Agriculture OPT Jobs in North Carolina

Position Summary

The Manufacturing Engineer I coordinates the transition of accepted R&D designs into controlled, scalable commercial production. This hands-on role owns production-release readiness, product-data conversion, bill-of-material optimization, manufacturing process development, and engineering-change execution. Working across R&D, Quality, Production, Supply Chain, Service, and external suppliers, the engineer preserves approved design intent while establishing safe, efficient, documented, and repeatable methods for building, testing, shipping, installing, and supporting commercial products.

Key Job Responsibilities

• Coordinate the commercial-release handoff from an accepted R&D package through final production release.
• Review handoff packages for complete and approved CAD, drawings, specifications, bills of materials (BOMs), item data, sourcing information, documented risks, and required approvals.
• Manage conversion of R&D part numbers to the appropriate commercial number series and verify associated item and master data.
• Reorganize and optimize BOMs for efficient production-floor execution while preserving approved design intent and configuration control.
• Evaluate designs for manufacturability, assembly, testability, serviceability, safety, quality, and overall production readiness.
• Support pilot builds, first production runs, stabilization activities, and timely resolution of manufacturing issues.
• Design and process engineering changes affecting commercial products, manufacturing methods, CAD, drawings, specifications, BOMs, and controlled documentation.
• Assess engineering-change impacts to form, fit, function, safety, compliance, interchangeability, sourcing, inventory, work in process, validation, and implementation timing.
• Create initial manufacturing, process-flow, assembly, and shipping processes.
• Lead the development and implementation of manufacturing fixtures, equipment, tooling, and shipping solutions.
• Write and execute manufacturing work instructions, manufacturing-flow layouts, shipping instructions, and other controlled documents as required.
• Develop manufacturing processes, fixtures, and measurement methods that meet tolerance requirements and support manufacturing scale-up.
• Work with and manage external suppliers, conduct design-for-manufacturability reviews, and provide onsite installation support as needed.
• Partner with technical writers to document products, instructions, and engineering-change notice forms.
• Interface with cross-functional departments to ensure processes and designs are compatible with the manufacturing environment, launch strategy, and business objectives.
• Partner with Quality, R&D, Production, Supply Chain, Service, and other stakeholders to develop manufacturing, shipping, installation, and related processes.

Key Competencies & Skills

• Demonstrated experience releasing complex electromechanical or industrial automation products into controlled production environments required.
• Proficiency with 3D CAD, engineering drawings, geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, specifications, and configuration-controlled design data required; SolidWorks experience preferred.
• Strong working knowledge of BOM structures, part-number and item-master governance, engineering change orders/notices, revision control, and product lifecycle management or ERP systems required.
• Experience performing DFM/DFA reviews and evaluating testability, serviceability, safety, quality, sourcing, and production readiness required.
• Experience developing manufacturing processes, assembly flows, work instructions, fixtures, tooling, measurement methods, and shipping solutions required.
• Experience supporting pilot builds, production launches, manufacturing scale-up, root-cause investigation, and issue resolution required.
• Working knowledge of tolerance analysis, inspection methods, validation, risk management, and quality-system requirements preferred.
• Proven ability to manage suppliers, conduct technical reviews, and support onsite installations or production activities as needed.
• Strong technical-writing, organizational, and communication skills, with the ability to drive deliverables across R&D, Quality, Production, Supply Chain, Service, and external partners.
• Ability to balance design intent, configuration control, inventory disposition, implementation timing, and practical production-floor needs.

Education and Experience Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related discipline required; equivalent relevant experience may be considered. Minimum of 2 years of hands-on experience in manufacturing engineering, product commercialization, new-product introduction, or production transfer required.

Working Conditions

Work is performed inside a flex space building consisting of offices, open desk space, laboratory, machine shop, and a manufacturing floor. Level of noise is usually quiet in the office environment and temperature controlled.

All the above duties and responsibilities are essential job functions for which reasonable accommodation will be made. All job requirements listed indicate the minimum level of knowledge, skills, and/or ability deemed necessary to perform the job proficiently. This job description is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties and responsibilities or requirements. Employees may be required to perform other job-related duties as requested by their supervisor. This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an "at will" relationship.