What does a production engineering manager do?
Most of the production engineering managers oversee the designing and planning methods to improve existing programs. Part of their duties is to review budgets, production requirements, and schedules to determine the most cost-effective methods of obtaining necessary resources. These managers recommend revisions to schedules, monetary resource allocations, and production requirements. They act as an advisor to the production engineering teams about tasks, projects, and operations. Production engineering managers must be capable of resolving escalated concerns from operations and requiring coordination with other departments.
Production engineering manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real production engineering manager resumes:
- Establish KPI s per processes to assure the objectives accomplish.
- Manage product allocation and inventory through MRP software and communicate technical specifications.
- Manage state-of-the-art extrusion plant with single screw and twin screw technology and co-extrusion capability.
- Manage workflow and oversee strict cleanroom operations, assuring compliance with FDA specifications including labeling and packaging traceability.
- Manage QA for research orient development efforts and for high visibility, production focuse development efforts tie to revenue generation.
- Prepare KPI reports and present at executive meetings.
- Serve on Kaizen teams and new model design teams.
- Design tooling and jigs for part creation and assembly.
- Develop and design all programs, fixtures, tooling, and processes for CNC equipment.
- Work as a remote regional manager for the Thailand production facilities, including SCM and MRP coordination.
- Implement Kaizen training and process development in the Altoona facility on an automate packaging line for ignition wire sets.
- Develop specifications, produce drawings, and place orders for tools, dies and jigs and fixtures for new product introduction.
- Develop assembly procedures and product documentation consistent with FDA GMP guidelines.
- Utilize mechanical drawings and ISO standards to ensure operations are running efficiently.
- Supported/Maintain ISO, FDA, UL/CSA certification by preserving detailed/organize quality system.
Production engineering manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 17% of Production Engineering Managers are proficient in Production Engineering, Continuous Improvement, and R. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Production Engineering Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Production Engineering, 17%
Analyzed the in-place preventative strategies to determine means and methods of improvement for production engineering.
- Continuous Improvement, 7%
Championed continuous improvement across value stream.
- R, 5%
Managed design, developed and produced X-Band T/R module using commercial components as demonstrator of complex device fabrication ability.
- Lean Manufacturing, 5%
Implement Lean Manufacturing identifying and eliminating areas of wastes, lowering costs, improving productivity and quality.
- Process Improvement, 5%
Developed, recommend and implemented procurement process improvements with emphasis on re-engineering, simplification, and contribution to cost savings.
- Sigma, 4%
Utilized Six Sigma and Lean methodologies to drive operational efficiency.
Common skills that a production engineering manager uses to do their job include "production engineering," "continuous improvement," and "r." You can find details on the most important production engineering manager responsibilities below.
Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for a production engineering manager to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "architectural and engineering managers evaluate information to solve problems." Additionally, a production engineering manager resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "direct continuous improvement effort and statistical analysis of batch flow manufacturing structure. "
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform production engineering manager duties is communication skills. Production engineering managers responsibilities require that "architectural and engineering managers must effectively convey information and expectations related to projects." Production engineering managers also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "led department communication on continuous improvement through various channels including monthly newsletters and departmental meetings. "
Math skills. For certain production engineering manager responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "math skills." The day-to-day duties of a production engineering manager rely on this skill, as "architectural and engineering managers use calculus and other mathematics to develop new products and processes." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what production engineering managers do: "identified key areas of improvement by tracking oee statistics on a shift by shift basis. "
Organizational skills. Another crucial skill for a production engineering manager to carry out their responsibilities is "organizational skills." A big part of what production engineering managers relies on this skill, since "architectural and engineering managers keep track of many workers, schedules, and budgets simultaneously." How this skill relates to production engineering manager duties can be seen in an example from a production engineering manager resume snippet: "worked with other organizational functions to ensure both product development and product sustaining efforts were accomplished as required. "
The three companies that hire the most production engineering managers are:
- Meta124 production engineering managers jobs
- Snowflake Computing4 production engineering managers jobs
- Netflix3 production engineering managers jobs
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Compare different production engineering managers
Production engineering manager vs. Research and development director
A research and development director spearheads and oversees the research and development initiatives and projects in a company. It is their duty to set goals and guidelines, establish timelines and budgets, direct and manage different departments, liaise with internal and external parties, gather and analyze data to implement solutions against problem areas, and utilize expertise in developing strategies to optimize company operations. Moreover, as a director, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while promoting the company's policies and regulations, creating new ones as needed.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a production engineering manager are more likely to require skills like "production engineering," "continuous improvement," "lean manufacturing," and "sigma." On the other hand, a job as a research and development director requires skills like "project management," "oversight," "business development," and "strategic direction." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Research and development directors really shine in the finance industry with an average salary of $167,250. Comparatively, production engineering managers tend to make the most money in the energy industry with an average salary of $135,187.The education levels that research and development directors earn slightly differ from production engineering managers. In particular, research and development directors are 7.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a production engineering manager. Additionally, they're 12.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Production engineering manager vs. Research and development manager
A research and development manager is responsible for supervising project development procedures to support business operations and identify business opportunities that would pave the way for more revenue resources and profits. Research and development managers monitor the production plans from the conceptualization to the final outputs, inspecting inconsistencies and flaws in every phase and revising strategies as needed to achieve the required specifications and requirements. They delegate tasks to the staff, oversee progress, and conduct research and development programs to maximize productivity and team efforts.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that production engineering manager responsibilities requires skills like "production engineering," "continuous improvement," "lean manufacturing," and "test procedures." But a research and development manager might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "customer service," "project management," "patients," and "c++."
On average, research and development managers earn a higher salary than production engineering managers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, research and development managers earn the most pay in the professional industry with an average salary of $143,083. Whereas production engineering managers have higher pay in the energy industry, with an average salary of $135,187.In general, research and development managers achieve higher levels of education than production engineering managers. They're 7.2% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 12.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Production engineering manager vs. Design manager
A design manager is responsible for creating graphic and digital designs, following clients' specifications, and managing project deliverables efficiently. Design managers work closely with the marketing and public relations department, developing strategies to promote the brand to the target audience. They coordinate with the creative team and present the design ideas to the management, ask for final approval, perform revisions as needed, and follow the budget goals. A design manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills to handle the design team's concerns and needs.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, production engineering managers are more likely to have skills like "production engineering," "continuous improvement," "lean manufacturing," and "process improvement." But a design manager is more likely to have skills like "sketch," "project management," "visualization," and "user experience."
Design managers make a very good living in the technology industry with an average annual salary of $121,279. On the other hand, production engineering managers are paid the highest salary in the energy industry, with average annual pay of $135,187.When it comes to education, design managers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to production engineering managers. In fact, they're 1.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Production engineering manager vs. Plant manager
In general, plant managers are responsible for the entire operations in a manufacturing plant. Plant managers plan, direct, organize, and run the optimum operations of the plant daily. They create and execute organizational or departmental goals procedures, and policies. They aim to increase the manufacturing production and the capacity and flexibility of its assets while keeping its current quality standards and unnecessary costs. They are expected to have a better understanding of the manufacturing industry like equipment use and mechanical aptitude.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between production engineering managers and plant managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a production engineering manager might have more use for skills like "production engineering," "test procedures," "cad," and "jigs." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of plant managers require skills like "customer service," "safety program," "plant operations," and "osha. "
Plant managers enjoy the best pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $102,077. For comparison, production engineering managers earn the highest salary in the energy industry.The average resume of plant managers showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to production engineering managers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 0.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.1%.Types of production engineering manager
Updated January 8, 2025
