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Summary

The Senior Tooling Development Engineer is responsible for the end-to-end design, fabrication, and commissioning of fixtures, pallets, jigs, and custom tooling used across all manufacturing, assembly, and test processes at our Milwaukee EMS facility. Operating as a team of one, this role partners with New Product Introduction (NPI), Manufacturing Engineering, Test Engineering, and Program Management to identify tooling needs, scope work, and deliver solutions that directly improve manufacturing efficiency, quality, and capacity.

This is a uniquely hands-on role that combines mechanical design with direct in-house fabrication. The Senior Tooling Development Engineer designs tooling in SolidWorks and fabricates it in-house using CNC and manual machine tools, sheet metal equipment, 3D printers, and a full complement of fabrication tools. Where most roles conclude at drawing release, this role extends through fabrication, build, and validation on the shop floor. Total design ownership belongs to this position: surrounding teams provide input, but the Senior Tooling Development Technician makes the final technical call.

This role reports to the Engineering Manager.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

The essential functions of this position include, but are not limited to, the following:

Technical Ownership & Decision-Making

• Serve as the senior technical voice on tooling design and fabrication at the Milwaukee facility, representing tooling in cross-functional discussions with engineering, operations, quality, and program leadership.
• Own assigned tooling projects end-to-end — from intake and scoping through design, fabrication, commissioning, and post-release support.
• Make final technical decisions on tooling design, weighing input from NPI, Manufacturing Engineering, Test Engineering, Program Management, and production personnel.

Design & Problem Solving

• Develop creative, often non-standard mechanical solutions to ambiguous tooling and fixturing problems brought forward by NPI, Manufacturing Engineering, Test Engineering, and production teams.
• Analyze design trade-offs across cost, manufacturability, lead time, durability, and end-use functionality to select the right approach for each project.
• Apply first-principles technical judgment — including material behavior, tolerance stack-ups, mechanism design, and failure mode analysis — to tooling that must perform reliably in a production environment.
• Design with the end user in mind. Shop floor operators and technicians are key stakeholders for every tool delivered; successful tooling makes their work easier, faster, and more accurate while reducing physical and cognitive strain.
• Iterate on designs through prototyping, fitting, and field feedback to converge on robust final solutions.

Tooling Design

• Design fixtures, pallets, jigs, and custom tooling in SolidWorks to support PCB assembly, box-build assembly, electrical and functional test, and mechanical processes across the facility.
• Translate PCBA design data (Gerber, ODB++, .tgz, .asc, .emn/.emp) into accurate 2D and 3D representations to support fixture design, using tools such as GerbView and SolidWorks.

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Collaborate closely with Test Engineering to develop test fixture mechanicals — including but not limited to PCBA/DUT locating features, tooling-pin selection, pogo pin layout, single- or dual-sided board access, test actuation mechanism, and enclosures for test equipment.
• Partner with NPI Engineering during new product introductions to define and deliver the tooling required to bring new processes online.
• Support Manufacturing Engineering with fixture refurbishment, modification, and updates as products evolve over their lifecycle.

In-House Fabrication

• Program and operate CNC equipment to fabricate tooling components directly from CAD models, using CAM software (SolidWorks CAM), manual G-code/M-code programming, and Haas CNC mill operation.
• Fabricate completed designs in MEC's machine shop using a full complement of manual and additive equipment — including manual mill and lathe; shear and manual press brake for sheet metal; FDM (Bambulab) and SLA (Formlabs) 3D printers; bandsaws, drill presses, tapping machine, hydraulic knockout punches, surface grinder, and a wide range of hand tools.
• Produce one-off mechanical components and short-run parts for internal teams as needed, including lifetime-buy quantities for end-of-life programs and supply-chain mitigation builds.

Commissioning & Documentation

• Commission and validate completed tooling on the production floor in collaboration with the operators and technicians who will use it, confirming intended function and ease of use before production handoff.
• Maintain technical documentation, drawings, and revision history in accordance with MEC document control practices.

Opportunities for Growth and Development

This role has significant latitude to define and drive continuous improvement initiatives. Opportunities the successful candidate may pursue include:

• Developing a formal work-intake and prioritization system for incoming tooling requests, in partnership with Program Management.
• Leading monthly shop-floor walks to identify continuous improvement opportunities with measurable operational impact.
• Working with Purchasing to in-source current "buy" items for cost reduction and lead-time savings.
• Bringing wave solder pallet design and fabrication in-house to eliminate rework time and reduce dependence on outside suppliers.
• Identifying and leading additional continuous improvement initiatives across the facility.

Required Qualifications

Education and experience — one of the following:

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Engineering Technology, or related discipline, with 5+ years of relevant hands-on tooling design and fabrication experience; OR
• Associate's degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology, Tool & Die, Manufacturing Engineering Technology, or related discipline, with 8+ years of relevant hands-on experience; OR
• 12+ years of demonstrated hands-on experience designing AND fabricating production tooling, fixtures, and jigs, supported by a portfolio of work.

Senior-level experience:

• Demonstrated track record of owning mechanical design projects independently from concept through release, with minimal day-to-day technical oversight.
• Proven experience serving as the primary technical voice on tooling, fixture, or comparable mechanical projects in a cross-functional manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated ability to make and defend technical decisions when cross-functional stakeholders disagree, and to drive alignment toward a final approach.

Technical skills and capabilities:

• Strong creative problem-solving skills, with the ability to develop unique, non-standard solutions to ambiguous or highly constrained design problems.
• A genuine willingness to be hands-on in the machine shop and on the production floor.
• Demonstrated proficiency in SolidWorks for parametric solid modeling, assembly modeling, and 2D drawing creation.
• CAM software experience for programming CNC mills from CAD models.
• Fluent operation of manual mill and lathe.
• Proven CNC mill setup, operation, and programming experience.
• Demonstrated ability to read and apply GD&T to interpret customer drawings.
• A willingness and eagerness to learn new tools, software, and processes as the role evolves.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• S. person status required per ITAR (see below).

Preferred Qualifications

• Tool & Die background or equivalent toolmaking craft training.
• Fluency in reading and writing G-code and M-code, with the ability to manually edit CAM-generated programs at the computer or directly at the CNC control.
• Sheet metal fabrication experience, including layout, shearing, and press brake operation.
• Familiarity with 3D printing (FDM and/or SLA) for prototyping, fixture development, and end-use applications.
• Experience designing tooling for the manufacture, assembly, or test of printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs).
• Prior experience interpreting PCB design data (Gerber, ODB++, .asc, .emn/.emp) for fixture design.
• Substantive experience working in a quality-managed manufacturing environment under ISO 9001 or AS9100.
• Surface grinding, welding, brazing, and/or soldering experience.
• Experience applying GD&T to internally-generated drawings.

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 accommodation 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; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; and reach with hands and arms. The employee is frequently required to stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 25 pounds and 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 the 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 accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

This role is performed on-site in a manufacturing facility and requires regular work in both the machine shop and on the electronics production floor. The employee will be regularly exposed to machine shop conditions including moving mechanical parts, metal cutting fluids and coolants, airborne metal particles, and noise from CNC and manual machine tools. The employee will also work in an ESD-controlled electronics manufacturing environment with exposure to soldering fumes and assembly chemicals. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is provided and required where applicable. The work performed in this job can only be done on site, and attendance is an essential function of the job.

ITAR Notice

This position is located within an ITAR-regulated facility. Applicants must be U.S. Persons as defined by ITAR (U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, asylees, or refugees). Job offers are contingent on verification of U.S. person status. We do not provide H-1B or other employment-based visa sponsorship.

MILWAUKEE ELECTRONICS IS 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, protected veteran status, disability, or age. If you are an individual with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation in the application or hiring process, please contact Human Resources at 414-228-5000 or hr@milwaukeeelectronics.com.

For more information about our commitment to equal employment opportunity, please see this government poster: Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (eeoc.gov). 

Because this job has access to controlled technology, we must comply with ITAR. Any job offers will be contingent on verification that the candidate is a U.S. person (i.e., U.S. citizen, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent resident, or individual granted asylum/refugee status in the U.S.) or can otherwise satisfy ITAR compliance requirements. If applicable, if an individual is not a U.S. person, our policy is to not take the extra step of seeking approval from the federal government for that person to work in this position.

Upon hire, the successful candidate must present acceptable proof of identity and current authorization to work in the U.S., as required on Form I-9. We do not provide sponsorship support for employment-based visas such as H-1B.