Senior Manufacturing Engineer

Path Robotics•Columbus, OH

6d•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 across the production floor and plays a central part in planning production layouts for new facilities. It reports to the Director of Manufacturing Operations. The engineer will plan facility and material-flow layouts from concept through move-in, support transitions into new production space, improve build, kitting, and test processes, and develop capacity models, standard work, fixtures, and performance measures. The position works closely with supply chain, build leadership, technicians, supervisors, quality, design engineering, and operations leadership to improve production flow and support new products as they enter production. This role is performed on-site at Path Robotics' Columbus, Ohio facility, split between office and production-floor work. It may support U.S. Government contract work and involve export-controlled information or Controlled Unclassified Information. Candidates must be able to comply with applicable U.S. export-control regulations, which may include meeting the definition of a U.S. Person where required. Employment may be contingent on a background check.

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 using Excel or similar tools.
Clear communication skills and ability to lead cross-functional projects and gain 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 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, covering process and material flow, workstation design, storage, 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 the transition of production 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 finished-cell shipment.
Map current- and future-state value streams across build, kitting, and test, using data and simulation where useful to prioritize floor improvements.
Lead kaizen, 5S, and standard-work continuous improvement events to reduce lead time, work in progress, rework, and cost; implement, measure, and iterate on changes.
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 fixes 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 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 maintain accurate, real-time visibility into material movement data.
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.