Senior Manufacturing Engineer

Path Robotics•Columbus, OH

18d•Onsite

About The Position

Path Robotics is seeking a Senior Manufacturing Engineer to shape how robotic welding cells are built as the company scales. The role leads lean and continuous improvement work across the production floor and plays a central role in planning production layouts for new facilities. It reports to the Director of Manufacturing Operations. The engineer will lead facility layout planning from concept through move-in, design intra-factory material flow, and manage transitions into new production space while minimizing disruption. The role also maps value streams, develops takt-time, line-balancing, and capacity models, leads improvement events, develops standard work, and defines and tracks operational KPIs. The engineer partners with supply chain, build leadership, Quality, design engineering, ERP and inventory system owners, technicians, and supervisors to improve production flow and support new product releases. The position is performed on-site at Path Robotics' Columbus, Ohio facility, split between the office and production floor. It includes regular standing and walking on the manufacturing floor, occasional lifting up to 50 pounds, exposure to typical manufacturing conditions, and occasional travel to building sites, suppliers, and equipment vendors (estimated under 10%).

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Manufacturing, Industrial or Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
At least 7 years of manufacturing engineering experience in a production environment.
Proven experience leading production facility layout projects, such as a new building, plant expansion, or line relocation, from concept through move-in.
Strong understanding of factory design, line layout, and intra-factory logistics for hardware manufacturing, including fabricated structures, electromechanical assemblies, wiring, and controls.
Experience supporting new products from introduction through production ramp.
Hands-on lean manufacturing experience with measurable results from value stream mapping, kaizen, 5S, standard work, and pull systems.
Track record of building a continuous improvement culture on the production floor.
Proficiency in CAD for layout work (AutoCAD and/or SolidWorks) and ability to read engineering drawings.
Comfort with data, including time studies, capacity models, and line-balancing analysis in Excel or similar tools.
Clear communicator able to lead cross-functional projects and earn buy-in from technicians through senior leadership.
Self-starter comfortable with ambiguity and limited resources in a fast-growing company.
Must be local to Columbus, Ohio, or willing to relocate.
Ability to lift up to 50 pounds occasionally.
Ability to comply with applicable U.S. export control regulations, which may include meeting the definition of a U.S. Person where required.

Nice To Haves

Experience in low-volume, high-mix assembly of complex electromechanical equipment, machinery, or automation systems.
Experience with plant layout or flow simulation tools.
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification.
Experience with robotics, welding, or industrial automation.

Responsibilities

Lead production layout planning for new buildings from initial concept through move-in, including process and material flow, workstation design, storage strategy, utilities, equipment placement, and traffic patterns.
Partner with supply chain and build leadership to develop layouts that support current production volume and planned growth.
Plan and manage production transitions into new space while minimizing disruption to build schedules.
Design intra-factory material flow from receiving and storage through kitting, line-side delivery, work-in-progress movement, and shipment of finished cells.
Map current- and future-state value streams across build, kitting, and test, using data and simulation where useful to prioritize improvements.
Lead continuous improvement events, including kaizen, 5S, and standard work, to reduce lead time, work in progress, rework, and cost; implement changes, measure impact, and iterate.
Build takt-time, line-balancing, and capacity models to size workstations, staffing, and floor space.
Identify and resolve flow imbalances caused by inventory processes, layouts, part shortages, or staffing constraints, coordinating solutions with Supply Chain, Quality, and design engineering.
Develop standard work, work instructions, and visual management with technicians and supervisors.
Design fixtures, tooling, and material presentation, including kanban and point-of-use storage, to improve flow and ergonomics.
Define and track operational KPIs, including cycle time, throughput, first-pass yield, on-time delivery, line-side material availability, inventory accuracy, work-in-progress dwell time, and material-driven downtime; report progress to operations leadership.
Work with ERP and inventory system owners to keep material movement data accurate and visible in real time.
Work with design engineering on design for manufacturability and assembly as new products and configurations are released to the floor.
Coach engineers and technicians in lean tools and structured problem solving, including A3, root cause analysis, and PDCA.