How to Hire a Manufacturing Engineer

Does your growing business need a manufacturing engineer? A manufacturing engineer, similar to an industrial engineer, is responsible for conceptualizing, creating and designing new products.

Here are some tips to help you find great manufacturing engineer candidates and make the right hire for your company.

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Manufacturing engineers searching for jobs on Indeed*

124,477

job seekers that clicked manufacturing engineer jobs

19,385

resumes for job seekers with manufacturing engineer experience on Indeed

3,716

manufacturing engineer jobs that received clicks

What is the cost of hiring a manufacturing engineer?

Common salary in US: $82,223 per year
Typical salaries range from $32,000 – $155,000 per year
Find more information on Indeed Salaries

*Indeed data (US) – December 2020

As of December 2020, manufacturing jobs in the US are moderately competitive compared to other job markets, with an average of 33 job seekers per manufacturing engineer job.

Why hire a manufacturing engineer?

The need for new staff can affect both your existing team and your bottom line. A great manufacturing engineer hire can help your business:

Analyze manufacturing processes to identify areas for improvement or modifications
Improve work processes, product design and assembly by applying their advanced knowledge to the manufacturing process
Turn raw materials into a new, functioning product
Develop company processes to help the company meet budgets and performance goals

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance manufacturing engineer

Before writing a manufacturing engineer job description or interviewing candidates, it’s important to decide if you need a full-time or freelance, part-time or contract manufacturing engineer (and what your budget will allow).

A freelance or contract manufacturing engineer may be the best option when you need someone to help with a specific, one-off project or task. For example, if you need someone to draft up basic concept sketches of a new product, a freelancer may be the right fit. However, if you’re looking for a manufacturing engineer to help out with all aspects of product development and design at your company, a full-time role may better meet your needs.

Where to find manufacturing engineers

To find the right manufacturing engineer for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

Ask your network for referrals: Ask your network of connections, including friends, past coworkers and current employees, if they know anyone who may be a good fit for your manufacturing engineer role.
Get involved in online tech communities: Explore websites like GitHub to find manufacturing engineers in your area who are posting their own projects and contributing to open source projects.
Recruit at local universities: Get involved at your local college to find new engineering graduates who are enthusiastic about starting their first job.
Post your job online: Try posting your manufacturing engineer job on Indeed to find and attract quality manufacturing engineer candidates.

Skills to look for in a great manufacturing engineer

Manufacturing engineers are an essential part of a company. Note which qualifications and skills are vital for hiring a suitable manufacturing engineer, such as:

Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field
Proven work experience of more than 7+ years’ in quality control and design in product manufacturing
Familiarity with CAD programs
Experience with 3D modeling
Advanced organizational, analytical and communication skills
High proficiency in product development and computer-aided engineering software, such as SolidWorks or AutoCAD
Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
Professional Engineer license (if applicable)

Writing a manufacturing engineer job description

A thoughtful description is important to finding qualified manufacturing engineer candidates. A manufacturing engineer job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities, and the required and preferred skills for the position.

Consider including keywords that job seekers are using to search for Manufacturing Engineer jobs, such as:

Manufacturing engineer
Engineer
Mechanical engineer
Engineering
Manufacturing
Process engineer
Quality engineer
Mechanical engineering
SolidWorks
Mechanical design engineer

Interviewing manufacturing engineer candidates

To hire a suitable manufacturing engineer, take the time to vet candidates and ask detailed interview questions to understand their knowledge and skills. Strong candidates for manufacturing engineer positions will be confident when answering a variety of questions about the following topics:

Proficiency in collaborating with both creative professionals and product engineers
Past experience in suggesting improvements to manufacturing processes
How they’ve contributed to sales and profit goals of the company by actively improving manufacturing processes

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of manufacturing engineer interview questions for examples (with sample answers).

FAQs about how to hire a manufacturing engineer

What is the difference between a process engineer and a manufacturing engineer?

While both process engineers and manufacturing engineers deal with converting raw materials into products, there are a few distinctions between these two roles. Process engineers are typically experts in a specific process (e.g., welding, chemical, mineral processing). They are usually responsible for developing successful workflows, increasing process efficiency and optimizing procedures related to their area of expertise. Manufacturing engineers, on the other hand, have a stronger overlap with mechanical engineers and are often involved in the bigger picture of product development, including taking ideas from concepts all the way through to working products.

How much does a manufacturing engineer make an hour?

If you’re hiring a freelance or contract manufacturing engineer, you may be wondering how much manufacturing engineers earn per hour. According to Indeed Salaries, you can expect to pay manufacturing engineers $35.29 per hour, on average, with hourly rates ranging from $16.00/hour to $77.50/hour, depending on experience level.

What tools do manufacturing engineers use?

When hiring a manufacturing engineer, make sure they know the right tools to get the job done — and be prepared to purchase software that enables manufacturing engineers to do their jobs. Common tools used by manufacturing engineers include:

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