Director of Engineering (Contract Manufacturing)

📍 Milwaukee, WI Area (Relocation Available)

💲 $175K – $200K+ Base + Bonus (10%+ tied to EBITDA, uncapped upside)

🏢 Onsite | Executive Leadership Role

About the Opportunity

This is a high-impact executive leadership role responsible for leading and scaling the engineering organization within a growing contract manufacturing environment.

The company is entering a major growth phase, with plans to significantly increase revenue and operational capacity. This role will be instrumental in building the structure, systems, and team needed to support that growth.

If you’ve led engineering in a contract manufacturing environment and enjoy building scalable processes while driving real business results, this is a rare opportunity to make a lasting impact.

What You’ll Be Leading

• A 12-15-person engineering team, including leadership-level reports

• Engineering strategy from quoting through production

• Process standardization, scalability, and cross-functional alignment

• Implementation of systems, tools, and structure to support growth

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and develop the engineering organization

• Drive consistency across engineering processes, standards, and execution

• Oversee quoting, manufacturability, and production readiness

• Partner closely with Operations, Quality, and Sales

• Improve estimating accuracy, margin performance, and win rates

• Lead capital planning for equipment, automation, and technology investments

• Establish KPIs tied to business performance (margin, cycle time, on-time delivery)

• Drive continuous improvement across setup times, throughput, and cost structure

What They’re Looking For

Must-Have Experience:

• Background in contract manufacturing (non-OEM environment)

• Experience in companies ~$75M+ in revenue or similar scale

• Proven ability to step into leadership and drive results quickly

• Strong business acumen (costing, margin, capital investment decisions)

• Experience leading leaders (not just individual contributors)

Highly Preferred:

• Machining, metal manufacturing, or contract manufacturing background

• Experience scaling engineering teams and processes

• Exposure to defense, aerospace, or complex industrial manufacturing

• Lean / Six Sigma and ERP system experience

Who This Role Fits Best

• An Engineering Leader who understands how to scale a business

• Currently a Director or a high-level Engineering Manager ready to step up

• Someone who:

– Operates with urgency and accountability

– Brings practical, hands-on experience

– Can quickly assess gaps and implement structure

– Thrives in a collaborative, team-first environment

Why This Role Stands Out

• Lead engineering through a major growth phase (targeting significant revenue expansion)

• High visibility with direct impact on company performance and direction

• Significant investment in equipment, technology, and infrastructure

• Exposure to stable, high-demand industries (defense, power generation, semiconductor)

• Strong leadership team and low turnover environment

• Ability to build systems and processes the right way

The Environment

This is a hands-on, execution-focused leadership team that values collaboration, accountability, and results. You won’t be sitting on the sidelines — this role requires someone who is visible, engaged, and willing to lead from the front.

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Director of Engineering

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