Chief Engineer, Manufacturing Excellence

Job Description:

Location: Mesa, Arizona; hybrid as business needs require Employment type: Full-time

Position Overview

The Chief Engineer, Manufacturing Excellence sets the technical direction and standards for manufacturing across Nextpower facilities and contract manufacturing partners. This role turns product, customer, and business needs into manufacturing processes that are safe, reliable, high quality, cost-effective, and ready to scale.

As a recognized technical expert, you’ll lead complex, high-impact initiatives across manufacturing, engineering, quality, reliability, supply chain, IT, and operations. You’ll guide product launches and factory readiness, strengthen manufacturing capability across sites, and help shape the organization’s long-term approach to manufacturing excellence.

Key Responsibilities

Set the technical strategy, standards, and governance for manufacturing processes across internal facilities and contract manufacturers.

Lead multi-site efforts to standardize processes, work instructions, control plans, quality checks, performance measures, and continuous improvement practices.

Guide design-for-manufacturability and design-for-test reviews, helping teams address production risks early in product development.

Establish manufacturing process architecture, critical-to-quality characteristics, standard work, and control plans.

Set expectations for process capability, PFMEA, statistical process control (SPC), APQP, process validation, and production readiness.

Provide technical direction for factory readiness, pilot builds, production launches, ramp-up, and ongoing improvement programs.

Lead improvements in first-pass yield, throughput, cycle time, manufacturing cost, and defect reduction.

Guide the development and use of automation, tooling, fixtures, end-of-line testing, and manufacturing data systems.

Lead resolution of significant manufacturing problems using root-cause analysis, 8D, and other structured problem-solving methods.

Establish technical capability and quality expectations for contract manufacturers and strategic suppliers; review their performance and improvement plans.

Coordinate engineering and process changes with Engineering, Quality, Reliability, Supply Chain, IT, Operations, and manufacturing partners.

Review manufacturing KPIs, process capability data, audit findings, nonconformance reports, corrective actions, and reliability trends to identify business-wide risks and opportunities.

Provide technical leadership and mentorship to manufacturing engineers; build organizational capability in Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma.

Help ensure manufacturing processes meet applicable safety, quality, regulatory, and customer requirements.

Communicate complex technical recommendations clearly and influence decisions across teams, sites, suppliers, and leadership.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing, Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial, or Systems Engineering, or a related technical field; equivalent experience may be considered.

Typically, 12 or more years of related experience with a bachelor’s degree, 8 or more years with a master’s degree, or 5 or more years with a PhD.

Extensive manufacturing engineering, manufacturing excellence, or operations engineering experience, including leadership of large-scale process development and improvement.

Experience with power electronics, high-voltage products, inverters, energy systems, or similarly complex electromechanical products.

Advanced knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, SPC, PFMEA, APQP, process validation, and process capability analysis.

Demonstrated success leading factory readiness, product launches, production ramp-up, and continuous improvement across multiple sites or manufacturing partners.

Experience setting technical requirements and managing manufacturing relationships with contract manufacturers and strategic suppliers.

Strong understanding of manufacturing test systems, traceability, MES or ERP data, and production performance reporting.

Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary initiatives and influence decisions across engineering, quality, operations, supply chain, and supplier teams.

Excellent technical communication, problem-solving, and program leadership skills.

Preferred Qualifications

Master’s degree in a relevant engineering or technical discipline.

Experience establishing manufacturing standards, governance, or operating models across a global or multi-site organization.

Experience with automation strategy, factory digitalization, or manufacturing data systems.

Relevant certifications in Lean, Six Sigma, quality, or project leadership.

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At Nextpower, we are driving the global energy transition with an integrated clean energy technology platform that combines intelligent structural, electrical, and digital solutions for utility-scale power plants. Our comprehensive portfolio enables faster project delivery, higher performance, and greater reliability, helping our customers capture the full value of solar power. Our talented worldwide teams are redefining how solar power plants are designed, built, and operated every day with smart technology, data-driven insights, and advanced automation. Together, we’re building the foundation for the world’s next generation of clean energy infrastructure.

Nextpower is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

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