Director of Equipment Engineering - Premier PV

Job Title: Director of Equipment Engineering & Maintenance (Greenfield)

Department: Operations / Manufacturing Engineering

Reports To: VP of Operations / Site Leader

Position Summary

The Director of Equipment Engineering & Maintenance will lead the design, build, and ramp of all manufacturing equipment, automation systems, and maintenance operations for a greenfield, high-volume eBOS production facility.

This role is responsible for establishing a world-class, scalable manufacturing platform to produce combiner boxes, cable assemblies, and overmolded harnesses. The Director will define equipment standards, build maintenance systems from the ground up, and ensure rapid, reliable production ramp with best-in-class uptime, quality, and cost performance.

This is a hands-on leadership role requiring deep technical expertise and the ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced startup environment within a large-scale industrial build.

Key Responsibilities

• Greenfield Facility Build & Ramp
• Lead equipment engineering and maintenance strategy from concept through full production ramp.
• Partner with design/construction teams on:
• Facility layout and line design
• Utilities (power distribution, compressed air, cooling, resin handling systems)
• Equipment footprint, flow, and scalability
• Define manufacturing line architectures for:
• Combiner box assembly
• Cable and harness production
• Overmolding operations
• Support installation, commissioning, and vertical ramp to high-volume production.
• Equipment Engineering Strategy & Deployment
• Develop standardized, scalable equipment platforms across all production lines.
• Specify, source, and qualify manufacturing equipment including:
• Automated and semi-automated assembly systems
• Wire processing and crimping equipment
• Injection molding and overmolding systems
• Lead equipment validation (FAT, SAT, IQ/OQ/PQ).
• Ensure design-for-manufacturing (DFM) alignment with product and R&D teams.
• Establish engineering documentation, standards, and change control systems.
• Maintenance System Build-Out
• Build the maintenance organization from the ground up, including hiring, training, and structuring teams.
• Implement and deploy a CMMS for asset management, work orders, and spare parts control.
• Establish:
• Preventive maintenance programs
• Predictive/condition-based maintenance systems
• Spare parts strategy and inventory optimization
• Drive early equipment reliability through commissioning and ramp phases.
• Embed Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) culture across operations.
• Process & Equipment Ownership

Oversee equipment performance across key processes:

Combiner Boxes

• Automated fastening, busbar assembly, enclosure handling
• Electrical test systems (hipot, continuity, insulation resistance)

Cable & Harnesses

• Cutting, stripping, crimping, sealing, routing
• Crimp force monitoring and pull testing

Overmolded Harnesses

• Injection molding presses, tooling, and auxiliary systems
• Material drying, handling, and process control
• Ensure process capability, repeatability, and robust error-proofing (poka-yoke).
• Standardize equipment and processes for multi-line replication.
• Automation, Controls & Digital Infrastructure
• Define and implement plant-wide automation architecture:
• PLCs, HMIs, SCADA
• Robotics and automated assembly cells
• Vision inspection systems
• Deploy Industry 4.0 systems:
• Real-time equipment monitoring
• Data collection and analytics
• MES integration and full product traceability
• Ensure cybersecurity and system reliability from day one.
• Capital Projects & Vendor Management
• Own multi-million-dollar CapEx planning and execution for equipment and tooling.
• Select and manage OEMs, integrators, and tooling suppliers.
• Drive project execution from concept through commissioning and ramp.
• Ensure all projects meet timeline, budget, and performance targets.
• Reliability & Operational Excellence
• Establish and track key performance metrics:
• OEE, uptime, MTBF, MTTR
• Lead structured root cause analysis (RCA) and CAPA processes.
• Drive continuous improvement in:
• Throughput
• Changeover time (SMED)
• Scrap reduction (especially crimping and overmolding defects)
• Build a data-driven reliability engineering function.
• Quality, Safety & Compliance
• Ensure compliance with:
• OSHA, NFPA safety standards
• UL and NEC requirements for eBOS products
• ISO 9001 / ISO 14001 systems
• Implement safe equipment design and maintenance practices (LOTO, arc flash).
• Support audits, validation (IQ/OQ/PQ), and quality systems from startup phase.
• Champion a zero-incident safety culture.
• New Product Introduction (NPI)
• Build scalable equipment solutions for new combiner box and harness designs.
• Partner with R&D to ensure seamless transition from prototype to production.
• Enable rapid product launches without disrupting ramp.

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or related field (Master's preferred).

Experience

• 12-15+ years in manufacturing engineering, equipment engineering, or maintenance.
• 7-10+ years leading engineering and maintenance teams.
• Direct experience with greenfield or brownfield plant startups strongly preferred.
• Strong background in:
• Wire harness / cable assembly manufacturing
• Injection molding / overmolding
• High-volume automated manufacturing environments

Technical Expertise

• Equipment design and industrial automation systems
• Wire processing, crimping, and termination technologies
• Injection molding machines, tooling, and polymers
• PLCs, robotics, vision systems, and SCADA
• Reliability engineering, CMMS, TPM
• Lean manufacturing and Six Sigma

Leadership Competencies

• Proven ability to build teams, systems, and processes from zero to scale
• Strong project and program management capability
• Hands-on, execution-oriented leadership style
• Excellent cross-functional communication and stakeholder alignment
• Data-driven decision-making mindset

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Ramp-to-volume timeline achievement
• OEE and uptime during ramp and steady-state production
• MTBF / MTTR improvements
• CapEx delivery (on time, on budget, on performance)
• Scrap and yield performance (especially overmolding and crimping)
• Maintenance cost efficiency
• Safety metrics (TRIR, near misses)

Work Environment

• Greenfield construction and startup environment transitioning to high-volume manufacturing
• Significant time on the production floor and during equipment installation phases
• Collaboration with global vendors, contractors, and internal teams

Travel Requirements

• Up to 30% travel for:
• Equipment supplier selection and design reviews
• Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) at OEM sites
• Benchmarking across other facilities
• Supporting multi-site standardization as the network scales