What does a manufacturing engineer lead do?
Lead manufacturing engineers are responsible for assisting with new product expansion, product introduction, and pricing out planning for existing product lines alongside the implementation of engineering processes and principles. They help with the technical coordination between division and group leading manufacturing locations beyond the present site. Their duties include implementing manufacturing engineering to provide superior technical output promptly. Also, they fulfill technical subject matter competence, assist with the growth of organizational engineering or technical skills to reach the division and site strategies, as well as aid in the training for receiving and sending sites.
Manufacturing engineer lead responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real manufacturing engineer lead resumes:
- Lead Kaizen team for autoclave optimization project and develop plan, resulting in estimate $350K annual savings.
- Implement a KANBAN system for manufacturing which reduce wasteful production activities and achieve labor reductions.
- Set up multiple work cells incorporating CNC lathe operations within the assembly cells.
- Establish work instructions and processes for plastic injection moldings, CNC and die cast parts to pass qualifications and CMM inspections.
- Initiate blast/paint online database project along with blast/paint capacity model through participation in a Kaizen workshop.
- Develop financial evaluations of potential major capital investment projects and provide documentation of investment vs payback to companies Sr.
- Track and resolve issues relate with overall OEE; implement improvements focuse on enhancing overall productivity, quality, and availability.
Manufacturing engineer lead skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Manufacturing Engineers Lead are proficient in Lean Manufacturing, Sigma, and CAD. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Listening skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Manufacturing Engineers Lead that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Lean Manufacturing, 11%
Directed several Factory Optimization/Lean Manufacturing improvement projects
- Sigma, 7%
Deploy Lean Six Sigma Manufacturing philosophy and tools within a high technology energy equipment production line.
- CAD, 5%
Monitored and controlled both internal and external data exchange together with all Cad software.
- Lean Six Sigma, 5%
Implement manufacturing process improvement and Lean Six Sigma program.
- Shop Floor, 4%
Led group of Manufacturing Engineers, Product Engineers, and Industrial Engineers in supporting Manufacturing Shop Floor building military electronics.
- Process Improvement, 4%
Coordinate all manufacturing activities related to process improvement, Engineering Changes, quality issues.
Common skills that a manufacturing engineer lead uses to do their job include "lean manufacturing," "sigma," and "cad." You can find details on the most important manufacturing engineer lead responsibilities below.
Creativity. One of the key soft skills for a manufacturing engineer lead to have is creativity. You can see how this relates to what manufacturing engineers lead do because "industrial engineers use creativity and ingenuity to design new production processes in many kinds of settings in order to reduce the use of material resources, time, or labor while accomplishing the same goal." Additionally, a manufacturing engineer lead resume shows how manufacturing engineers lead use creativity: "lead lean manufacturing projects to increase equipment uptime and efficiency, reduce inventory and improve quality. "
Listening skills. Another essential skill to perform manufacturing engineer lead duties is listening skills. Manufacturing engineers lead responsibilities require that "these engineers often operate in teams, but they also must solicit feedback from customers, vendors, and production staff." Manufacturing engineers lead also use listening skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "identified and communicated engineering problems to design engineering for resolution using problem reports. "
Problem-solving skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of manufacturing engineers lead is problem-solving skills. This skill is critical to many everyday manufacturing engineer lead duties, as "in designing facilities for manufacturing and processes for providing services, these engineers deal with several issues at once, from workers’ safety to quality assurance." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "work with engineers and other personnel on continuous improvement projects; proposing feasible solutions for future overall process improvements. "
Speaking skills. A big part of what manufacturing engineers lead do relies on "speaking skills." You can see how essential it is to manufacturing engineer lead responsibilities because "industrial engineers sometimes have to explain their instructions to production staff or technicians before they can make written instructions available." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical manufacturing engineer lead tasks: "represented operations as the triad member of the t5000 new product steering committee o mfg. "
Writing skills. Another crucial skill for a manufacturing engineer lead to carry out their responsibilities is "writing skills." A big part of what manufacturing engineers lead relies on this skill, since "industrial engineers must prepare documentation for other engineers or scientists, or for future reference." How this skill relates to manufacturing engineer lead duties can be seen in an example from a manufacturing engineer lead resume snippet: "trained machine shop employees on operating machine shop equipment, cnc equipment, writingsimple programs, and tool set up. "
Math skills. Another skill commonly found on manufacturing engineer lead job descriptions is "math skills." It can come up quite often in manufacturing engineer lead duties, since "industrial engineers use the principles of calculus, trigonometry, and other advanced topics in mathematics for analysis, design, and troubleshooting in their work." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day manufacturing engineer lead responsibilities: "identified key areas of improvement by tracking oee statistics on a shift by shift basis. "
The three companies that hire the most manufacturing engineer leads are:
- General Electric17 manufacturing engineers lead jobs
- Lockheed Martin12 manufacturing engineers lead jobs
- Jabil5 manufacturing engineers lead jobs
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Compare different manufacturing engineers lead
Manufacturing engineer lead vs. Senior process engineer
A Senior Process Engineer assesses a process efficiency, effectiveness, safety, and quality. They also conduct process improvement initiatives and custom product developments.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between manufacturing engineers lead and senior process engineer. For instance, manufacturing engineer lead responsibilities require skills such as "cad," "shop floor," "design engineering," and "production equipment." Whereas a senior process engineer is skilled in "project management," "data analysis," "process design," and "sr." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Senior process engineers earn the highest salaries when working in the energy industry, with an average yearly salary of $107,116. On the other hand, manufacturing engineers lead are paid more in the automotive industry with an average salary of $92,299.On average, senior process engineers reach similar levels of education than manufacturing engineers lead. Senior process engineers are 3.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 5.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Manufacturing engineer lead vs. 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. As a tooling engineer, it is your responsibility to ensure compliance with operational standards such as the ISO 9000. You also have to provide technical assistance to manufacturing personnel and quality assurance.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that manufacturing engineer lead responsibilities requires skills like "design engineering," "assembly line," "process changes," and "product line." But a tool engineer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "python," "java," "linux," and "jenkins."
Tool engineers may earn a higher salary than manufacturing engineers lead, but tool engineers earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $94,406. On the other hand, manufacturing engineers lead receive higher pay in the automotive industry, where they earn an average salary of $92,299.In general, tool engineers achieve lower levels of education than manufacturing engineers lead. They're 6.0% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 5.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for manufacturing engineer leads in the next 3-5 years?
Jerry Leth
VP/General Manager, MANA
Manufacturing engineer lead vs. Engineer
Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects. They should also be well-versed in different construction or industrial materials, and they ensure that appropriate materials are used for the project. They also ensure that the projects meet the requirements of the groups that hired them. They create spaces that would both address the needs of the end-users and the industry standards. They also ensure that the projects they make would stand the test of time.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, manufacturing engineers lead are more likely to have skills like "lean manufacturing," "sigma," "lean six sigma," and "shop floor." But a engineer is more likely to have skills like "python," "cloud," "c++," and "c #."
Engineers make a very good living in the automotive industry with an average annual salary of $97,672. On the other hand, manufacturing engineers lead are paid the highest salary in the automotive industry, with average annual pay of $92,299.Most engineers achieve a similar degree level compared to manufacturing engineers lead. For example, they're 0.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Manufacturing engineer lead vs. Project lead engineer
Project lead engineers are engineering professionals who are responsible for leading other professionals in completing a particular project. These engineers must develop a project management framework to be implemented throughout the organization based on the inputs from internal stakeholders and team members. They are required to train junior team members so that they can provide proper technical support functions. Project lead engineers must also prepare and review cost estimates for a variety of projects during bidding, construction, and post-construction phases.
Types of manufacturing engineer lead
Updated January 8, 2025
