Tooling Manager

AriensCo • Brillion, WI

6d

About The Position

AriensCo is seeking an experienced Tooling Manager to provide leadership and technical direction for its Tool & Die operations and Tool Design team in Brillion, Wisconsin. The position leads hourly toolmaking professionals and salaried tooling design staff, partnering with Engineering, Manufacturing, and other internal teams to meet tooling needs across the organization.

The manager leads and develops department employees, establishes goals, supports performance and succession planning, and promotes accountability, collaboration, safety, innovation, and continuous improvement. The role provides technical leadership for tooling design, development, procurement, validation, implementation, and improvement, while ensuring solutions meet safety, quality, manufacturability, maintainability, cost, and production requirements.

The position directs tooling work for new product development, launches, safety and quality initiatives, and manufacturing projects. It coordinates requirements, schedules, resources, and priorities; manages project risks, costs, and performance; and works with internal stakeholders to ensure tooling readiness. Strategic duties include evaluating manufacturing technologies and automation opportunities, developing investment justifications, supporting capital and budget planning, and improving departmental capacity and performance.

The Tooling Manager also leads cost-reduction, quality, productivity, and reliability initiatives; uses tooling performance and lifecycle information to improve tool life and uptime; establishes and monitors relevant performance indicators; and applies Lean and continuous improvement principles. Hands-on technical support, including tool, die, gauge, and fixture design, may be provided as departmental priorities allow.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related field, with 5–7+ years of progressively responsible experience in tooling, manufacturing, or product engineering; or an associate degree in Mechanical Design or a related technical field, with 7–10 years of relevant experience, including tool design and demonstrated experience leading tooling personnel.
• Experience leading tooling engineering, tool and die, or product development teams.
• Strong technical background in stamping, welding, machining, fixture design, automation, and manufacturing systems.
• Experience managing capital equipment and tooling projects.
• Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement experience.
• Experience supporting new product development and production launches.
• Authorization to work in the United States without sponsorship now or in the future.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, mentor, and develop tool and die makers, machinists, apprentices, and tool design staff.
• Provide day-to-day direction to hourly tool and die employees and salaried tool design employees.
• Establish departmental goals aligned with company objectives and tooling strategy.
• Conduct performance reviews, provide ongoing feedback and development planning, and support succession planning.
• Promote accountability, collaboration, innovation, safety, and continuous improvement.
• Facilitate communication among tool design, tool and die, engineering, manufacturing, and internal customers.
• Lead technical work for the design, development, procurement, validation, implementation, and improvement of dies, fixtures, gauges, automation equipment, and manufacturing machinery.
• Direct and support the design, detailing, development, and construction of tooling and right-sized manufacturing equipment.
• Review and approve tooling concepts, designs, and specifications.
• Support engineering standards, tooling design guidelines, and documentation practices.
• Ensure tooling solutions address safety, quality, manufacturability, maintainability, cost, and production requirements.
• Partner with product and manufacturing engineering on Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA).
• Provide hands-on tool, die, gauge, and fixture design support when appropriate to departmental priorities.
• Lead tooling activities for new product development, product launches, safety initiatives, quality improvements, and manufacturing projects.
• Coordinate tooling requirements, schedules, resources, and priorities, and manage multiple internal and externally sourced projects.
• Monitor project schedules, costs, risks, and performance to ensure completion on time and within requirements.
• Partner with Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering, Operations, and other stakeholders to ensure tooling readiness for product and process launches.
• Evaluate manufacturing technologies, automation opportunities, tooling methods, and equipment improvements.
• Develop cost justifications and business cases for tooling investments, automation, equipment, and other capital expenditures.
• Support annual capital planning and departmental budget development.
• Prioritize tooling and engineering resources according to launches, operational needs, productivity opportunities, and business priorities.
• Monitor departmental performance and identify opportunities to improve capacity, workflow, responsiveness, and cost.
• Lead tooling cost-reduction, quality-improvement, productivity, and reliability initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to reduce manual data entry and improve use of electronic systems and data.
• Analyze tooling performance and lifecycle information to improve reliability, tool life, uptime, and manufacturing performance.
• Establish and monitor KPIs for project execution, budget performance, tool life, downtime reduction, and manufacturing productivity.
• Apply Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement principles to tooling and engineering activities.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance effective the first day of employment.
• Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA) plan.
• 401(k) match and profit-sharing plans.
• Life insurance.
• Health Savings Accounts (HSA).
• Short-term disability.
• Parental leave.
• Onsite Marketplace Care Partners at all locations.
• Paid holidays.
• Employee Assistance Program.
• Tuition reimbursement and apprenticeship programs.
• Safety shoes and safety prescription glasses reimbursement.
• Employee Product Purchase Program.
• 50% daycare discount at Brillion Early Learning Center.
• 10% tuition discount at KinderCare Learning Centers nationwide, excluding Brillion Early Learning Center.
• Onsite health clinic at the Bellin Health Brillion Campus only.
• Nearsite and urgent care clinic options at the Brillion Campus only.

What This Job Offers

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