Director of Engineering
About The Position
The Director of Engineering leads Future Form’s Sales Engineering function across all locations and owns the quoting, estimating, and design-for-manufacturability process. The role converts customer drawings and RFQs into accurate, profitable, on-time quotes and production-ready orders. It sets departmental strategy, standards, KPIs, and staffing; develops the Sales Engineer I–III team; and partners with Sales, Operations, Supply Chain, and Quality to protect margin, grow revenue, and ensure jobs are released to production correctly. The Director also leads the NPI team, manages department resources and budget, oversees customer change orders and engineering change documentation, and ensures production releases include complete and accurate information. The position reports to the President and works with customers, vendors, and cross-functional teams. It includes travel between Future Form locations and occasional travel to customer sites. The work environment is an office with regular shop-floor time, with light office noise and moderate shop noise; occasional exposure to dust, heat, and cold. Drug testing is required per policy. The schedule is Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Requirements
- 10+ years of experience in precision sheet metal, fabrication, or related manufacturing, including quoting/estimating and engineering.
- 5+ years leading engineering, estimating, or technical teams, including hiring, coaching, and performance management.
- Expert understanding of sheet metal fabrication processes, including laser, punch, press brake, welding, machining, powder coat, hardware insertion, and assembly, and their cost drivers.
- Demonstrated ability to build or improve a quoting/estimating process with measurable gains in turnaround, accuracy, and margin.
- Strong financial acumen, including cost modeling, margin analysis, pricing strategy, and labor/material standards.
- Advanced blueprint reading, GD&T, and 2-D drawing standards.
- SolidWorks experience in design, modeling, and drawing creation, with ability to review and approve team work.
- Ability to communicate technical and commercial information clearly to customers, executives, and shop-floor teams.
- Ability to influence at all levels and lead cross-functional problem solving.
- Strong computer skills, including Excel, Word, Outlook, and ERP systems.
- Organizational skills and ability to manage multiple changing priorities under deadline pressure.
- Ability to take actions that set up and enable other team members for success.
- Professionalism in the workplace.
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, or Industrial Engineering, or a related technical field; equivalent progressive experience is considered.
- Experience in data center enclosure, electrical enclosure, or rack/cabinet manufacturing.
- Experience leading a team across multiple sites.
- Experience with ERP quoting/estimating modules (e.g., NetSuite) and quoting software implementation.
- Lean/Six Sigma training or certification.
- Familiarity with sheet metal nesting and CAM software.
- Normal vision, with or without corrective lenses, and hearing, with or without corrective hearing aids.
- Follow all OSHA safety regulations and Future Form safety rules.
Responsibilities
- Lead, hire, develop, and manage the Sales Engineering team across all Future Form locations, including goal setting, performance reviews, and career progression.
- Lead the NPI (new product introduction) team.
- Set quoting and estimating strategy, priorities, and staffing aligned with company growth goals; present plans and results to the President/CEO.
- Own the end-to-end RFQ-to-order process, including intake, review, estimating, pricing, quote delivery, follow-up, and order entry.
- Establish and maintain estimating standards, labor rates, material usage models, and pricing guidelines across sites.
- Review and approve quotes above defined dollar, complexity, or margin thresholds before customer release.
- Define, track, and report department KPIs, including quote turnaround time, win/hit rate, quoted-versus-actual margin, order accuracy, and change-order response time.
- Lead quoted-versus-actual reviews with Operations and Finance to identify and address margin erosion on new and repeat jobs.
- Drive design for manufacturability and cost reduction with customers and internal teams, partnering with Manufacturing Engineering.
- Partner with Sales leadership on account strategy, new business development, pricing decisions, and key customer meetings.
- Serve as the senior technical point of contact for customers on complex quotes, design reviews, and engineering changes.
- Oversee customer change-order management and engineering change documentation; ensure changes are released to production accurately and quickly.
- Ensure production releases include complete, accurate information, including drawings, routings, materials, and outside processes.
- Coordinate with Supply Chain on material and outside-process pricing; establish supplier price inquiry standards.
- Lead new-job and new-product kickoff meetings with Production, Quality, and Supply Chain.
- Develop standard work and a formal, documented training program for the Sales Engineering career ladder.
- Evaluate and implement quoting, estimating, and CAD tools and ERP improvements; partner with the Director of Technology on systems.
- Manage department budget and resource planning.
- Travel between Future Form locations and to customer sites as needed.
- Maintain the responsibilities of the ISO 9001 system in accordance with the Quality Manual and Procedure Level documentation.
- Participate actively and positively in Lean activities.
- Follow OSHA safety regulations and those set by Future Form.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
