Job Summary
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The Senior Sustaining Engineer (Productivity) role serves as a technical leader for value engineering, material optimization, supplier transitions and manufacturing efficiency improvements that improve gross margin and drive sustainable cost savings. |
Key Responsibilities
Cost Reduction & Value Engineering
- Identify and evaluate cost-saving opportunities through design optimization, material substitutions, component standardization, and specification rationalization.
- Support development of business cases and prioritize opportunities based on ROI, implementation complexity, risk, and strategic impact.
- Drive value engineering initiatives while preserving product functionality, safety, quality, and customer experience.
- Partner with Procurement and Supplier Quality to identify supplier-driven cost-saving opportunities.
Design Changes & Sustaining Engineering
- Lead design changes associated with Productivity projects, including component, material, supplier, and manufacturing process modifications.
- Develop and execute design verification strategies to support product changes.
- Generate and maintain required design control documentation, including risk assessments, design outputs, test protocols, reports, and engineering justifications.
- Support regulatory submissions and product lifecycle management activities as required.
Technical Analysis & Problem Solving
- Conduct engineering analyses to evaluate design alternatives, manufacturing methods, and material options.
- Apply structured problem-solving methodologies and data-driven decision-making to identify optimization opportunities.
- Perform risk assessments and define mitigation strategies for proposed cost reduction initiatives.
- Author technical reports, engineering evaluations, and recommendation documents.
Manufacturing & Operations Collaboration
- Partner with Manufacturing, Operations, and Process Engineering teams to improve yield, reduce scrap, simplify assembly processes, and improve overall manufacturing efficiency.
- Support equipment upgrades, process improvements, and manufacturing transfers associated with cost reduction initiatives.
- Provide technical support during implementation and validation activities.
Supplier Optimization
- Support supplier transitions, dual-sourcing initiatives, and material qualifications to reduce cost.
- Collaborate with Strategic Sourcing and Supplier Quality teams to evaluate alternate suppliers and technologies.
Lead technical assessments and risk evaluations for supplier-related changes.
Skill Requirements
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Technical Skills
- Value Engineering / Design-to-Cost methodologies
- Product cost analysis and cost modeling
- Design Controls and Risk Management
- Root Cause Analysis and Structured Problem Solving
- Statistical Analysis and Experimental Design
- Manufacturing Processes and Process Validation
- Material Selection and Specification Optimization
- Supplier Qualification and Technical Assessment
Leadership Competencies
- Strong business acumen and financial mindset
- Ability to translate technical solutions into cost savings
- Excellent project management and prioritization skills
- Effective communication and stakeholder management
- Ability to lead cross-functional teams without direct authority
- Results-oriented with demonstrated bias for execution
- Familiarity with continuous improvement, lean, or design-to-value methodologies used to improve product cost, process efficiency, and portfolio productivity.
Travel:
- 10-25% as needed for project support
- Minimum 5–8 years of engineering experience in a regulated manufacturing environment.
- Experience in sustaining engineering, product development, operations engineering, manufacturing engineering, or value engineering.
- Demonstrated track record of delivering measurable cost savings through engineering solutions.
- Experience supporting design controls and engineering change management processes.
Medical device industry experience preferred.
