Engineering Head - Manufacturing Plant

Industry : Industrial Gears | Power Transmission | Precision Manufacturing

Location : Coimbatore / Manufacturing Plants

Reporting To : Business Head

Function : Engineering & Manufacturing Excellence

Role Purpose

The Head - Engineering will be responsible for end-to-end engineering leadership across product design, process engineering, manufacturing engineering, tooling, maintenance engineering, quality engineering support, and continuous improvement.

The role ensures world-class engineering capability, cost competitiveness, technology leadership, and manufacturing excellence aligned with Company's strategic goals.

Key Responsibilities

1. Product & Design Engineering

Lead gear design and engineering for industrial, automotive, wind energy, and heavy-duty applications.

Oversee:

• Spur, Helical, Bevel, Worm, Planetary, and Special Gearboxes

• High-precision and high-load gear applications

• Ensure compliance with AGMA, DIN, ISO, BS, JIS standards.

• Drive Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA).

• Validate designs through:

• Strength, fatigue, noise & vibration analysis

• Thermal and lubrication calculations

• Collaborate with customers on custom gear solutions and co-development programs.

2. Manufacturing & Process Engineering

Own process design and optimization for:

• Forging / Casting / Machining

• Gear cutting (Hobbing, Shaping, Skiving)

• Heat treatment (Carburizing, Nitriding, Induction Hardening)

• Grinding, lapping, honing, super-finishing

• Define routing, cycle time, line balancing, and takt time.

• Drive capacity planning and layout optimization.

• Reduce process variation using statistical and analytical methods.

3. Tooling, Fixtures & Automation

Lead design and development of:

• Jigs, fixtures, gauges, cutting tools

• Special purpose machines (SPMs)

• Implement automation and robotics for productivity, safety, and quality.

• Standardize tooling to reduce cost and setup time.

• Evaluate and implement Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing initiatives.

4. Maintenance & Reliability Engineering

• Establish preventive, predictive, and condition-based maintenance systems.

• Drive machine uptime, OEE improvement, and breakdown reduction.

• Oversee TPM implementation and asset lifecycle management.

• Manage critical spares strategy and AMC/vendor management.

5. Quality Engineering & Compliance Support

• Support Quality team in APQP, PPAP, FMEA, Control Plans and Root cause analysis (8D, Fishbone, 5 Why)

• Ensure adherence to ISO 9001, IATF 16949, ISO 14001, ISO 45001

• Drive process capability improvement (Cp, Cpk).

• Reduce rejection, rework, and warranty issues.

6. Technology & Digital Engineering Tools

Lead adoption of advanced engineering tools:

• CAD: Creo / SolidWorks / AutoCAD

• CAE: ANSYS, KISSsoft, Romax (gear analysis)

• CAM: NX CAM, Mastercam

• Use PLM systems for design control and documentation.

• Integrate engineering with ERP (SAP / Oracle) for BOM, routing, and costing.

• Implement digital twins, simulation, and predictive analytics where applicable.

7. Cost Engineering & Value Engineering

Lead cost reduction initiatives through:

• Value engineering

• Material substitution

• Process optimization

• Analyze product and process cost drivers.

• Support quotation, margin improvement, and pricing decisions.

• Drive VA/VE workshops across product lines.

8. New Product Development (NPD)

Own end-to-end NPD lifecycle:

• Concept - Design - Prototype - Validation - Production

• Ensure on-time launches meeting cost, quality, and performance targets.

• Coordinate with Sales, Quality, Production, and Supply Chain.

9. People Leadership & Capability Building

• Lead and mentor engineering teams across Design, Manufacturing engineering, Maintenance and Tooling

• Build succession planning and technical competency frameworks.

• Drive training on Gear technology, Lean manufacturing and Digital engineering tools

• Foster a culture of innovation, discipline, and continuous improvement.

Technical Knowledge & Tool Handling

Manufacturing Equipment

• CNC Gear Hobbing, Shaping, Skiving Machines

• CNC Turning, VMC, HMC

• Gear Grinding, Profile Grinding, Worm Grinding

• Heat Treatment Furnaces (Carburizing, Nitriding, Induction)

• CMM, Gear Measuring Centers, Profile Testers

Engineering & Quality Tools

• GD&T, Tolerance stack-up analysis

• SPC, MSA, FMEA

• Lean tools: VSM, SMED, Kaizen

• Six Sigma methodologies

Key Requirements

Education

• BE / BTech in Mechanical Engineering (mandatory)

• ME / MTech in Manufacturing / Design (preferred)

• Certifications in Lean / Six Sigma / TPM (advantage)

Experience

• 18-25 years in engineering leadership roles within Gear manufacturing /Heavy engineering /Auto components / industrial machinery

• Proven .