Contract Manufacturing Engineer Jobs in California

Job Title: Senior Manufacturing Engineer

Job Description

The Senior Manufacturing Engineer owns manufacturing execution, quality systems, process improvements, and production readiness for rapidly growing data center cooling product lines. This role serves as the primary engineering liaison between internal teams and manufacturing partners, ensuring high production quality, robust throughput, tight documentation control, strong supplier performance, and successful product scaling. The position blends manufacturing engineering, quality engineering, and supplier manufacturing responsibilities and requires someone who operates independently, drives issues to closure, and thrives in a lean, entrepreneurial environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead manufacturing execution activities for data center cooling product lines, ensuring products move efficiently from development into stable, scalable production.
• Serve as the primary engineering liaison between internal engineering, operations teams, and external manufacturing partners and contract manufacturers.
• Own and maintain manufacturing quality systems, including control plans, PFMEAs, PPAP documentation, and other quality-related processes.
• Drive process improvements and continuous improvement initiatives across manufacturing operations to enhance throughput, yield, and reliability.
• Manage production readiness activities for new products (NPI), including production ramp planning, validation, and documentation control.
• Ensure robust documentation control for manufacturing processes, including work instructions, assembly procedures, and build documentation.
• Monitor and improve supplier performance, including supplier quality, delivery, and responsiveness, through strong vendor and supplier management.
• Conduct and lead root cause analysis and root cause failure analysis for manufacturing and quality issues, and implement effective corrective and preventive actions.
• Support electromechanical assembly processes, including sensor manufacturing, PCB assembly, enclosures, housings, injection molding, and related operations.
• Develop, review, and optimize control plans, PFMEAs, and work instructions to ensure consistent, high-quality manufacturing outcomes.
• Oversee and support first article inspection activities and ensure compliance with quality standards for new and existing products.
• Collaborate closely with contract manufacturers to troubleshoot production issues, optimize processes, and support production ramp activities.
• Interpret electrical schematics, bills of materials (BOMs), assembly drawings, and manufacturing documentation to support build accuracy and product quality.
• Lead or support automation initiatives and lean manufacturing projects to improve efficiency, reduce waste, and standardize processes.
• Engage directly on the shop floor to work hands-on with products, fixtures, tools, and manufacturing processes to resolve issues in real time.
• Support and influence the design and implementation of manufacturing systems that can scale with multi-year growth in data center cooling products.
• Communicate effectively with engineering leadership, operations, suppliers, and contract manufacturers, providing clear updates on issues, risks, and progress.
• Work independently with limited supervision, taking high ownership of outcomes and driving tasks to completion in a fast-paced environment.

Essential Skills

• 7–10+ years of experience in Manufacturing Engineering, Quality Engineering, Supplier Quality, or Production Engineering.
• Proven experience working directly with contract manufacturers in a production environment.
• Strong background in manufacturing engineering practices, including control plans, PFMEA, process improvement, production ramp, NPI, and contract manufacturing support.
• Hands-on experience with quality systems such as PPAP, root cause analysis, supplier quality management, and first article inspection.
• Experience with electromechanical assembly, including sensor manufacturing, industrial instrumentation, and PCB assembly.
• Familiarity with enclosures, injection molding, housings, and related mechanical components used in manufacturing.
• Demonstrated experience in process engineering, manufacturing process development, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Working knowledge of Six Sigma, lean manufacturing, and automation concepts applied to production environments.
• Ability to interpret electrical schematics, BOMs, assembly drawings, and manufacturing documentation accurately.
• Experience troubleshooting manufacturing and quality issues, including root cause and corrective action implementation.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to manage and influence suppliers and vendors effectively.
• Ability to work independently with limited supervision and operate comfortably in a high-ownership environment.
• Proven experience creating and maintaining work instructions and other manufacturing documentation.
• Experience with sensor systems and PCB assemblies in a manufacturing context.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Industrial instrumentation experience, particularly in level measurement and control applications.
• Sensor manufacturing experience, especially for fluid handling products, valves, and controls.
• Exposure to data center cooling products and related systems.
• Experience with PCB assembly processes, including potting and encapsulation, conformal coating, and wire harness assembly.
• Electronics troubleshooting experience in a production or test environment.
• Experience with injection molded plastics and associated manufacturing processes.
• ERP/MRP system experience to support production planning and materials management.
• background in manufacturing quality systems and standards for globally distributed products.
• Comfort working in lean, entrepreneurial environments where decisions are made quickly and individual contributions have significant impact.

Work Environment

This role operates in a hybrid office and manufacturing environment focused on level measurement and control instrumentation used across chemical processing, water and wastewater, energy, industrial automation, and fluid management applications. Products are manufactured under defined quality standards and sold globally, with substantial growth driven by increasing demand for AI and data center infrastructure, particularly within data center cooling product lines. The position involves frequent interaction with contract manufacturers and an approximate 50/50 split supporting manufacturing partners in two primary locations. You will spend significant time on the shop floor in a hands-on capacity, working directly with products, fixtures, manufacturing processes, and production issues. The environment is small-company and lean, requiring high ownership, self-direction, and the ability to make decisions quickly. You can expect high visibility with engineering leadership and operations, direct influence over manufacturing scale-up activities, and the opportunity to help build manufacturing systems that support multi-year growth.

This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Los Alamitos, CA.

The pay range for this position is $60.00 - $70.00/hr.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following: • Medical, dental & vision • Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital • 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available • Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents) • Short and long-term disability • Health Spending Account (HSA) • Transportation benefits • Employee Assistance Program • Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

This is a fully onsite position in Los Alamitos,CA.

This position is anticipated to close on Aug 26, 2026.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email actalentaccommodation@actalentservices.com for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.