Applications Engineer Manager

At PennEngineering, we innovate and collaborate to make the world a better place. You can contribute to work that matters with a company where diversity, equity and inclusion are shared values. We're committed to fostering an environment for every employee that's welcoming, respectful and inclusive, with great opportunity for professional growth. Find your future with us.

PennEngineering is seeking a motivated, excited, individual to be a part of the PEM Applications Engineering Team of NA. As an Applications Engineering Manager at PennEngineering, you'll collaborate with teams that do truly amazing things.

The primary purpose of this position is to provide direct management over the Applications Engineering divisions at PennEngineering's Pennsylvania (Danboro) and North Carolina (Winston-Salem) facilities, with dotted-line oversight responsibilities over the Mexico facility. This individual will drive new customer application development resulting in incremental revenue growth across all managed sites. Success will be achieved by coordinating opportunities with outside sales representatives, Customer Service Groups, Manufacturing Engineering teams, and Quality Departments throughout the organization. This position is responsible for providing direct supervision to Applications Engineers and Technical support teams across the PA and NC sites, while maintaining alignment with and providing guidance to the Mexico facility's applications engineering function. This role requires approximately 50% travel between facilities and customer sites.

Join us as we build the future in Manufacturing and Engineering!

PERKS AND BENEFITS:

• PTO, holiday pay, 401K
• Tuition reimbursement
• Parental Leave
• Medical, Dental and vision insurance
• Company provided technology including Laptop, necessary monitors and hardware for office and home environments, iPhone, etc.
• Employee Centric Culture

WHAT YOU WILL DO:

• Independently identify, assess, and address process inefficiencies, engineering challenges, and operational gaps across all managed sites without waiting for direction or task assignment. Proactively drive solutions from identification through resolution, exercising sound engineering judgment and prior experience with particular emphasis on mechanical problem solving.
• Manage long-term, date-driven development projects designed to produce new fastener products across the PA and NC facilities, with coordination and guidance extended to the Mexico facility as required.
• Responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following internal activities:
• Product design
• Product costing
• Application tooling
• Review designs with manufacturing for approval/suggestions
• Coordinate application testing/specs with PennEngineering® and the customer
• Develops strategies, manages priorities, and evaluates the results of all directly managed subordinate employees within the PA and NC applications engineering divisions. Maintains dotted-line oversight of the Mexico facility's applications engineering function, providing technical guidance, performance input, and strategic alignment as needed. Adapts management approach to evolving organizational structures and unforeseen operational requirements.
• Responsible for coordinating and documenting engineering efforts with our customers and Sales Representatives. This individual, in cooperation with the Marketing/Sales Department and the sales field force, will define the product design that will best meet the customer's requirements.
• Responsible for defining the exact test specifications to determine acceptable performance of an identified concept and/or product. Once the product has been defined and a cross functional team has approved the feasibility of the design, this individual will then complete a cost model to be presented to the Plant Management/Marketing/Sales Departments.
• Possess a thorough understanding of PennEngineering's costing model and enterprise systems. This knowledge shall be utilized to provide the sales department with accurate cost estimates for the quotation of special fastener products, working with established procedures governing the quotation of special parts.
• Provide direct management over the Applications Engineering teams at the PA (Danboro) and NC (Winston-Salem) facilities, including hiring, performance management, professional development, and day-to-day operational direction. Travel to both sites and customer locations approximately 50% of the time to maintain strong team engagement, cross-site consistency, and customer relationships.
• Maintain dotted-line oversight responsibilities over the Mexico facility's Applications Engineering function. Provide technical direction, strategic alignment, and performance guidance to Mexico-based staff while supporting that site's local management structure.
• Actively lead the fact-finding and discovery process during onboarding and role definition phases. This position operates in an environment where responsibilities and team structures may not be fully defined at the outset; the individual must take initiative to clarify expectations, establish workflows, build cross-functional relationships, and develop structure independently without requiring step-by-step guidance.
• Demonstrate flexibility and adaptability as role responsibilities evolve in response to new business requirements, organizational changes, or unforeseen circumstances. Embrace ambiguity and drive clarity while maintaining effective execution of core responsibilities.
• Requires the individual to develop, maintain, and present KPIs and goal progress for all managed sites to senior leadership on a regular cadence. Specifically calls out that they must define the metrics framework, collect and validate data across sites, identify risks and opportunities, provide data-driven recommendations, and deliver polished, executive-ready presentations independently.

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Requirements:

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or engineering technology.

• Minimum of five years Engineering design experience.
• Proven project leadership ability and successful record of completing engineering assignments.
• Strong organizational and presentation skills.
• Ability to work and coordinate Engineering activities within a Marketing/Sales environment.
• Strong working knowledge of the various techniques and materials used in manufacturing mechanical fasteners.
• Must be able to travel both domestically and internationally by air. This role requires approximately 50% travel between the PA, NC, and Mexico facilities, as well as to customer and vendor locations.
• Requires a demonstrated ability to develop and deliver executive-level presentations on team metrics, KPIs, and goal performance, with the ability to translate complex engineering data into clear, concise reporting for senior leadership audiences.

Compensation: $130,000 - $170,000