Project Engineer
C-Axis · Hamel, MN, USA ·
- Seniority
- Lead
- Employment
- Full time
- Category
- Industrial engineering
- Experience
- 2+ years
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
- Manage assigned RFQs after Sales has completed the initial intake; verify that required information is available, including quantities or volumes, drawings, CAD files when applicable, specifications, revisions, target timing, validation expectations, and special customer requirements.
- Lead or coordinate the technical review of engineering drawings and specifications for CNC machined components to identify dimensions, tolerances, GD&T, materials, critical features, manufacturing requirements, inspection requirements, raw-material requirements, secondary operations, validation considerations, and technical risks.
- Define the proposed manufacturing process during quoting and continue developing that process through project execution, validation, and production transfer, including machine or process selection, operation sequence, tooling, fixtures, programming needs, secondary operations, inspection approach, quality requirements, capacity assumptions, and other technical requirements.
- Develop and validate quotation cost inputs, including raw-material utilization, setup time, cycle time, tooling, outside processing, inspection requirements, scrap or yield assumptions, supplier pricing, lead times, capacity requirements, and other applicable manufacturing cost drivers.
- Perform and validate mathematical and dimensional calculations required for quoting and project planning, including unit conversions, material utilization, quantities, percentages, measurements, dimensional calculations, and basic manufacturing geometry.
- Request, track, and compile raw-material, tooling, outside-processing, supplier pricing, lead times, and other technical or commercial inputs required to complete the quotation and support the overall project plan.
- Complete, verify, and reconcile quotation and project data in the Quote Entry Template, AMFG, JobBOSS, Quote Log, Teams channels, project trackers, and other approved systems, ensuring information is complete, accurate, current, and traceable.
- Coordinate cross-functional technical and commercial reviews with Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations, Quality, Finance, Sales, Customer Success, and Program Management; resolve missing inputs and prepare complete technical and quotation packages for required approvals and customer submission.
- Manage assigned quotations, technical reviews, and engineering project commitments against established targets. Prioritize activities across concurrent projects in coordination with Engineering leadership and Program Management, proactively identify blockers, and escalate issues that may affect technical feasibility, cost, capacity, validation readiness, production transfer, or customer commitments.
- Lead validation readiness for assigned projects by confirming the manufacturing process is sufficiently defined and that material, programming, tooling, fixtures, outside processing, inspection methods, quality and validation requirements, documentation, capacity, and scheduling needs are understood. Identify and drive mitigation of technical risks and potential process issues before the project is transferred into validation and ultimately production.
- Track technical project execution, sample or build status as applicable, inspection results, technical issues, deviations, engineering changes, customer feedback provided through Program Management, and required design or process changes; drive technical actions to closure and communicate impacts to scope, readiness, cost, or schedule.
- Maintain project engineering documentation and traceability, including current drawings and revisions, technical review records, manufacturing-process assumptions, action logs, schedules, decision records, validation requirements, technical results, risks, and other project-specific information.
- Serve as the front-end Engineering technical lead for assigned projects entering validation. Provide the technical inputs required for validation planning, readiness reviews, manufacturing process confirmation, inspection and correlation strategy, capability expectations, risk reviews, sample requirements, and technical issue resolution, while working closely with Program Management on customer requirements, meeting cadence, and overall customer communication.
- Coordinate the technical transfer from validation into routine production by confirming that the approved manufacturing process, drawings and revisions, tooling, fixtures, programming, inspection methods, quality documentation, process controls, capacity assumptions, training or handoff requirements, and remaining technical actions are complete or formally dispositioned before production release.
- Support project and quoting metrics, engineering and Commercial Operations process improvement, procedure documentation, system implementation, automation, data-quality initiatives, and other technical or cross-functional projects as assigned.
Supervisory Responsibilities
This position does not have direct supervisory responsibilities.
The Project Engineer reports to the Engineering Manager and works closely with Program Management, Sales, Supply Chain, Operations, Quality, Finance, Customer Success, and other applicable functions to execute quotations, technical reviews, customer projects, validation readiness, and production transfer.
Program Management is responsible for supporting customer requirements, weekly project meetings, overall customer communication, and program coordination. The Project Engineer is responsible for the technical and Engineering portion of assigned projects, including manufacturing-process definition, technical risk identification, readiness, technical commitments, and cross-functional engineering execution. The role is expected to prioritize technical activities across projects to best support customer commitments and overall business needs.
Core Competencies
- Company ambassadorship
- Integrity, ethics, and confidentiality
- Quality-oriented and risk-based mindset
- Customer focus
- Technical and analytical problem solving
- Project ownership and accountability
- Manufacturing-process and validation readiness mindset
- Cross-functional collaboration and communication
- Initiative, prioritization, and adaptability
- Follow-through, urgency, and commitment management
Skills and Qualifications
To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:
- Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings and specifications for CNC machined components, including dimensions, tolerances, GD&T, materials, revisions, manufacturing notes, critical features, and inspection requirements.
- Working knowledge of CNC machining and manufacturing processes, including CNC Swiss turning and CNC milling, and related cost drivers such as raw material, setup time, cycle time, tooling, finishing, inspection, outside processing, and scrap or yield considerations.
- Ability to define and develop a manufacturing process from quotation through validation and production transfer, including process sequencing, machine selection, tooling and fixture needs, inspection strategy, secondary operations, capacity considerations, and technical risk identification.
- Demonstrated project-management capability to coordinate multiple technical projects, define milestones and owners, manage due dates and dependencies, prioritize competing commitments, track actions, and escalate schedule, capacity, or technical risks.
- Experience supporting new-product-introduction, project engineering, or manufacturing-transfer activities from technical review through validation readiness, validation support, issue resolution, and production handoff.
- Working knowledge of manufacturing validation readiness concepts such as process risk review, inspection method readiness, GR&R/correlation, capability requirements, control plans, validation samples, process documentation, and production-release requirements as applicable.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook, and Teams; experience with JobBOSS, AMFG, project-tracking tools, or similar ERP / quoting systems is preferred.
- Effective written and verbal communication with the ability to lead technical discussions, summarize risks and decisions, maintain clear project documentation, and provide concise technical status and inputs to Program Management and cross-functional teams.
- Ability to work effectively across multiple facilities and functions while maintaining standardized quoting, technical-review, project-execution, validation-readiness, and production-transfer processes.
Education and/or Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Engineering Technology, or a related technical field preferred. An Associate’s degree or equivalent relevant technical education and experience may be considered based on demonstrated manufacturing and project capability.
- Minimum of 2 years of experience in manufacturing engineering, project engineering, CNC machining quoting / estimating, new product introduction, manufacturing-process development, validation support, process planning, or related precision manufacturing work. Experience with CNC Swiss turning and CNC milling is strongly preferred.
- Experience in precision machining, contract manufacturing, or medical-device manufacturing, including cross-functional project coordination, manufacturing-process definition, validation-related activities, and production transfer, is preferred.