What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director, Manufacturing Engineering & Project Execution position at Wisconsin Heavy Fabrication?
About the Company
We are seeking a senior manufacturing leader to serve as a cross-functional optimizer and execution architect within our growing organization. This role exists to strengthen the operational backbone of the business — ensuring that manufacturing engineering, project execution, and front-end planning operate as a disciplined, high-performance system.
About the Role
The Director of Manufacturing Engineering & Project Execution will lead transformational optimization across production flow, cost structure, scheduling reliability, and delivery performance. This individual will have the authority to establish process standards, influence organizational structure, and drive capital and operational improvements that enable scalable growth. Success in this role means building a predictable, efficient, and data-driven execution engine that aligns engineering, project management, and production into a seamless value stream. This is a senior leadership opportunity for a results-driven operator who thrives in complex environments, leads change through influence and clarity, and can translate strategy into measurable operational performance.
Core Responsibilities:
Operational Optimization & Lean Execution
- Architect and lead a multi-year operational improvement strategy focused on quality, schedule performance, and cost discipline
- Identify and eliminate systemic inefficiencies affecting flow, changeover, inventory, and execution reliability
- Deploy Lean tools and performance analytics to drive measurable business improvement
- Build sustainable continuous improvement capability within leadership teams
- Manufacturing Engineering Leadership
- Establish standards that ensure production readiness and execution stability
- Strengthen front-end planning and engineering coordination
- Support scalable manufacturing systems aligned with growth objectives
Project Execution Excellence
- Lead cross-functional project execution discipline from planning through delivery
- Implement KPI frameworks tied to profitability, schedule adherence, and operational throughput
- Improve forecasting reliability and execution predictability
Organizational Leadership & Influence
- Lead direct reports while influencing cross-functional teams
- Train and develop leaders in problem solving and operational excellence
- Serve as a change agent driving alignment across departments
Capital & Process Advancement
- Identify, evaluate, and support capital investments that improve operational performance
- Ensure process decisions support long-term scalability
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Business, or related field
- 5 years deploying Lean/operational excellence in manufacturing
- 5 years leading teams in complex operational environments
- Demonstrated success improving throughput, cost performance, or delivery reliability
- Strong project execution and cross-functional leadership experience
Required Skills
- Strategic operational thinking
- Cross-functional influence
- Process architecture and optimization
- Data-driven decision making
- Organizational leadership
- Execution discipline
Work Environment
This leadership role operates in both office and manufacturing environments and requires periodic exposure to industrial conditions consistent with operational leadership responsibilities.