Competitive Engineering Inc. (CEI), founded in 1987, is a precision engineering and manufacturing company, focused on delivering high-value solutions to a global customer base. The Engineering Manager leads the people and the workflow of the engineering department. The position is accountable for the department running well: the right people hired and developed, work assigned and prioritized against the production schedule, commitments tracked and met, and problems escalated early.
Essential Job Functions
Team Leadership and Development
* Manage, coach, and develop the manufacturing engineering and programming staff.
* Own interviewing, onboarding, and retention for the department.
* Conduct performance reviews and set development goals.
* Maintain a cross-training plan so no machine platform, customer, or part family depends on a single individual.
* Manage attendance, time reporting, PTO coverage, and workload sustainability.
Workload and Priority Management
* Assign engineering work and maintain a visible queue: new part development, revision changes, sustaining support, and floor troubleshooting requests.
* Set and communicate priorities against the production schedule and rebalance when the schedule moves.
* Track engineering deliverables to committed dates — program release, setup documentation, fixture readiness, tooling on hand — and flag slippage before it becomes a late job.
* Protect the team from unmanaged interrupt-driven work by routing floor requests through a defined intake process.
Cross-Functional Coordination
* Serve as the primary engineering interface to Production, Scheduling, Quality, and Purchasing.
* Represent engineering in production and scheduling meetings, communicating readiness status and constraints.
* Coordinate tooling, fixture, and outside-processing purchase requests with Purchasing.
Process Discipline and Departmental Operations
* Hold the department to established documentation and revision-control standards: setup sheets, tool lists, program control, and standard work kept current.
* Support AS9100 audit readiness for engineering records and document control.
* Maintain compliance with ITAR and EAR handling requirements for controlled technical data within the department.
* Own the engineering department budget, software license administration, and training plan.
* Prepare and administer capital and tooling requests.
* Track and report department metrics: programming lead time, on-time engineering release, engineering-attributable rework and scrap, and backlog.
* Performs other duties as assigned.
Qualifications
Minimum
* 5+ years in a manufacturing environment, including 3+ years directly managing technical or skilled-trade staff.
* Demonstrated success hiring, developing, and retaining technical talent in a competitive labor market.
* Ability to read engineering drawings and follow shop-floor and machining discussion with credibility — enough technical literacy to prioritize intelligently, ask the right questions, and know when to elevate. Programming or design capability is not required.
* Proven capability managing a shared work queue against a shifting production schedule.
* Working knowledge of ERP-driven make-to-order manufacturing (Epicor preferred).
* Must be a U.S. Person as defined by ITAR 22 CFR 120.62 due to export-controlled and DPAS-rated work.
* Experience in an AS9100-certified aerospace or defense manufacturing environment.
* Prior hands-on machining, programming, or quality background — valued for credibility with the team, though not the basis of the role.
* Familiarity with aerospace special processes and their supply base.
* Lean or structured continuous-improvement training.
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Essential Job Functions
Team Leadership and Development
* Manage, coach, and develop the manufacturing engineering and programming staff.
* Own interviewing, onboarding, and retention for the department.
* Conduct performance reviews and set development goals.
* Maintain a cross-training plan so no machine platform, customer, or part family depends on a single individual.
* Manage attendance, time reporting, PTO coverage, and workload sustainability.
Workload and Priority Management
* Assign engineering work and maintain a visible queue: new part development, revision changes, sustaining support, and floor troubleshooting requests.
* Set and communicate priorities against the production schedule and rebalance when the schedule moves.
* Track engineering deliverables to committed dates — program release, setup documentation, fixture readiness, tooling on hand — and flag slippage before it becomes a late job.
* Protect the team from unmanaged interrupt-driven work by routing floor requests through a defined intake process.
Cross-Functional Coordination
* Serve as the primary engineering interface to Production, Scheduling, Quality, and Purchasing.
* Represent engineering in production and scheduling meetings, communicating readiness status and constraints.
* Coordinate tooling, fixture, and outside-processing purchase requests with Purchasing.
Process Discipline and Departmental Operations
* Hold the department to established documentation and revision-control standards: setup sheets, tool lists, program control, and standard work kept current.
* Support AS9100 audit readiness for engineering records and document control.
* Maintain compliance with ITAR and EAR handling requirements for controlled technical data within the department.
* Own the engineering department budget, software license administration, and training plan.
* Prepare and administer capital and tooling requests.
* Track and report department metrics: programming lead time, on-time engineering release, engineering-attributable rework and scrap, and backlog.
* Performs other duties as assigned.
Qualifications
Minimum
* 5+ years in a manufacturing environment, including 3+ years directly managing technical or skilled-trade staff.
* Demonstrated success hiring, developing, and retaining technical talent in a competitive labor market.
* Ability to read engineering drawings and follow shop-floor and machining discussion with credibility — enough technical literacy to prioritize intelligently, ask the right questions, and know when to elevate. Programming or design capability is not required.
* Proven capability managing a shared work queue against a shifting production schedule.
* Working knowledge of ERP-driven make-to-order manufacturing (Epicor preferred).
* Must be a U.S. Person as defined by ITAR 22 CFR 120.62 due to export-controlled and DPAS-rated work.
* Experience in an AS9100-certified aerospace or defense manufacturing environment.
* Prior hands-on machining, programming, or quality background — valued for credibility with the team, though not the basis of the role.
* Familiarity with aerospace special processes and their supply base.
* Lean or structured continuous-improvement training.
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Manufacturing Engineering Manager in tucson at Unknown Company
This position is listed as full time and onsite.