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 Manufacturing Engineer to help launch and support a brand-new facility in Cookeville, TN.
This is a hands-on opportunity to help build the processes, procedures, and workflows for a manufacturing operation from the ground up. The Manufacturing Engineer will initially train at an established facility to learn the company’s processes, products, and culture. As the facility comes online, the position will transition to full-time, on-site engineering support for the new plant.
The ideal candidate has at least three years of experience in a structured, repeatable manufacturing environment and is comfortable working independently. This person should be able to analyze production and quality data, identify bottlenecks, and implement practical, data-driven improvements in an environment that is still being built.
Responsibilities
- Support daily manufacturing engineering activities in a structured, process-driven production environment.
- Help develop procedures, workflows, and manufacturing processes for the new Cookeville facility.
- Collaborate with project engineering during facility design, equipment setup, startup, and handoff to manufacturing.
- Review and update quality documentation and compare manufactured parts against established specifications.
- Create, improve, and standardize work instructions and production documentation.
- Identify process bottlenecks and implement practical countermeasures.
- Analyze scrap, quality, and production data to identify recurring issues and improvement opportunities.
- Present findings and recommendations using clear quantitative data.
- Work cross-functionally with operations, production, maintenance, quality, and engineering.
- Proactively identify problems and drive solutions with minimal oversight.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical field.
- 2+ years of manufacturing or process engineering experience in a structured, repeatable manufacturing environment.
- Experience analyzing production, scrap, or quality data and implementing process improvements.
- Basic understanding of Lean manufacturing, statistics, and structured problem-solving.
- Ability to work independently and adapt to changing priorities in a new and evolving operation.
- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, 5S experience, or equivalent company-provided training is preferred.
- Previous involvement in a facility startup, expansion, relocation, or major production launch is preferred. Relevant internship experience will be considered.
- Ability to travel periodically for initial training and facility startup support.