Manufacturing Engineering Manager (Advanced Manufacturing)

Location: Research Triangle Park, NC; begins in Durham, NC and is expected to move to Benson, NC after completion of the new facility. Regular onsite presence on the production floor is required.

Company

hirify.global manufactures American rare-earth permanent magnets for critical industries including defense, aerospace, and automotive.

What you will do

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Manufacturing Engineers while setting priorities, assigning ownership, and removing technical roadblocks.
• Evaluate manufacturing technologies and lead equipment specifications, RFQs, vendor assessments, technical reviews, and equipment selection.
• Own the equipment lifecycle from purchase and design reviews through Factory Acceptance Testing, installation, Site Acceptance Testing, commissioning, and production qualification.
• Coordinate with vendors, facilities, operations, controls, maintenance, EHS, quality, R&D, and supply chain teams during installation, startup, and production ramp.
• Improve throughput, yield, quality, equipment reliability, and OEE using data analysis, cycle-time analysis, and structured problem-solving.
• Manage project schedules, capital milestones, technical risks, budgets, vendor deliverables, documentation, recruiting, onboarding, and capability development.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Electrical, Automation, Materials Science, Metallurgical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 7+ years of experience in manufacturing engineering, equipment engineering, industrialization, or a related manufacturing environment.
• Experience specifying, purchasing, installing, commissioning, and launching complex manufacturing equipment or production systems.
• Strong understanding of process capability, cycle time, throughput, yield, OEE, PFMEA, Control Plans, process flows, and structured problem-solving.
• Ability to manage multiple technically complex projects and make equipment and process decisions under changing requirements.
• Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export-controlled information or facilities.

Nice to have

• 1–2+ years of experience leading, supervising, or formally managing an engineering team.
• Experience with high-volume, highly automated manufacturing systems, robotics, CNC machining, material processing, thermal processing, inspection, or packaging.
• Experience scaling processes from pilot or development environments into full-rate production.
• Experience with MES, manufacturing data systems, equipment connectivity, simulation, capacity modeling, line balancing, or factory-layout development.
• Experience in rare-earth magnets, advanced materials, automotive, aerospace, semiconductor, battery, medical device, or other advanced manufacturing environments.

Culture & Benefits

• Mission focused on national security and economic resiliency.
• Regular hands-on work with engineering teams, equipment suppliers, and production systems.
• Production-floor work may involve hot, humid, or noisy environments, stairs, extended standing and walking, respirators, and other required PPE.
• Travel to equipment suppliers is required as needed for technical reviews, design reviews, and Factory Acceptance Testing.