Manufacturing / NPI Engineer

Manufacturing / NPI Engineer

Location: Des Plaines, IL

Our client is seeking a hands-on Manufacturing / NPI Engineer to take new products through one of the most important stages of their lifecycle, the transition from engineering development into dependable, repeatable production. This is an opportunity to have a visible impact on new product launches, manufacturing readiness, and the processes that ultimately determine how successfully innovative products reach the factory floor. The right engineer will enjoy solving practical manufacturing challenges, working directly with prototypes and production teams, and bringing structure to the complex space between a finished design and a stable manufacturing process.

This Role Offers

• High ownership of new product introduction activities and the opportunity to influence how new designs transition into production.
• A hands-on engineering environment where technical decisions translate directly into improvements on the manufacturing floor.
• Broad exposure across product development, manufacturing, quality, operations, and supply chain functions.
• The opportunity to solve challenging manufacturability and process problems involving complex industrial and electromechanical products.
• Meaningful involvement in continuous improvement, production scalability, tooling, validation, and manufacturing technology initiatives.

Focus

• Own the path from engineering release to a stable production handoff, turning early designs into repeatable shop floor processes.
• Plan and support prototype and pilot builds, capture build issues, and drive practical fixes before volume production.
• Assess drawings, specifications, tolerances, and assembly concepts with a manufacturing lens, then recommend changes that improve buildability.
• Develop production methods, process flows, routings, work instructions, and other manufacturing documentation needed for controlled launches.
• Create or improve fixtures, tooling, assembly aids, and process equipment that make production safer, more consistent, and more efficient.
• Partner across design engineering, operations, quality, supply chain, and production to remove launch barriers and keep programs moving.
• Troubleshoot launch and post-launch problems on the manufacturing floor, using structured root cause methods to address recurring defects and process instability.
• Drive continuous improvement efforts that reduce scrap, rework, cycle time, and unnecessary process variation.
• Support process validation, first article activities, production readiness reviews, and other evidence required to demonstrate a capable manufacturing process.
• Manage manufacturing impacts of engineering changes and help ensure revised designs, documentation, materials, and processes are implemented cleanly.
• Evaluate opportunities for automation and capital equipment where they can improve throughput, repeatability, quality, or scalability.

Skill Set

• Bring several years of manufacturing engineering experience, including direct ownership of new product introduction or product industrialization work.
• Have personally supported products through the difficult transition from prototype and development work into sustained production.
• Offer hands-on process improvement experience in an industrial setting, with evidence of improving quality, yield, flow, cost, or lead time.
• Be comfortable working independently while coordinating decisions and problem solving across multiple technical and operational functions.
• Bring experience from connectors, interconnect products, cable assemblies, wire harnesses, electromechanical products, precision machining, or a closely related manufacturing environment.
• Understand practical DFM and DFA concepts and how design choices affect tooling, assembly, inspection, process capability, and production cost.
• Be familiar with manufacturing quality tools such as PFMEA, control plans, corrective action, and structured root cause analysis.
• Experience with ERP or MRP systems, engineering change processes, CAD tools, or CNC and precision manufacturing is valuable.
• A bachelor's degree in an engineering or closely related technical discipline is preferred.

About Blue Signal:  

Blue Signal is an award-winning, executive search firm specializing in various specialties. Our recruiters have a proven track record of placing top-tier talent across industry verticals, with deep expertise in numerous professional services. Learn more at bit.ly/46Gs4yS