Engineering Manager

Senneca Holdings•Mankato, MN

17d•Onsite

About The Position

The Engineering Manager leads the Engineering Department at the company’s Mankato, Minnesota facility, overseeing a team of Senior Design Engineers, Design Engineers, drafting professionals, and Engineering Technicians supporting Industrial, Aviation, and Research & Development product lines. The role provides strategic and operational leadership to develop a high-performing, data-driven engineering organization that supports current production and advances new product development to meet customer needs and drive profitable growth. The Engineering Manager is responsible for talent development, product innovation, quality improvement, project execution, process improvement, and cross-functional collaboration. The position establishes performance expectations and meaningful KPIs, measures results, and strengthens partnerships across Sales, Operations, Manufacturing, and Executive Leadership. The role reports to the General Manager and directly manages Senior Design Engineers for Industrial Commercial, Aviation, and Research & Development. Design Engineers, drafting personnel, and Engineering Technicians are indirect reports. The company offers company-paid life insurance, short- and long-term disability insurance, three weeks of paid time off, nine paid holidays in 2026, parental leave, a 401(k) with company match, medical, dental, and vision coverage, employee discount programs, optional benefits, career development and tuition assistance, and a diverse, inclusive, and welcoming culture.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related field.
At least 7 years of engineering experience in a manufacturing environment.
At least 3 years of engineering leadership or supervisory experience.
Experience leading technical teams and managing multiple priorities.
Experience with CAD systems such as SolidWorks, Inventor, Creo, AutoCAD, or similar.
Strong project management and organizational skills.
Strong verbal and written communication skills.

Nice To Haves

Experience in commercial door systems, industrial equipment, building products, architectural products, or other engineered-to-order manufacturing environments.
Experience leading engineering organizations through a transition from highly customized, make-to-order offerings toward greater product standardization, design reuse, manufacturability, and operational efficiency while maintaining customer-focused solutions.
Demonstrated success reducing product complexity, improving material utilization, increasing manufacturing efficiency, and establishing scalable engineering standards.
Experience leading new product development initiatives.
Lean Manufacturing and/or Six Sigma experience.
ERP/MRP system experience.
Master’s degree in Engineering, Engineering Management, Business Administration, or a related field.

Responsibilities

Lead, develop, and hold Engineering staff accountable through coaching, performance management, succession planning, and professional development.
Establish departmental goals, priorities, and performance expectations aligned with business objectives.
Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Direct workload planning, resource allocation, and project execution across engineering programs.
Establish and maintain engineering standards, processes, best practices, and KPIs; use performance data to prioritize resources, drive improvements, and measure results.
Lead a disciplined new product development process that balances production support with long-term growth initiatives and supports successful execution and commercialization.
Identify opportunities for product improvement, cost reduction, manufacturability enhancement, and competitive differentiation.
Partner with Sales, Marketing, and Operations to align engineering priorities with business and customer requirements.
Ensure engineering outputs meet customer, regulatory, manufacturing, and quality requirements.
Improve engineering quality through design accuracy, root-cause analysis, corrective actions, and continuous improvement initiatives.
Review and approve significant engineering changes and technical decisions.
Collaborate with Operations, Production, Sales, Supply Chain, Quality, and Project Management to support business objectives, remove technical barriers, improve production flow, and advance strategic initiatives.
Serve as the primary engineering representative for major business initiatives.
Champion Lean principles and continuous improvement methodologies to improve engineering productivity, quality, lead time, capacity, scalability, and cost performance.
Improve Supply Chain visibility to material demand.