Manufacturing Engineer - Materials

We are seeking an experienced Materials Engineer to serve as a technical subject matter expert supporting engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, and supplier teams.

This position will focus heavily on metals, metallurgy, heat treatment, machining, and component performance, particularly for gears, splines, and other precision-machined components.

The ideal candidate has extensive hands-on experience working with steel, aluminum, and cast iron and understands how material selection and heat treatment impact strength, hardness, wear, distortion, fatigue, and overall component performance.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical expert for materials, metallurgy, and heat treatment
• Support material selection for new and existing components
• Evaluate how materials will perform during machining, heat treatment, and final operation
• Support components such as gears, splines, shafts, and other rotating/mechanical parts
• Troubleshoot material and manufacturing issues including cracking, wear, fatigue, distortion, hardness, surface finish, and dimensional stability
• Perform and support root cause and failure analysis on components
• Provide technical guidance related to heat treatment processes including carburizing, nitriding, induction hardening, and stress relieving
• Review engineering drawings, material specifications, tolerances, and GD&T
• Partner with Design Engineering to improve manufacturability and material selection
• Work directly with suppliers to resolve material, manufacturing, and quality concerns
• Evaluate supplier processes, testing capabilities, and manufacturing controls
• Support supplier technical reviews, RFQs, PPAPs, capability studies, and process validation
• Provide technical input for make/buy decisions and cost-reduction opportunities
• Collaborate with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Purchasing, and Operations

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Materials Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related field
• 10+ years of hands-on engineering experience within a manufacturing environment
• Strong knowledge of metals and metallurgy, including steel alloys, aluminum, and cast iron
• Extensive understanding of heat treatment processes and their effects on strength, hardness, distortion, and component performance
• Experience with gears, splines, transmission, driveline, powertrain, or similar heavily loaded mechanical components
• Strong understanding of machining and manufacturing processes
• Experience investigating material failures and performing root cause analysis
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, GD&T, tolerances, and material specifications
• Experience working directly with suppliers and supporting supplier-related technical issues
• CAD/CAM experience preferred
• Lean, Six Sigma, or continuous improvement experience is a plu