ENGINEERING MANAGER

The Engineering Manager is responsible for leading the company's engineering organization across new product development, manufacturing engineering, prototype operations, drafting and design resources, and technical systems support. This role ensures engineering work is aligned with company priorities and that products, processes, and technical resources support safe, manufacturable, high-quality boat production. The Engineering Manager provides direction to the New Product Development Manager, Manufacturing Engineering Manager, Prototype Shop Manager, and IT Technician, while ensuring coordination across drafting resources assigned to both New Product Development and Manufacturing Engineering. This position is responsible for setting engineering priorities, strengthening team performance, removing technical roadblocks, and ensuring strong execution across product development, production support, prototype validation, and continuous improvement. Essential Duties and Responsibilities Department Leadership Lead and manage the engineering organization, including New Product Development, Manufacturing Engineering, Prototype Shop, and technical systems support. Set department goals, priorities, and performance expectations aligned with company objectives for growth, profitability, quality, and operational efficiency. Ensure engineering resources are properly allocated between new product development, manufacturing support, prototype work, technical problem solving, and continuous improvement efforts. Develop leaders within the department by coaching, mentoring, and holding managers accountable for results. Foster a culture of ownership, responsiveness, practical problem solving, and cross-functional teamwork. Product Development Oversight Provide leadership and direction for new boat development, product changes, and feature or option development from concept through production launch. Ensure product requirements are clearly defined and translated into designs, drawings, specifications, and release packages that support business and customer needs. Oversee coordination between New Product Development, Prototype, Drafting, and Manufacturing Engineering to reduce launch risk and improve execution. Ensure testing, validation, and lessons learned are fed back into design and release decisions. Maintain alignment between innovation, manufacturability, timing, and cost targets. Manufacturing Engineering and Quality Oversight Provide leadership oversight to the Manufacturing Engineering function in supporting fabrication, welding, paint, rigging, and final assembly operations. Ensure production issues, tooling needs, process constraints, and design-related build problems are addressed quickly and effectively. Drive Design for Manufacturing and Assembly principles across engineering activities to improve safety, consistency, throughput, and cost. Provide oversight for quality systems and quality performance through the assigned organizational structure. Ensure quality standards, inspection criteria, corrective actions, and technical requirements remain aligned with engineering intent and production needs. Support the development of sustainable quality systems and clear accountability for product conformance across the plant. Prototype and Validation Oversight Oversee prototype shop activities to ensure prototype builds are completed safely, accurately, and in alignment with engineering intent. Ensure prototype builds, modifications, and testing activities are properly documented and translated into actionable feedback for design and manufacturing teams. Support structured validation of new products, design changes, and process improvements through prototype and field testing. Ensure prototype learnings are captured and used to strengthen product readiness before production release. Drafting, Documentation, and Change Control Ensure drafting and design resources supporting both New Product Development and Manufacturing Engineering operate to consistent company standards. Establish expectations for drawing quality, revision control, release accuracy, and engineering documentation discipline. Ensure CAD models, production drawings, BOMs, specifications, and engineering change documentation are accurate and aligned with released product. Maintain strong engineering change control processes to support both product development and production support. Coordinate standards and priorities across drafting personnel regardless of which engineering group they are assigned to. Cross-Functional Execution Partner with Production, Supply Chain, Sales, Leadership, and other departments to align engineering priorities with company needs. Communicate project status, resource constraints, technical risks, and support needs clearly to leadership. Help balance long-term engineering improvements with short-term plant support and launch requirements. Support cost reduction, product improvement, process improvement, and technical issue resolution across the business. Continuous Improvement Drive initiatives that improve engineering effectiveness, launch execution, product quality, manufacturability, and operational efficiency. Use production feedback, prototype findings, quality data, and warranty or field issues to identify priorities for corrective action and continuous improvement. Improve department systems, standards, and workflows to reduce rework, delays, and technical ambiguity. Authority and Accountability Authority to set engineering priorities and assign department resources. Authority to establish and enforce engineering standards for drawings, documentation, and release practices. Authority to escalate, delay, or stop engineering releases or technical changes that are not adequately validated or production-ready. Accountable for overall engineering department performance and leadership. Accountable for alignment between product development, manufacturing support, prototype execution, drafting standards, and technical system support. Accountable for developing capable leaders and maintaining clear organizational ownership across the department. Required Skills and Abilities Strong leadership and people management skills. Strong understanding of product development, manufacturing engineering, and technical support functions in a manufacturing environment. Strong understanding of engineering drawings, CAD documentation, BOM control, and engineering change management. Ability to lead through subordinate managers while maintaining visibility into execution details. Strong project prioritization, organizational, and decision-making skills. Strong communication and cross-functional coordination skills. Strong problem-solving and root cause analysis skills. Proficiency in Microsoft Office products including Excel, Word, and Teams. Preferred Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Engineering Technology, Industrial Technology, or related field preferred. 5+ years of engineering, manufacturing engineering, product development, or technical leadership experience. 3+ years of leadership experience managing people, projects, or technical teams. Experience in marine manufacturing, aluminum fabrication, or similar fabricated product industries preferred. Familiarity with product compliance, manufacturing quality systems, and production support processes preferred. Experience leading cross-functional technical teams in a manufacturing environment. Physical Requirements Ability to work in both office and manufacturing environments. Ability to walk the production floor and prototype areas regularly. Ability to inspect products, fixtures, and technical work in shop conditions as needed. Work Environment Combination of office, prototype shop, and manufacturing floor environment. Exposure to manufacturing conditions including noise, welding activity, metal dust, paint operations, and varying temperatures when on the floor Americans with Disability Specifications The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential function of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential function of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee may be exposed to weather conditions, a normal office environment, or factory environment that is not climate controlled. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. The factory in certain areas maintains a high fiberglass and dust environment. Personal Protective Equipment might be required in certain areas of the factory including safety glasses, respirators, hearing protection, gloves, and protective garments. Employees in safety-sensitive positions must report to work fit for duty and must remain fit for duty throughout their workday. To be fit for duty, the employee must not be impaired by alcohol, illicit drugs, or medication.