Job Description

Ready to join a growing company with a positive culture, dedication to customer service, and great benefits? Join us in beautiful East Jordan, Michigan! EJ is seeking a Product Tooling Manager at our Pattern Shop Facility.

Generous Benefit Package that includes:

Paid Vacation and Holidays, Paid Maternity & Paternity Leave, 401K (with match), Medical, Dental, Vision, Flexible Spending Account, HSA with Employer Match, Disability Insurance, Employee Assistance Program, Employee Wellness Program, Life Insurance, Tuition Reimbursement and Bonus Program

About EJ We are the leader in the design, manufacture, and distribution of access solutions for water, sewer, drainage, telecommunications, and utility networks. EJ is a family-owned company with global operations. The corporate headquarters is in East Jordan, Michigan, where the company was founded in 1883.

We are seeking high performing individuals who embrace our values, understand the importance of relationships, and strive for excellence. Our values, which have been passed down for generations, are the essence of our company’s identity and our guide for making decisions. Core values at EJ include safety and security, honesty and integrity, environmental responsibility, respect for others, quality and excellence, and social responsibility.

Location: East Jordan, MI

This individual will be responsible for the Product Tooling group and therefore responsible for assigning and overseeing personnel and processes as they relate to production tooling and manufacturing needs. This individual is involved with investigating incidents, enhancing processes, and developing processes and procedures to drive continuous improvement. The position will play a pivotal role in ensuring operational excellence and delivering high-quality tooling in a timely manner.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

• Processes New Product Requests (NPRs) and Foundry Tooling Requests (FTRs/Cases) to ensure tooling needs are met and all product, foundry, and Pattern Shop requirements remain compatible.
• Leads weekly Tooling Review and Tooling Approval meetings to evaluate NPRs and cases, secure necessary approvals from Product Development, Foundry personnel and Leadership, and resolve questions or concerns.
• Manage the Pattern Priority Sheet, including tooling designs, programming and floor workload facilitation
• Works directly with Pattern Shop Superintendent, Supervisor and Leaders to provide direction and ensure on-time job completion.
• Estimates labor and material costs for new and reworked tooling requests as needed.
• Attend various foundry meetings for process improvement and end of week reporting.
• Utilizes Domo for gathering product, tooling, production volume, core, lettered tags and other information to provide well rounded direction for our department and others.
• Help facilitate R&D related requests involving tooling, foundry operations, and Product Development testing.
• Manages requests for other EJ facilities including Composites and Water Products.
• Manages other department shared sheets for various levels of tracking (Tooling Standards, Mistakes, Years tags, Capitalized Tooling, core boxes and more)
• Review of Domo cards to support Manufacturing Order adjustments based on project s requirements and cost considerations.
• Review monthly pattern shop reported costs including labor, materials, and overhead
• Gathers information over the year to present Capex equipment requests as well as yearly budget information for ongoing projects.
• Generate and submit monthly and year end metric reports to leadership.
• Issues requisitions for general and inventoried shop supplies (alum/steel bar stock, pattern plates, lubricants, PPE, and more) as well as requisitions for various vendor services (machine breakdowns, equipment repairs and other).
• Conducts inventory counts to manage on hand balances and provides variance reports to Finance.
• Assist with Foundry Tag Database management, improvements, and questions for daily production needs that rely on this system.
• Initiates and manages Tooling Disposal Request
• Facilitate Performance Management meetings throughout the year for all direct reports.
• Reviews yearly workload for R&D tax credit considerations.
• Participates in all departmental and facility safety and environmental initiatives to comply with internal and external requirements.
• Supports training and career development for direct reports and assists with development plans for indirect reports (e.g., Pattern Shop apprenticeship program and others).
• Provides coverage and support for the Superintendent when absent.
• Visits EJ facilities and various vendors and suppliers as needed.

MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

Leads team of Designers, Item Master and Pattern Shop Supervision to structure its workload and overall department organization guided by EJ Corporate Leadership. This role is responsible for the overall direction, coordination, and evaluation of the Pattern Shop Department. Key responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, training, and developing employees; planning, assigning, and directing work. In this role, you may be involved in or offer support in the areas of assessing employee performance; rewarding and disciplining staff as well as addressing complaints and resolving issues in accordance with the organization’s policies and applicable laws.

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

Bachelor’s Degree required with four to ten years related experience and/or training. CAD abilities and various foundry related process understanding with a focus on molding. CNC machine understanding preferred.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules & environmental rules and regulations. Ability to write routine reports and correspondence. Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of the organization.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

Ability to work with mathematical concepts such as probability and statistical inference, and fundamentals of plane and solid geometry, and trigonometry. Ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios and proportions to practical situations.

REASONING ABILITY

Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Proven ability to conceptualize projects and directives given by coworkers and employees verbally and from print, or written format.
• Experience working with various materials (e.g. iron, steel, aluminum, plastics, composites, adhesives, epoxies)
• Familiarity with 3D modeling (preferably Solidworks) and AutoCAD.
• Proven experience to work well under pressure while managing competing demands and tight deadlines.
• Experienced in utilizing Microsoft Office programs such as Teams, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word
• Experienced self-starter and strong desire to learn new skills and create innovative solutions.
• Comfortable with influencing and challenging others in a constructive manner to overcome obstacles and reinforce accountability.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to stand, walk, and sit. The employee is regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and climb or balance as well as lift objects. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly exposed to moving mechanical parts. The employee is frequently exposed to fumes or airborne particles. The employee is occasionally exposed to wet and/or humid conditions; high, precarious places; toxic or caustic chemicals; outside weather conditions; risk of electrical shock; and vibration. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

EJ is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.