Job at a glance
At IEM, we’re not just building innovative electrical distribution systems, we’re shaping the future. IEM is dedicated to delivering world-class solutions for complex power needs. After 75 years, we continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible. Whether you’re an experienced professional or just starting out, you’ll have the opportunity to contribute, grow, and make a lasting impact on industries that power the world’s most dynamic markets.
Position Summary The Manufacturing Engineer – First-of-Kind (FoK) & Process Development will lead and support the transition of new electrical distribution equipment from engineering design through first-of-kind builds, pilot runs, validation, and successful production launch. This hands-on role is ideal for an engineer with an electrical or mechanical background who enjoys working directly on the manufacturing floor, solving build issues, improving designs for manufacturability, and developing repeatable production methods.
The engineer will partner with Product Engineering, Quality, Production, Supply Chain, Test, and Manufacturing teams to ensure new products can be built safely, efficiently, consistently, and to customer requirements. Key Responsibilities Lead manufacturing engineering activities for first-of-kind electrical distribution equipment builds, prototype builds, and pilot production runs. Review product designs, drawings, bills of material, specifications, and customer requirements for manufacturability, serviceability, quality, safety, and cost.
Identify design, process, material, tooling, ergonomic, and quality risks before product release to production. Assist in development and documentation for manufacturing methods, sequence of operations, work instructions, standard work, process flow, routings, visual aids, and required tooling. Create and maintain build plans, process validation plans, lessons learned, issue logs, and action-item tracking for FoK and pilot builds.
Lead structured problem-solving activities using tools such as 5 Why, fishbone analysis, PFMEA, control plans, and corrective-action methods. Support development and validation of fixtures, assembly aids, test equipment, material presentation, workstations, and error-proofing solutions. Establish production-ready labor estimates, cycle times, staffing needs, line balance requirements, and capacity assumptions.
Coordinate with Quality to define critical-to-quality characteristics, inspection points, test requirements, acceptance criteria, and quality documentation. Partner with Supply Chain and suppliers to identify material availability, alternate components, long-lead risks, packaging needs, and supplier quality concerns. Participate in design reviews and provide Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA) feedback.
Support the transition from pilot builds to production. Track build performance, defects, rework, test failures, throughput, and lessons learned; drive improvements before full production release. Ensure manufacturing processes comply with applicable safety, quality, electrical, and regulatory requirements. Support continuous improvement initiatives for existing electrical distribution equipment and manufacturing processes.
Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or related engineering discipline. 3+ years of manufacturing, product launch, process engineering, electrical equipment, panel assembly, or related experience. Electrical or mechanical aptitude with the ability to understand assembly drawings, wiring diagrams, schematics, bills of material, and manufacturing documentation.
Experience supporting prototype, first-of-kind, pilot, new-product introduction, or production-launch activities. Working knowledge of manufacturing-process development, standard work, work instructions, tooling, fixtures, ergonomics, and lean principles. Experience with root-cause analysis, PFMEA,