Lead Pre-Sales Engineer - CNC Machining

Fathom Mfg • Hartland, WI

11h • $120,000 - $135,000

About The Position

Fathom Manufacturing is seeking a customer-facing technical and commercial leader to support growth in its aerospace and defense business. The Lead Pre-Sales Engineer will lead Pre-Sales Applications Engineers, guide complex opportunities, and translate customer requirements into competitive, profitable, and executable manufacturing proposals.

The role partners closely with Sales and customer engineering and procurement teams throughout discovery, qualification, presentations, negotiations, and closing. It owns technical strategy for complex CNC quotations, develops manufacturing concepts and DFM proposals, supports NRE and capital-investment business cases, and ensures customer-specific requirements and execution risks are identified. The role also leads technical handoffs for awarded work and uses quote-to-actual results to improve future estimates and proposals.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, or a related field, or equivalent precision-manufacturing experience.
• Experience supporting aerospace and defense customers, including technical proposals and engagement with customer engineering and procurement teams.
• Deep CNC applications engineering, estimating, or manufacturing engineering experience with machining methods, materials, GD&T, tooling, workholding, and inspection.
• Proven technical selling and business development skills, including presenting solutions, addressing objections, and supporting negotiations.
• Strong commercial judgment in manufacturing cost modeling, pricing, margin analysis, NRE development, and capital justification.
• Experience leading engineering teams, managing competing priorities, and maintaining accountability for results.
• Ability to interpret complex drawings and CAD models and communicate effectively with technical and commercial audiences.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop Applications Engineers; set priorities and ensure proposal quality, responsiveness, and accountability.
• Partner with Sales throughout discovery, opportunity qualification, technical presentations, negotiations, and closing activities.
• Engage customer engineering and procurement teams to understand requirements, timing, priorities, and manufacturing challenges.
• Own the technical strategy and completeness of complex CNC quotations, including materials, processes, cycle times, tooling, programming, outside processing, inspection, volumes, and delivery requirements.
• Lead proposal reviews, validate assumptions and risks, and partner with Sales and Finance on pricing, margins, and commercial positioning.
• Develop manufacturing concepts and lead customer-facing DFM discussions based on geometry, materials, tolerances, volume, capability, and execution risk.
• Develop NRE proposals and support capital-investment business cases for tooling, engineering, qualification, equipment, and new capabilities.
• Identify quality, documentation, traceability, security, contractual, and customer-specific requirements during qualification and quoting.
• Lead the technical handoff of awarded work and use quote-to-actual results to improve future estimates and proposals.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Life insurance and short-term and long-term disability insurance.
• Paid time off, floating holidays, volunteer time off, and sick time off, depending on state of employment.
• 401k plan.
• Discounts on products and services.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior