Senior Manager, Manufacturing Engineering & Facilities

Sapphire Technologies is seeking a hands-on leader to build
and lead the manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering, and facilities
capabilities required to support the company's growth. This role is responsible
for developing the production system, including manufacturing processes,
facility layout, assembly and test infrastructure, tooling, equipment, capacity
planning, technical documentation, and equipment reliability.

The position supports industrialization and production
of complex electro-mechanical equipment, including rotating machinery and
associated electrical systems. It translates product designs and business
requirements into safe, repeatable, and scalable manufacturing methods and
factory infrastructure. This role also leads integrated planning for
production, testing, material flow, offices, and customer-facing areas.

This is a functional leadership role with significant
hands-on involvement and will shape how an emerging energy-technology business
builds and scales its manufacturing capabilities. The successful candidate will
influence manufacturing decisions early in product development and have a
direct impact on factory readiness, capacity, product quality, cost, and
operational performance. It does not directly manage production operators or
own daily production scheduling at this time and will be responsible for hiring
and interviewing for future roles in Process Engineering, Manufacturing
Engineering, and Industrial Engineering as we continue to scale.

• Establish and Manage the manufacturing
  engineering, industrial engineering, and facilities function in alignment with
  product, production, and growth plans.
  
• Develop and Manage a phased roadmap for
  manufacturing capability, facility readiness, equipment investment, process
  improvement, and technical staffing.
  
• Establish and Manage process flows, assembly
  sequences, routings, work instructions, tooling requirements, and
  production-readiness criteria.
  
• Partner with Design Engineering on design for
  manufacturability and assembly, including accessibility, tolerances, assembly
  methods, serviceability, and testability.
  
• Plan and support pilot and production-intent
  builds, resolve manufacturing-readiness issues, and incorporate lessons learned
  into products and processes.
  
• Own the integrated facility plan for
  manufacturing, testing, material flow, equipment, storage, office,
  collaboration, and customer-facing areas.
  
• Define operational requirements for facility
  utilities, high-power electrical infrastructure, production test systems,
  lifting and handling equipment, environmental conditions, and supporting services.
  
• Develop capacity models and evaluate
  bottlenecks, labor content, line balance, material movement, work-in-process,
  ergonomics, and space utilization.
  
• Apply Lean Six Sigma manufacturing methods,
  standardized work, visual management, 5S, and structured continuous
  improvement.
  
• Manage the specification, technical evaluation,
  installation, commissioning, and production hand-off of tooling, fixtures,
  equipment, and manufacturing test infrastructure.
  
• Develop and Manage capital and facilities
  projects, including scope, cost, schedule, supplier performance, commissioning,
  and operational acceptance.
  
• Support supplier APQP and PPAP through
  manufacturing-feasibility reviews, process-risk assessments, validation
  evidence, technical transfers, and production-readiness reviews.
  
• Collaborate with Production, Engineering,
  Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, Marketing, and external partners to deliver
  business objectives.
  

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical, manufacturing,
  industrial engineering, or a related technical discipline, or an equivalent
  combination of relevant education and directly applicable experience.
  
• 10+ years of progressively responsible
  experience in manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering,
  industrialization, or a closely related function.
  
• 5+ years leading technical teams or substantial
  cross-functional manufacturing programs with responsibility for priorities,
  resources, and deliverables.
  
• Experience with developing and improving
  assembly processes, production tooling, manufacturing documentation, equipment
  implementation, facility or production layouts, and capacity analysis.
  
• Experience managing capital, equipment,
  facility, or infrastructure projects from requirements through implementation.
  
• Working knowledge of DFM/DFA, engineering change
  control, structured problem-solving, lean manufacturing, and
  production-readiness practices.
  
• Ability to interpret engineering drawings,
  technical specifications, and manufacturing requirements.
  
• Strong project-management, financial-analysis,
  communication, and stakeholder-management skills.
  
• Ability to combine hands-on technical work with
  functional leadership in a growing organization.
  
• Experience supporting a factory startup,
  expansion, relocation, or manufacturing transfer.
  
• Experience working with suppliers and/or
  contract manufacturers on technical transfer and production readiness.
  
• Familiarity with ERP systems, digital
  manufacturing documentation, CAD or layout tools, and maintenance-management
  systems.
  
• Experience working within an ISO 9001 or
  comparable quality-management environment.
  

• Experience with rotating equipment, motors,
  generators, turbo-machinery, precision assemblies, or comparable industrial
  equipment.
  
• Experience defining operational requirements for
  high-power electrical infrastructure, production test systems, and supporting
  utilities in an industrial environment.
  
• Exposure to electrical assembly, power
  electronics, instrumentation, liquid cooling, or electro-mechanical production
  testing.
  

Benefits