About the Position
Role: Manufacturing Process Engineer
Reports to: Engineering Manager
Location: In Office, Ventura, California
Status: Full Time, Hourly
Industry: Defense, Space, Aircraft, Medical
Position Summary
The Manufacturing Process Engineer is responsible for owning, improving, validating, and sustaining the manufacturing processes used to produce high-precision wire and cable assemblies at Strand Products, a 100% employee-owned manufacturer serving the medical device, aerospace, and defense industries.
This is a hands-on, production-focused role with a strong presence on the manufacturing floor. The Manufacturing Process Engineer works cross-functionally with Engineering, Quality, Production, Maintenance, and Supply Chain to improve process capability, quality, throughput, equipment performance, labor efficiency, and manufacturing cost. A central responsibility of the role is converting improvement opportunities into stable, documented, repeatable production processes through automation, tooling, equipment, data, and disciplined process control.
The role also owns the manufacturing-engineering handoff from New Product Introduction (NPI) into sustaining production. The Manufacturing Process Engineer ensures new processes are production-ready before transfer, establishes clear acceptance criteria and documentation, closes transfer gaps, and remains accountable for process performance after release to production.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Production Process Ownership & Continuous Improvement
- Own assigned manufacturing processes from release through sustaining production, including process performance, capability, documentation, and improvement.
- Develop, validate, standardize, document, and continuously improve manufacturing methods and process controls.
- Analyze production data and manufacturing KPIs to identify constraints, recurring defects, sources of variation, excessive labor content, downtime, and cost opportunities.
- Lead improvements that increase throughput, yield, first-pass quality, OEE, capacity, and labor efficiency while reducing scrap, rework, downtime, and process variation.
- Perform time studies, capacity analysis, line balancing, workflow analysis, and workstation/process optimization as appropriate.
- Use structured problem-solving and statistical methods, including capability studies, GR&R, DOE, trend analysis, and Minitab, to make data-based process decisions.
- Design and optimize tooling, fixtures, workholding, and production methods to improve repeatability, ergonomics, safety, quality, and cycle time.
- Lead Lean, Kaizen, waste-reduction, standard-work, and other continuous-improvement initiatives.
- Establish and monitor meaningful process metrics and verify that implemented improvements deliver sustained results.
- Identify and implement cost-reduction opportunities through process optimization, automation, waste elimination, material utilization, and equipment improvements.
Automation, Equipment & Manufacturing Technology
- Identify manufacturing operations that are strong candidates for automation or semi-automation based on safety, quality, repeatability, labor content, capacity, and return on investment.
- Develop business cases and technical requirements for automation and equipment projects, including expected benefits, risks, implementation needs, and measurable success criteria.
- Specify, source, install, qualify, and integrate manufacturing equipment and automated systems.
- Lead or support automation initiatives involving PLC-controlled equipment, machine vision, sensors, data acquisition, motion control, error-proofing, and manufacturing equipment integration.
- Work with internal teams, integrators, and equipment suppliers from concept through factory/site acceptance, installation, qualification, training, and production release.
- Ensure new equipment and automation are safe, maintainable, documented, validated as required, and practical for production operators and maintenance personnel.
- Collaborate with Maintenance to improve equipment reliability, preventive maintenance effectiveness, uptime, and long-term supportability.
- Develop tooling, fixtures, and 3D-printed solutions when they provide an effective and scalable manufacturing improvement.
NPI-to-Sustaining Production Transfer
- Serve as the manufacturing-process owner for the transition of new products and processes from NPI into sustaining production.
- Partner with Product/Design Engineering, Quality, Production, Supply Chain, and other stakeholders during NPI to ensure manufacturability, process capability, production readiness, and scalability.
- Define and use clear production-transfer criteria covering equipment and tooling readiness, validated processes, work instructions, training, BOMs, routers, PFMEAs, Control Plans, inspection requirements, capacity, and unresolved risks.
- Lead or support IQ/OQ/PQ, process verification, capability studies, pilot builds, validation protocols, and validation reports required for production release.
- Identify and close manufacturing gaps before handoff, including unstable processes, incomplete documentation, unclear operator methods, inadequate tooling, capacity constraints, and unresolved quality risks.
- Confirm operators and support functions are trained and that production can execute the process consistently before formal transfer.
- Establish post-transfer monitoring and follow-up to verify that process capability, yield, cycle time, quality, and output remain stable as production volume increases.
- Take ownership of sustaining-process improvements after transfer and feed production learning back into future NPI activity.
Quality, Production Support & Cross-Functional Ownership
- Provide daily production engineering support and maintain regular presence on the manufacturing floor to understand processes firsthand.
- Troubleshoot manufacturing issues using structured root-cause and problem-solving methods, and implement durable corrective actions rather than temporary fixes.
- Partner with Quality to investigate manufacturing-related nonconformances and customer complaints using 5 Why, Fishbone, FMEA, and related tools.
- Support MRB activities by providing technical evaluations, disposition recommendations, and resulting process improvements.
- Create and maintain work instructions, PFMEAs, Control Plans, BOMs, routers, process specifications, and engineering change documentation.
- Support cleanroom manufacturing operations and train production personnel on new or revised processes, equipment, tooling, and work instructions.
- Support applicable ISO 9001, AS9100, ISO 13485, customer, and audit requirements as they relate to manufacturing processes and engineering documentation.
- Build strong working relationships with Production, Quality, Maintenance, Supply Chain, and Engineering and communicate clearly with employees at all levels.
- Take ownership of assigned problems and projects from definition through implementation, verification, documentation, and sustained results.
- Share knowledge, listen to employees closest to the work, and contribute to a collaborative One Strand culture.
What Success Looks Like
Success in this role is measured by the ability to create stable, scalable, and efficient production processes; convert automation and continuous-improvement opportunities into sustained results; and ensure NPI programs transition cleanly into sustaining production.
- Delivers measurable, sustained improvements in throughput, yield, quality, labor efficiency, cost, capacity, reliability, or process capability.
- Identifies and implements practical automation and equipment improvements that reduce risk, variation, and unnecessary manual work.
- Creates clear production-transfer criteria and closes NPI handoff gaps before they become recurring sustaining-production problems.
- Establishes capable, repeatable, documented processes that production can execute consistently.
- Takes initiative and follows problems through to verified resolution rather than stopping at recommendation or temporary containment.
- Uses data and structured problem-solving rather than assumptions when evaluating manufacturing issues.
- Balances urgency with sound judgment, quality, safety, compliance, and attention to detail.
- Listens to employees closest to the work and uses their input to improve processes.
- Demonstrates accountability, curiosity, resourcefulness, creativity, collaboration, self-awareness, and humility.
- Builds trust across departments and contributes to a respectful, solutions-focused work environment.
Qualifications
- BS/MS Degree in Engineering or related field.
- 5 or more years of engineering experience in a medical device, aerospace, defense, or other regulated manufacturing environment.
- Demonstrated experience owning and improving production processes in a sustaining manufacturing environment.
- Demonstrated experience transitioning new products or processes from NPI/pilot production into stable sustaining production.
- Experience identifying, specifying, implementing, and validating manufacturing automation, equipment, tooling, or process-control improvements.
- Working knowledge of process validation, IQ/OQ/PQ, PFMEA, Control Plans, capability analysis, GR&R, DOE, root-cause analysis, and structured continuous improvement.
- Excellent analytical and computer skills including Minitab, SolidWorks (preferred), 3D printing, MRP or ERP systems, and Microsoft Office.
- Experience working within ISO 9001, AS9100, and/or ISO 13485 quality management systems.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to communicate effectively at all levels.
- Demonstrated high attention to detail and a process-oriented mindset focused on continuous improvement.
- Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to remain rational and effective in stressful situations.
- Collaborative work style with a strong sense of accountability, self-awareness, and humility.
- Results- and action-oriented with an appropriate sense of urgency.
The Person Who Will Thrive Here
Technical experience is important, but how you work is equally important. You will thrive at Strand if you are curious, resourceful, collaborative, accountable, and comfortable taking ownership of production processes. We value people who spend time where the work happens, ask questions, learn from operators and cross-functional partners, respectfully challenge existing methods, and turn ideas into practical, sustained improvements.
As an employee-owned company, we are looking for someone who wants to contribute, grow, and see the direct impact of their work on the success of the organization.
What You Can Expect From Strand
- Employee ownership through our ESOP program.
- Comprehensive benefits including health, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance.
- Paid holidays and up to 3 weeks of paid time off annually.
- The opportunity to work closely with leadership and multiple departments and see the direct impact of your work.
- Ownership of meaningful engineering and continuous-improvement projects.
- Opportunities to continue developing technical and leadership capabilities.
- The opportunity to contribute to innovative, high-precision products used in critical global applications.
Physical Requirements
- Ability to work in both office and manufacturing environments, including regular presence on the production floor.
- Ability to sit, stand, walk, bend, stoop, and use hands as needed for normal engineering and manufacturing-support activities.
- Ability to work with computer screens, technical drawings, detailed records, tools, fixtures, and production equipment as required by the role.
- Ability to comply with applicable cleanroom, PPE, safety, and manufacturing-area requirements.
Additional Information
This job description is a guide to the principal responsibilities of the position and is not all-inclusive. Responsibilities may evolve based on business and operational needs.
One Strand. One Purpose — to save, protect, and enhance lives.
