The Manufacturing Engineering Manager is responsible for transforming product designs into scalable, low-cost, and efficient manufacturing solutions across contract manufacturers. This role owns global engineering change governance, manufacturing standards, and cost-down execution to reduce assembly cost, simplify part complexity, control inventory impact, and continuously improve contract manufacturer efficiency—ensuring the company can scale global production rapidly without sacrificing margin, quality, or delivery reliability.

Key Responsibilities

Global ECN Governance & Change Impact Control

• Own the end-to-end ECN process across all contract manufacturers

• Ensure every engineering change is evaluated and approved based on cost, inventory, manufacturing efficiency, quality, and delivery impact before release

• Prevent ECN-driven production disruption, excess inventory, or cost leakage

Manufacturing Cost Reduction & Design-to-Cost

• Lead structural cost-down initiatives through process optimization, assembly simplification, tooling improvement, and automation

• Drive design-for-manufacturing and design-for-assembly (DFM/DFA) in partnership with R&D

• Translate engineering decisions into measurable $/unit cost reduction

BOM Simplification & Part Number Rationalization

• Reduce product and component complexity through part commonality, platformization, and SKU consolidation

• Align engineering changes with supply chain and inventory strategies to minimize inventory value and obsolescence risk

Contract Manufacturer Engineering Standardization

• Establish and enforce standardized manufacturing documents, work instructions, process flows, and change-control rules across all CMs

• Ensure consistent execution, yield, and productivity regardless of manufacturing location

Assembly Efficiency & Manufacturing Productivity Improvement

• Improve assembly labor efficiency through line balancing, method engineering, and fixture or tooling improvements

• Increase throughput, reduce direct labor hours per unit, and improve first-pass yield

Inventory Impact Management Through Engineering Decisions

• Partner with Supply Chain and Logistics to ensure engineering changes minimize inventory exposure and enable smooth material transitions

• Own the engineering contribution to total inventory value reduction

CM Engineering Capability Development

• Develop and upskill CM engineering teams in ECN execution, cost-down methodologies, and process optimization

• Reduce dependence on HQ firefighting by building CM self-sufficiency

New Product & New CM Industrialization

• Lead manufacturing readiness for new products, design revisions, and new contract manufacturers

• Ensure fast, stable, and cost-effective ramp-up without compromising quality or delivery commitments

Cross-Functional Partnership & Business Alignment

• Work closely with R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, Logistics, Finance, and Quality to align engineering decisions with business priorities

• Act as a business partner, not a downstream executor, in product and cost decisions

Qualifications & Experience

Education

• Bachelor’s degree or above in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field

• Master’s degree is a plus but hands-on manufacturing experience is more important than academic credentials

Required Experience

• 5-8 years of progressive experience in manufacturing engineering, industrialization, or operations engineering within hardware-based companies

• Proven experience working with contract manufacturers, preferably in China and/or multi-site global manufacturing environments

• Direct ownership of ECN (Engineering Change Notice) governance, including change impact assessment on cost, inventory, manufacturing efficiency, and production stability

• Demonstrated success driving manufacturing cost reduction through process optimization, assembly simplification, tooling, or automation—not just supplier price negotiation

• Hands-on experience in BOM management, part number rationalization, and SKU reduction

• Experience supporting mass production (SOP), not limited to prototype or NPI stages

• Track record of improving assembly efficiency, labor productivity, and yield in volume production

Preferred Industry Background

• Robotics, automation, electromechanical devices, electronics hardware, industrial equipment, or medical devices

• Experience with high-change products is strongly preferred

• Prior exposure to startup, scale-up, or fast-growth environments is a strong advantage

Technical & Functional Skills

• Strong knowledge of:

  • DFM / DFA principles

  • Assembly process design and line balancing

  • ECN systems and configuration control

  • Manufacturing documentation and work-instruction standardization

• Ability to translate engineering decisions into financial outcomes (cost per unit, inventory value, labor hours)

• Familiarity with ERP / PLM / MES systems for BOM, ECN, and production control

• Data-driven problem solving using manufacturing KPIs (UPH, yield, labor efficiency, cost variance)