PERL COE Engineer

Kearney•Chicago, IL

23h

About The Position

As a COE Engineer, you will help build and deliver a new technical Center of Excellence focused on cost transparency, manufacturability, producibility, and design-to-value for complex Aerospace & Defense and advanced industrial products. You will analyze how components, assemblies, and systems are designed, manufactured, sourced, qualified, and costed, then translate technical findings into practical recommendations for supplier negotiations, design optimization, sourcing strategy, production readiness, and cost reduction. The role sits at the intersection of engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, and commercial strategy. It is intended for a hands-on technical problem solver who can evaluate drawings, specifications, bills of material, manufacturing routings, supplier inputs, process assumptions, labor content, material yield, tooling, quality, overhead, and supplier economics to develop credible cost and producibility insights.

Requirements

U.S. citizen with the ability to support ITAR or restricted Aerospace & Defense work.
Have 5+ years of experience in engineering, manufacturing engineering, cost engineering, supplier engineering, operations, product engineering, design engineering, systems engineering, producibility, DFM, DTV, or value engineering.
Bring experience from aerospace, defense, space, propulsion, naval, electronics, nuclear, automotive, industrial equipment, complex mechanical systems, advanced manufacturing, or similar sectors.
Possess a strong understanding of manufacturing processes including machining, casting, forging, welding, fabrication, composites, additive manufacturing, electronics assembly, final assembly, testing, tooling, inspection, and quality.
Able to read and interpret engineering drawings, GD&T, tolerance requirements, specifications, CAD outputs, bills of material, manufacturing routings, materials, and supplier technical inputs.
Able to estimate cost from structured assumptions, including materials, labor, cycle time, yields, scrap, tooling, overhead, quality requirements, and supplier economics.
Understand design and manufacturing tradeoffs involving tolerance, material selection, process selection, assembly complexity, qualification, reliability, scalability, and producibility.
Able to identify cost drivers, complexity drivers, manufacturability risks, supplier feasibility constraints, and production ramp challenges.
Possess strong analytical skills and are comfortable working with Excel-based cost models, structured assumptions, and quantitative problem solving.
Communicate technical findings clearly to both engineering and business stakeholders.
Bring practical manufacturing experience, including plant, supplier, shop-floor, production engineering, manufacturing launch, supplier development, or production ramp experience.
Comfortable with ambiguity, fast learning, client-facing problem solving, and translating technical analysis into business impact.

Nice To Haves

Prior experience in should-cost, design-to-cost, design-to-value, value engineering, DFM, producibility, supplier development, manufacturing launch, production ramp, sourcing support, or technical negotiations.
Exposure to complex, low-volume/high-complexity manufacturing environments.
Experience working with cross-functional teams across engineering, manufacturing, procurement, supply chain, finance, quality, and program management.
Familiarity with supplier quote analysis, cost breakdowns, RFQ support, technical negotiation preparation, or teardown and benchmark analysis.

Responsibilities

Develop should-cost models for complex components, assemblies, systems, and supplier quotes.
Assess manufacturing cost using drawings, specifications, bills of material, routing assumptions, labor content, cycle time, material usage, yield, tooling, quality requirements, overhead, and supplier economics.
Identify supplier cost drivers, manufacturing complexity, cost outliers, margin opportunities, and commercial negotiation levers.
Evaluate design choices for cost, manufacturability, producibility, scalability, qualification risk, and supplier feasibility.
Identify over-specification, avoidable complexity, tolerance-driven cost, material or process inefficiencies, assembly challenges, and production ramp risks.
Compare alternate manufacturing processes, product architectures, sourcing approaches, and make-versus-buy options.
Translate technical analysis into actionable recommendations for engineering, sourcing, supplier management, operations, and executive stakeholders.
Support client-facing problem solving in ambiguous environments through rapid hypothesis development, technical validation, and structured communication of findings.
Help codify reusable COE tools, benchmarks, cost models, playbooks, and analytical methods.

Benefits

Generous retirement/pension savings contributions
Comprehensive medical insurance for employees and immediate family
Gym membership discounts
Structured and on-the-job learning and development opportunities
Personalized opportunities including talent mobility, flexible work programs, and externships to help you chart a unique career journey to pursue your own personal and professional goals
paid time off
401(k) match and profit sharing
medical, dental and vision coverage
healthcare concierge
backup child/adult care
annual employer HSA contribution
home office stipend
subsidized Gympass and annual wellness program
leaves of absence when needed to support employees’ physical, mental, and emotional well-being