Job Summary:
The Engineering Manager is responsible for leading and coordinating plant automation, Manufacturing Engineering, and engineering project execution to improve manufacturing performance, increase unattended production, strengthen project delivery, and reduce manufacturing cost. This role bridges engineering and production by ensuring automation systems and engineering projects are reliable, maintainable, properly prioritized, and executed to defined scope, schedule, budget, and operational objectives.
The Engineering Manager directly manages, coaches, and develops assigned Automation and Manufacturing Engineering employees, Automation Technicians, and assigned Project Management/Project Engineering resources. The role partners closely with Customer’s, Manufacturing leadership, Production, Process Engineering, Tooling, Maintenance, Quality, Program Management, and Continuous Improvement. Process Engineering remains under Manufacturing leadership and serves as a cross-functional partner to this role rather than a directly supervised function.
This position is accountable for daily work direction, resource allocation, engineering project portfolio oversight, project execution, employee development, performance feedback, and maintaining a safe, responsive, and results-oriented engineering and project-management function.
Success in this role is measured by increased Customer satisfaction through the project quote and launch process, increased unattended production hours, improved OEE, reduced downtime, faster cycle times, improved quality at the source, higher equipment throughput, on-time project delivery, budget performance, milestone attainment, effective risk management, team performance, safety compliance, equipment reliability, and sustainable cost savings.
Pay: $120,000-$150,000 annually
Company Overview:
PTA Plastics, an employee-owned and innovative leader in the plastic injection molding, contract manufacturing and tool-building industry, is looking for an Engineering Manager to join our dynamic team.
At PTA Plastics, we’re more than just a manufacturer; we partner with Fortune 500 OEMs in the medical device, defense, homeland security, and technology sectors, constantly pushing the boundaries of product development and manufacturing excellence. As an employee-owned company, every team member has a stake in our success, creating a collaborative and entrepreneurial environment where innovation thrives.
Essential Duties/Responsibilities:
Leadership & Team Development
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Lead, mentor, and develop assigned Manufacturing and Automation Engineers, Automation Technicians, and Project Management/Project Engineering resources; establish clear expectations, provide regular coaching and feedback, conduct performance discussions, and support individual development and succession planning.
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Establish daily and project priorities aligned with production requirements and strategic business objectives; assign work, balance workloads, monitor progress, and adjust Automation, Manufacturing Engineering, and Project Management resources in response to changing operational needs.
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Manage day-to-day team performance, including attendance, work quality, responsiveness, collaboration, and completion of assigned priorities; address performance or conduct concerns promptly and partner with Human Resources as appropriate.
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Build team capability through structured onboarding, cross-training, technical skill development, and knowledge-sharing; identify skill gaps and recommend training, tools, or staffing support.
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Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, disciplined project execution, and continuous improvement within the Automation, Manufacturing Engineering, and Engineering Projects team while maintaining a strong service mindset toward production and internal customers.
Automation & Manufacturing Engineering
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Provide technical leadership and guidance for automation system design, programming, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement initiatives while ensuring the team follows established engineering, documentation, and change-control practices.
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Develop standardized Automation and Manufacturing Engineering practices across the facility and promote consistent project-management methods for planning, documentation, change control, issue escalation, troubleshooting, and equipment support.
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Collaborate with the Corporate Engineering Manager to execute the company's long-term automation strategy and technology roadmap and translate strategic priorities into actionable site-level plans, milestones, and resource requirements.
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Support lights-out manufacturing initiatives where practical by improving process stability, automated fault recovery, part handling, inspection, data collection, and escalation methods.
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Reduce operator dependency through poka-yoke and smart automation while ensuring solutions are intuitive, maintainable, and appropriately validated.
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Develop and maintain standards for robot programming, automation programming, electrical schematics, PLC programming, end-of-arm tooling, spare parts, preventive maintenance, and troubleshooting documentation; ensure backups, revisions, and critical spare-parts information are accurate and accessible.
Engineering Project Management
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Ensure engineering and project-management resources are focused on initiatives that deliver the greatest operational and business impact, including increasing unattended production, improving throughput, supporting successful launches, and reducing manufacturing costs; define priorities using data, business impact, customer commitments, risk, and available capacity.
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Lead and oversee automation and engineering projects from concept through production, including equipment specifications, vendor coordination, FAT/SAT support, installation, validation, debugging, operator training, and documentation; establish scope, schedule, budget, resource plans, risks, acceptance criteria, and post-launch follow-up.
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Provide oversight of the assigned engineering project portfolio; coordinate internal and external resources, manage vendor performance, and communicate project status, milestones, budget performance, risks, decisions, dependencies, and recovery plans to stakeholders and leadership.
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Establish and maintain consistent project-management practices for project charters, scope definition, schedules, budgets, resource plans, action tracking, risk and issue management, change control, stakeholder communication, and project closeout.
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Lead regular project reviews to evaluate schedule, budget, milestone status, technical risk, resource constraints, customer or program commitments, and overall project health; establish and track recovery plans when projects deviate from expectations.
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Coordinate resource planning across Automation, Manufacturing Engineering, and Engineering Projects while partnering with Manufacturing leadership to secure Process Engineering support when required; maintain clear functional ownership and accountability across project teams.
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Ensure effective project handoffs from concept and customer/program requirements through engineering execution, manufacturing launch, production readiness, documentation, and post-launch closeout.
Operational Excellence & Performance
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Identify automation opportunities that improve labor productivity, quality, safety, repeatability, capacity, ergonomics, and manufacturing cost; develop business cases and prioritize opportunities based on measurable return and operational value.
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Establish and review automation and engineering project performance metrics, including downtime, mean time to repair, repeat failures, unattended run time, milestone attainment, on-time project completion, budget performance, risk closure, and realized savings; use trends to drive corrective and preventive action.
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Support root-cause analysis and corrective action for chronic automation failures, quality escapes, and production interruptions; ensure countermeasures are documented and sustained.
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Maintain availability to support critical production or engineering project needs outside normal working hours when business conditions require, consistent with company practices.
Cross-Functional Partnership, Capital & Safety
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Partner closely with Manufacturing leadership, Production, and Process Engineering, as well as Maintenance, Tooling, Quality, and Program Management, to ensure automation and engineering projects are production-ready, properly supported, and aligned with customer and program requirements. Process Engineering remains owned by Manufacturing and provides technical process support through cross-functional project teams.
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Participate in capital planning and budget development; monitor project and portfolio spending, identify cost and schedule risks, and support purchase justification for automation equipment, engineering projects, software, services, and spare parts.
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Ensure all automation equipment meets company safety standards and applicable OSHA, ANSI, and RIA requirements throughout design, integration, commissioning, and ongoing operation.
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Promote safe machine design, lockout/tagout compliance, and risk reduction in all automation systems; ensure required risk assessments, guarding reviews, safety validations, and employee training are completed.
Management Responsibilities
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Directly manage assigned Automation and Manufacturing Engineering employees, Automation Technicians, and assigned Project Management/Project Engineering resources.
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Process Engineering is not a direct-report function of this position and remains under Manufacturing leadership; collaborate with Process Engineering as a key technical partner for molding process development, validation, optimization, and production support.
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Plan and assign work across Automation, Manufacturing Engineering, and Engineering Projects; establish priorities, deadlines, project milestones, and performance expectations consistent with production and business needs.
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Provide ongoing coaching, recognition, development planning, and timely performance feedback; participate in hiring, onboarding, performance reviews, corrective action, and succession planning.
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Promote professional conduct, teamwork, accountability, and effective communication across shifts, departments, and locations.
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Ensure adequate coverage and escalation support for production, launches, shutdown activities, critical automation issues, and high-priority engineering projects.
Qualifications & Requirements:
Education & Experience
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Associate or Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Mechatronics, Robotics, Automation, Electrical Engineering, or related field preferred; equivalent combination of education and relevant experience may be considered.
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5+ years of engineering experience in manufacturing with increasing responsibility in automation, controls, robotics, or manufacturing systems.
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2+ years of supervisory or leadership experience required; experience directly managing technical employees strongly preferred.
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Experience within injection molding strongly preferred, including familiarity with molding machines, auxiliary equipment, part handling, secondary operations, and production support.
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Working knowledge of PLC programming and troubleshooting; experience with industrial networks, HMIs, servo systems, sensors, and machine controls preferred.
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Experience and knowledge with machine vision systems and automated inspection applications.
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Understanding and knowledge of automated assembly systems and end-of-arm tooling design, application, and troubleshooting.
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Strong project management skills with demonstrated ability to manage scope, schedule, budget, vendors, risks, and multiple competing priorities.
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Demonstrated people-leadership skills, including coaching, delegation, performance management, conflict resolution, and team development.
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Strong analytical and structured problem-solving skills, with the ability to use production and equipment data to identify priorities and verify results.
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Effective written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate technical information to operators, technicians, engineers, vendors, and leadership.
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Proficiency with standard business and engineering software; experience with CMMS, project tracking, CAD, or manufacturing data systems preferred.
Physical Requirements:
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Ability to stand, walk, and move around the production floor for extended periods.
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Capable of lifting and carrying heavy objects weighing up to 50 pounds.
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Manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination for handling small tools, machine components, and molds.
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Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and adapt to changing priorities.
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Comfortable wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) such as safety glasses, gloves, and ear protection.
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Occasional bending, kneeling, and reaching to access equipment and perform maintenance tasks.
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Good vision and color perception for inspecting parts and identifying any defects or abnormalities.
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Ability to work in temperature-controlled environments and withstand exposure to noise levels associated with manufacturing machinery.
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Ability to receive, comprehend and utilize required training from OSHA and Company including but not limited to the following:
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Hazard Communication
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Lock Out/Tag Out
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First Aid and CPR (optional)
Equal Employment Opportunity & ADA Compliance Statement:
PTA Plastics is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, PTA Plastics will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations in the hiring process and in the workplace.
If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application or interview process or to perform essential job functions, please contact [email protected]
Pursuant to the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), PTA Plastics does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities in any aspect of employment, including hiring, job assignments, promotions, compensation, benefits, training, discipline, and termination.
This job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed. It is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required. Employees may be required to perform other duties as assigned.
