Jr. Manufacturing Engineer

Direct Hire with Company Benefits

Location: Cookeville, TN area
Schedule: Full-time, on-site

Summary

TES Recruiting is partnering with a growing manufacturer seeking a Jr. Manufacturing Engineer to help launch and support a brand-new manufacturing facility in the Cookeville, TN area.

This is a great opportunity for an early-career engineer to gain hands-on experience helping build a manufacturing operation from the ground up. The engineer will initially train at an established facility to learn the company’s products, processes, equipment, and manufacturing standards before transitioning to the new Cookeville operation.

Working alongside experienced engineering and operations teams, this person will support process development, equipment startup, quality documentation, production troubleshooting, and continuous improvement. The role offers significant exposure to a facility startup and an opportunity to grow into greater engineering responsibility as the operation expands.

Responsibilities

• Support day-to-day manufacturing engineering activities and production needs.
• Assist with developing manufacturing processes, procedures, workflows, and documentation for the new facility.
• Work alongside project and manufacturing engineers during equipment installation, startup, testing, and transition to production.
• Review drawings, specifications, and quality documentation to help ensure manufactured parts meet requirements.
• Create and update work instructions, standard operating procedures, and other production documentation.
• Collect and analyze production, scrap, downtime, and quality data to identify trends and improvement opportunities.
• Assist with troubleshooting manufacturing and quality issues and implementing corrective actions.
• Support Lean manufacturing, 5S, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Work cross-functionally with production, quality, maintenance, operations, and engineering.
• Participate in facility startup activities and take on increasing responsibility as experience is gained.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Entry Level to 3 years of manufacturing, engineering, or related industrial experience.
• Internship, co-op, or hands-on manufacturing experience is strongly preferred for recent graduates.
• Basic understanding of manufacturing processes, engineering drawings, and structured problem-solving.
• Exposure to Lean manufacturing, 5S, Six Sigma, or continuous improvement concepts is a plus.
• Comfortable working with data and using Excel or similar tools to analyze manufacturing performance.
• Strong communication skills and willingness to work closely with production teams in a hands-on manufacturing environment.
• Self-motivated, curious, and eager to learn in a growing operation.
• Previous exposure to a facility startup, equipment installation, production launch, or expansion is a plus but not required.
• Ability to travel periodically for initial training and facility startup support.