How to hire a manufacturing engineer

How to hire a manufacturing engineer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step manufacturing engineer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a manufacturing engineer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new manufacturing engineer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a manufacturing engineer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your manufacturing engineer job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a manufacturing engineer for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect manufacturing engineer also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   The following list breaks down different types of manufacturing engineers and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Manufacturing Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Manufacturing Engineer	A Manufacturing Engineer plans, designs, sets up, and monitors the manufacturing processes. They work in various sectors, such as plastics, oil, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology.	$28-49
   Research And Development Engineer	Research and development engineers generally execute research and tests on product ideas, develop new products, and perform redesigns. They are employed in many industries, including manufacturing, electrical, and science-based companies... Show more	$35-64
   Tool Engineer	A tooling engineer is responsible for creating and adjusting tools or parts for cars, heavy equipment, and other products that need customized or personalized components. Your duties and responsibilities will include creating design blueprints, using computer-aided (CAD) software to develop two- and three-dimensional prints, and validating and evaluating products... Show more	$36-64

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Lean Manufacturing
   • CAD
   • Solidworks
   • Sigma
   • Project Management
   • CNC
   • Corrective Action
   • Process Improvement
   • Process Control
   • Troubleshoot
   • Product Quality
   • Lean Six Sigma
   • Product Design
   • Cost Reduction

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Achieve 6 sigma process capability on a key manufacturing resource utilizing SPC and DFM principles.
   • Manage facility maintenance and repairs covering HVAC, plumbing, electric, chillers, and equipment maintenance and repairs.
   • Manage implementation of improve paste compounding (including extrusion) process.
   • Lead several independent, cross-functional projects and improve manufacturing quality, reduce cost, ensure environment are supported and FDA compliant.
   • Create process flows and PFMEA's for encapsulate, bonding, and assembly processes.
   • Develop equipment specifications to optimize OEE and meet quality standards with input from advance quality engineers and design team.

   More manufacturing engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your manufacturing engineer job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A manufacturing engineer salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, manufacturing engineers' average salary in kansas is 43% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level manufacturing engineers earn 41% less than senior-level manufacturing engineers.
   • Certifications. A manufacturing engineer with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a manufacturing engineer's salary.

   Average manufacturing engineer salary

   $78,522yearly

   $37.75 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level manufacturing engineer salary

   $60,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 11, 2026

   Average manufacturing engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$102,218	$49
   2	Arizona	$87,966	$42
   3	New Jersey	$86,333	$42
   4	Delaware	$85,976	$41
   5	Virginia	$85,287	$41
   6	Texas	$85,123	$41
   7	Washington	$81,301	$39
   8	Alabama	$77,800	$37
   9	Colorado	$75,774	$36
   10	New Hampshire	$75,001	$36
   11	New York	$74,112	$36
   12	Illinois	$74,110	$36
   13	Minnesota	$73,865	$36
   14	Nevada	$72,311	$35
   15	Ohio	$71,642	$34
   16	Georgia	$71,371	$34
   17	Utah	$70,429	$34
   18	Wisconsin	$69,283	$33
   19	Michigan	$68,015	$33
   20	Tennessee	$64,573	$31

   Average manufacturing engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Meta	$125,604	$60.39	522
   2	Apple	$124,513	$59.86	582
   3	Google	$121,112	$58.23	145
   4	Zoox	$114,224	$54.92	68
   5	Western Digital	$113,498	$54.57	47
   6	Brocade Services Corporation	$111,380	$53.55
   7	Fitbit	$111,304	$53.51
   8	Waymo	$110,502	$53.13	43
   9	Applied Materials	$109,199	$52.50	147
   10	Genentech	$109,119	$52.46	56
   11	Continental Aerospace Technologies	$108,777	$52.30
   12	Joby Aviation	$107,490	$51.68	54
   13	Exxon Mobil	$107,123	$51.50	20
   14	Cisco	$106,042	$50.98	117
   15	Amazon	$105,819	$50.87	411
   16	Cirrus Aircraft	$105,684	$50.81	28
   17	Biogen	$105,188	$50.57	8
   18	Intuitive Surgical	$105,131	$50.54	41
   19	Edwards Lifesciences	$104,810	$50.39	29
   20	Microsoft	$103,739	$49.87	72

4. Writing a manufacturing engineer job description

   A manufacturing engineer job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a manufacturing engineer job description:

   Manufacturing engineer job description example

   Support the plant and customer through effective management of Door Assembly processes within Avanzar San Antonio for new programs, plant projects and implementation of improvement and cost reduction suggestions. Develop assembly, process, fixturing and equipment to ensure high quality and cost effective production. Assure design changes are implemented in a timely cost effective manner within Assembly Processes.
   Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
   
   Performs standard engineering assignments usually representing a significant portion of a larger project. Selects engineering techniques to solve problems and makes recommendations.Set objectives and delivers results that have a significant impact within the context of a wider operational area.Regularly uses influence to explain facts, practices and policies to both internal and external parties.Identifies problems and updates or modifies working methods both with and without the benefit of defined procedures.Regularly applies advanced/well-developed skills within a professional discipline involving the integration of theory and principles with organizational practices and precedents.Application of knowledge is within narrow boundaries (within a country or neighboring countries where cultures are mainly the same) May or may not supervise lower level staff.
   
   Additional Required Duties & Responsibilities:
   Responsible for providing direct interface to customers, suppliers and product engineering organization specially focused on Assembly Processes.Develops and implements Assembly related processes, methods, tools, equipment, and controls for the manufacturer of products and components consistent with obtaining and maintaining design integrity, optimum costs, quality, inventories, and investment in facilities. Activities will include all aspects of prototype development and builds.Actively applies new manufacturing technologies and aggressively evaluates and reports on manufacturing opportunities which will contribute to the JIT plant's objectives and goals.Participates in the product design activity to assure optimum productivity and costs. Suggests alternative designs, materials, or processes. Must be capable of resolving all problems while maintaining good rapport with customers.Maintains effective communications with all people affected by projects and issues operating instructions when required. Issues periodic status reports to keep affected personnel informed.Prepares manufacturing studies to determine optimum manufacturing costs, quality, and inventories and/or evaluates feasibility for new or existing products, processes or materials.Recommends changes for the most practical and economical manufacturing processes, including material, labor, tooling, equipment, and ancillary factors.Participates in selecting, approving, and developing tooling and equipment to satisfy manufacturing requirements and product design intent.Provides customer liaison as relates to product design and engineering matters.Coordinates new processes implementation and training. Insures that all relevant tooling is capable of making required product to meet all timing goals.Serves as resource person to process changes, problem solving committee, etc., to insure product design intent is not jeopardized.Actively pursues quality improvements in the manufacturing process.Serves as champion of Pre-Launch Team of all new programs. Issue minutes of the meetings. Maintain and issue status of all required reports of new programs, ie., A.Q.P. checklist, issues lists and feasibility assessments. Creates and maintains new program review documentation.Researches and implements state of the art technology to assure that product design is manufactured in most capable/cost effective manner possible. Insures that product design allows for these state of the art technologies.Works closely with Advance Manufacturing Group to provide direction to ensure plants are pursuing latest technological advances.Work closely with lean manufacturing matrix teams to ensure key measures such as:Quick Tool Change Press Utilization Die Performance O-PPM Scrap and off-fall reduction meets or exceeds world-class standards. Minimization of indirect labor to increase productivity and efficiency Lean Manufacturing Implementation. Six Sigma ProjectsPerforms other duties and special projects as assigned.
   
   Supervisory Responsibilities:
   
   Directly supervises maintenance technicians, process technicians, supervisors for assembly process
   
   PRIMARY LOCATION
   
   Avanzar San Antonio Facility

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right manufacturing engineer for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with manufacturing engineers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit manufacturing engineers who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your manufacturing engineer job on Zippia to find and recruit manufacturing engineer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with manufacturing engineer candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new manufacturing engineer

   Once you've decided on a perfect manufacturing engineer candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new manufacturing engineer first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a manufacturing engineer?