Senior Manager, Manufacturing Engineering & Facilities

Sapphire Technologies•Cypress, CA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Sapphire Technologies delivers power and cooling to energy infrastructure. Our FreeSpin ® In-line Turboexpander recovers the energy wasted when high-pressure gas is stepped down, converting it into clean electricity and low-temperature cooling. To better serve our customers in the data center industry, we are now expanding our high-speed turbo-machinery offerings into oil-free compressors for chilling applications. Our hands-on engineering team takes products from concept to field deployment, with work spanning rotating machinery, power electronics, controls, and systems integration. We are a mission-driven organization with one common goal: building a more sustainable world. Our employees are our biggest asset, and we are looking for change agents to join us on our journey. Position Summary: Sapphire Technologies is seeking a hands-on leader to build and lead the manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering, and facilities capabilities required to support the company's growth. This role is responsible for developing the production system, including manufacturing processes, facility layout, assembly and test infrastructure, tooling, equipment, capacity planning, technical documentation, and equipment reliability. The position supports industrialization and production of complex electro-mechanical equipment, including rotating machinery and associated electrical systems. It translates product designs and business requirements into safe, repeatable, and scalable manufacturing methods and factory infrastructure. This role also leads integrated planning for production, testing, material flow, offices, and customer-facing areas. This is a functional leadership role with significant hands-on involvement and will shape how an emerging energy-technology business builds and scales its manufacturing capabilities. The successful candidate will influence manufacturing decisions early in product development and have a direct impact on factory readiness, capacity, product quality, cost, and operational performance. It does not directly manage production operators or own daily production scheduling at this time and will be responsible for hiring and interviewing for future roles in Process Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, and Industrial Engineering as we continue to scale.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in mechanical, manufacturing, industrial engineering, or a related technical discipline, or an equivalent combination of relevant education and directly applicable experience.
10+ years of progressively responsible experience in manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering, industrialization, or a closely related function.
5+ years leading technical teams or substantial cross-functional manufacturing programs with responsibility for priorities, resources, and deliverables.
Experience with developing and improving assembly processes, production tooling, manufacturing documentation, equipment implementation, facility or production layouts, and capacity analysis.
Experience managing capital, equipment, facility, or infrastructure projects from requirements through implementation.
Working knowledge of DFM/DFA, engineering change control, structured problem-solving, lean manufacturing, and production-readiness practices.
Ability to interpret engineering drawings, technical specifications, and manufacturing requirements.
Strong project-management, financial-analysis, communication, and stakeholder-management skills.
Ability to combine hands-on technical work with functional leadership in a growing organization.
Experience supporting a factory startup, expansion, relocation, or manufacturing transfer.
Experience working with suppliers and/or contract manufacturers on technical transfer and production readiness.
Familiarity with ERP systems, digital manufacturing documentation, CAD or layout tools, and maintenance-management systems.
Experience working within an ISO 9001 or comparable quality-management environment.

Nice To Haves

Experience with rotating equipment, motors, generators, turbo-machinery, precision assemblies, or comparable industrial equipment.
Experience defining operational requirements for high-power electrical infrastructure, production test systems, and supporting utilities in an industrial environment.
Exposure to electrical assembly, power electronics, instrumentation, liquid cooling, or electro-mechanical production testing.

Responsibilities

Establish and Manage the manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering, and facilities function in alignment with product, production, and growth plans.
Develop and Manage a phased roadmap for manufacturing capability, facility readiness, equipment investment, process improvement, and technical staffing.
Establish and Manage process flows, assembly sequences, routings, work instructions, tooling requirements, and production-readiness criteria.
Partner with Design Engineering on design for manufacturability and assembly, including accessibility, tolerances, assembly methods, serviceability, and testability.
Plan and support pilot and production-intent builds, resolve manufacturing-readiness issues, and incorporate lessons learned into products and processes.
Own the integrated facility plan for manufacturing, testing, material flow, equipment, storage, office, collaboration, and customer-facing areas.
Define operational requirements for facility utilities, high-power electrical infrastructure, production test systems, lifting and handling equipment, environmental conditions, and supporting services.
Develop capacity models and evaluate bottlenecks, labor content, line balance, material movement, work-in-process, ergonomics, and space utilization.
Apply Lean Six Sigma manufacturing methods, standardized work, visual management, 5S, and structured continuous improvement.
Manage the specification, technical evaluation, installation, commissioning, and production hand-off of tooling, fixtures, equipment, and manufacturing test infrastructure.
Develop and Manage capital and facilities projects, including scope, cost, schedule, supplier performance, commissioning, and operational acceptance.
Support supplier APQP and PPAP through manufacturing-feasibility reviews, process-risk assessments, validation evidence, technical transfers, and production-readiness reviews.
Collaborate with Production, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, Marketing, and external partners to deliver business objectives.