About Us:
Sapphire Technologies delivers power and cooling to energy infrastructure. Our FreeSpin® In-line Turboexpander recovers the energy wasted when high-pressure gas is stepped down, converting it into clean electricity and low-temperature cooling. To better serve our customers in the data center industry, we are now expanding our high-speed turbo-machinery offerings into oil-free compressors for chilling applications.
Our hands-on engineering team takes products from concept to field deployment, with work spanning rotating machinery, power electronics, controls, and systems integration.
We are a mission-driven organization with one common goal: building a more sustainable world. Our employees are our biggest asset, and we are looking for change agents to join us on our journey.
Position Summary:
Sapphire Technologies is seeking a hands-on leader to build
and lead the manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering, and facilities
capabilities required to support the company's growth. This role is responsible
for developing the production system, including manufacturing processes,
facility layout, assembly and test infrastructure, tooling, equipment, capacity
planning, technical documentation, and equipment reliability.
The position supports industrialization and production
of complex electro-mechanical equipment, including rotating machinery and
associated electrical systems. It translates product designs and business
requirements into safe, repeatable, and scalable manufacturing methods and
factory infrastructure. This role also leads integrated planning for
production, testing, material flow, offices, and customer-facing areas.
This is a functional leadership role with significant
hands-on involvement and will shape how an emerging energy-technology business
builds and scales its manufacturing capabilities. The successful candidate will
influence manufacturing decisions early in product development and have a
direct impact on factory readiness, capacity, product quality, cost, and
operational performance. It does not directly manage production operators or
own daily production scheduling at this time and will be responsible for hiring
and interviewing for future roles in Process Engineering, Manufacturing
Engineering, and Industrial Engineering as we continue to scale.
Key Responsibilities:
- Establish and Manage the manufacturing
engineering, industrial engineering, and facilities function in alignment with
product, production, and growth plans.
- Develop and Manage a phased roadmap for
manufacturing capability, facility readiness, equipment investment, process
improvement, and technical staffing.
- Establish and Manage process flows, assembly
sequences, routings, work instructions, tooling requirements, and
production-readiness criteria.
- Partner with Design Engineering on design for
manufacturability and assembly, including accessibility, tolerances, assembly
methods, serviceability, and testability.
- Plan and support pilot and production-intent
builds, resolve manufacturing-readiness issues, and incorporate lessons learned
into products and processes.
- Own the integrated facility plan for
manufacturing, testing, material flow, equipment, storage, office,
collaboration, and customer-facing areas.
- Define operational requirements for facility
utilities, high-power electrical infrastructure, production test systems,
lifting and handling equipment, environmental conditions, and supporting services.
- Develop capacity models and evaluate
bottlenecks, labor content, line balance, material movement, work-in-process,
ergonomics, and space utilization.
- Apply Lean Six Sigma manufacturing methods,
standardized work, visual management, 5S, and structured continuous
improvement.
- Manage the specification, technical evaluation,
installation, commissioning, and production hand-off of tooling, fixtures,
equipment, and manufacturing test infrastructure.
- Develop and Manage capital and facilities
projects, including scope, cost, schedule, supplier performance, commissioning,
and operational acceptance.
- Support supplier APQP and PPAP through
manufacturing-feasibility reviews, process-risk assessments, validation
evidence, technical transfers, and production-readiness reviews.
- Collaborate with Production, Engineering,
Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, Marketing, and external partners to deliver
business objectives.
Base Pay Range:
The information below is a general guideline. Actual compensation depends on the candidate’s experience and qualifications, as well as market and business factors.
Salary Range: $154,581 - $209,139
Requirements
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical, manufacturing,
industrial engineering, or a related technical discipline, or an equivalent
combination of relevant education and directly applicable experience.
- 10+ years of progressively responsible
experience in manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering,
industrialization, or a closely related function.
- 5+ years leading technical teams or substantial
cross-functional manufacturing programs with responsibility for priorities,
resources, and deliverables.
- Experience with developing and improving
assembly processes, production tooling, manufacturing documentation, equipment
implementation, facility or production layouts, and capacity analysis.
- Experience managing capital, equipment,
facility, or infrastructure projects from requirements through implementation.
- Working knowledge of DFM/DFA, engineering change
control, structured problem-solving, lean manufacturing, and
production-readiness practices.
- Ability to interpret engineering drawings,
technical specifications, and manufacturing requirements.
- Strong project-management, financial-analysis,
communication, and stakeholder-management skills.
- Ability to combine hands-on technical work with
functional leadership in a growing organization.
- Experience supporting a factory startup,
expansion, relocation, or manufacturing transfer.
- Experience working with suppliers and/or
contract manufacturers on technical transfer and production readiness.
- Familiarity with ERP systems, digital
manufacturing documentation, CAD or layout tools, and maintenance-management
systems.
- Experience working within an ISO 9001 or
comparable quality-management environment.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience with rotating equipment, motors,
generators, turbo-machinery, precision assemblies, or comparable industrial
equipment.
- Experience defining operational requirements for
high-power electrical infrastructure, production test systems, and supporting
utilities in an industrial environment.
- Exposure to electrical assembly, power
electronics, instrumentation, liquid cooling, or electro-mechanical production
testing.
Work Environment:
This role is primarily on-site and involves work in office, manufacturing, equipment-installation, and test environments. Appropriate personal protective equipment and adherence to site safety requirements are required. Some activities may require coordination outside normal operating hours. Travel to suppliers, manufacturing partners, or other company locations may be required.
Benefits
Benefits:
We offer a competitive benefits package designed to support the health, well-being, and financial security of our employees. Eligible team members receive paid vacation, paid sick time, comprehensive health benefits, and participation in a 401(k) retirement plan with company match.
Additional Information:
The above job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow other instructions and perform other related duties as assigned by their supervisor. Management reserves the right to change, rescind, add, or delete the duties and responsibilities of positions within this job classification at any time.
Sapphire Technologies is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, or veteran status. This policy applies to recruiting, hiring, transfers, promotions, terminations, compensation, and benefits.