability issues while balancing customer requirements, quality, cost, and production capability.

•  Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with demonstrated ability to coordinate work across departments, provide technical guidance, and follow through on multiple priorities.

•  Knowledge of industrial filtration, technical fabrics, fabrication processes, or sewing is beneficial.

•  Ability to work effectively across sites and travel approximately 10–15% as business needs require.

Position Responsibilities

Sefar employees are responsible for the quality of their work through understanding and fulfilling our customers’ requirements.

A.  Product Design and Technical Execution

•  Lead or perform complex product design assignments, including new part creation, revisions to existing products, and resolution of fit, form, function, and manufacturing issues.

•  Develop and review drawings, material selections, bills of material, routings, work instructions, and other technical information needed to manufacture and cost custom products.

•  Evaluate manufacturability, process flow, tooling, material utilization, and production capability in collaboration with Production and Manufacturing Engineering.

•  Support estimating, testing, and technical review of new or revised products; maintain ownership of assigned design work through an effective transition to production.

B.  Design Engineering Coordination

•  Coordinate the daily flow of design work across the team in alignment with priorities set by the Engineering Manager. Support assignment of work, monitor progress and capacity, and identify conflicts or overdue items requiring management attention.

•  Serve as a technical resource to design engineers by answering questions, reviewing difficult issues, sharing product and process knowledge, and helping establish consistent engineering practices.

•  Maintain visibility to open requests, design changes, project milestones, and handoffs. Communicate status, risks, and recommended actions to the Engineering Manager and affected stakeholders.

•  Support onboarding and technical training within the design engineering function. Provide guidance without assuming responsibility for performance reviews or other personnel decisions.

C.  Cross-Functional Communication

•  Serve as a point of contact for Production, Sales, Product Management, Quality, and other sites on design-related questions, priorities, and technical issues.

•  Coordinate the information needed to resolve customer requirements, quotations, production questions, material concerns, and design changes; bring decisions requiring management or formal technical approval to the appropriate owner.

•  Work with Quality to investigate product concerns and customer complaints and with Production and Manufacturing Engineering to implement approved corrective actions and process improvements.

D.  Process Improvement and Data Quality

•  Monitor design engineering performance and recurring issues, including responsiveness, completion of assignments, documentation accuracy, and rework. Recommend and help implement improvements with the Engineering Manager.

•  Maintain the accuracy and usability of design records, routings, and bills of material; coordinate corrections and adherence to established change-control requirements.

•  Support the development of standard methods, tools, and training that improve design consistency and efficient execution across sites.

E.  Other

•  Complete special assignments as required by the Engineering Manager.

•  Nothing in this job description restricts management’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this position at any time.

About Sefar North America,

We are part of Sefar AG who is headquartered in Switzerland with subsidiaries and fabrications centers in 25 countries on 4 continents provide local technical service for the broad range of solutions offered by Sefar. In 2022 the Sefar Group achieved sales over $350 Million and employed some 2900 employees worldwide. Sefar AG has been in business since 1830, Sefar Inc has been operating in the North America since 1925. We are the leading global technical fabric manufacturer and as such have established a vertical integration. We control our process from polymer to finished products, giving us unique selling advantages in the marketplace.