Systems Engineering Manager Jobs in Lockport, IL

Schold Manufacturing | Bedford Park, IL

Build Equipment. Build Systems. Build Engineers.

Schold Manufacturing is looking for an Engineering Manager to lead and develop our mechanical engineering team and help build the engineering organization that will support our next stage of growth.

This is not simply a project-management role. We are looking for an experienced mechanical engineer and people leader who has a strong foundation in the design of large industrial machinery and capital equipment, enjoys improving how engineering work gets done, and genuinely wants to mentor talented early-career engineers into exceptional engineers.

Since 1949, Schold has designed and manufactured industrial dispersing, milling, and mixing equipment. Our business is built around custom-engineered equipment for our customers' processes, supported throughout the life of the equipment.

Our Engineering Manager will have the opportunity to shape how Schold engineers, standardizes, documents, and delivers increasingly sophisticated equipment while developing the next generation of Schold engineers.

What You Will Do:

Develop Our Engineering Team

• Lead, mentor, and develop a talented team of mechanical engineers.
• Spend meaningful one-on-one time teaching sound engineering judgment, machine design fundamentals, problem solving, and project ownership.
• Review designs and challenge engineers to understand why a design works, not simply whether it can be modeled.
• Establish clear expectations, accountability, development plans, and career growth paths.
• Recruit, onboard, and develop future engineering talent.
• Create an environment where engineers ask questions, learn from mistakes, collaborate, and continuously improve.

Lead the Design of Custom Industrial Equipment

• Provide technical leadership for engineered-to-order industrial mixing, milling, and dispersing equipment.
• Guide projects from application and concept development through detailed design, manufacturing, assembly, testing, installation, and startup.
• Lead and participate in design reviews covering safety, structural integrity, manufacturability, serviceability, cost, reliability, and customer requirements.
• Provide hands-on engineering support when difficult design or manufacturing problems arise.
• Work closely with Sales, Manufacturing, Assembly, Quality, Purchasing, and Service to deliver successful equipment to our customers.

Build a Stronger Engineering System

• Improve engineering workflow, scheduling, workload visibility, and project prioritization.
• Develop and implement engineering standards, procedures, checklists, and best practices.
• Improve drawing, BOM, design-review, release, and change-control processes.
• Identify opportunities to standardize proven designs while maintaining Schold's ability to deliver highly customized equipment.
• Improve engineering quality and reduce errors, rework, and recurring production issues.
• Introduce practical tools, technology, automation, and processes that make engineers more productive.
• Establish meaningful engineering metrics and use them to continuously improve department performance.
• Balance today's customer and production needs with the long-term development of a scalable engineering organization.

What We Are Looking For:

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related engineering discipline.
• Approximately 7+ years of progressively responsible mechanical engineering experience, preferably involving industrial machinery, process equipment, engineered-to-order equipment, or other large capital equipment.
• A strong foundation in practical machine design, including structures, rotating equipment, power transmission, bearings, shafts, fabricated assemblies, and mechanical systems.
• Experience designing equipment that must ultimately be fabricated, machined, assembled, installed, operated, and serviced—not simply modeled.
• Experience with welded and machined components and an understanding of practical manufacturing methods.
• Strong 3D CAD capabilities; SolidWorks experience is preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical projects and make sound engineering decisions.
• Prior engineering leadership, supervision, or substantial mentoring experience.

Formal management experience is valuable, but we are equally interested in an accomplished senior or lead engineer who has demonstrated the ability and desire to develop people and is ready to take broader ownership of an engineering organization.

The Person Who Will Thrive Here:

You will enjoy this role if you:

• Love developing engineers. You get satisfaction from watching a young engineer become capable, confident, and independent.
• Have strong engineering fundamentals. You can look at a machine, drawing, or design concept and quickly recognize what matters.
• Are a builder of systems. When a process is inefficient or unclear, your instinct is to understand it, improve it, document it, and make the improvement stick.
• Are hands-on. You are comfortable moving between CAD, the conference room, the manufacturing floor, and a customer's facility.
• Lead through teaching and accountability. You provide direction while helping people understand the reasoning behind it.
• Enjoy custom equipment. You are energized by solving different technical problems rather than repeatedly producing the same product.
• Have a continuous-improvement mindset. You respect what has worked in the past while constantly looking for a better way.
• Collaborate well. You understand that great equipment results from engineering, manufacturing, sales, service, and customers working together.

How We Measure Success:

• The growth, capability, engagement, and retention of Schold's engineers.
• More consistent and predictable engineering execution.
• Improved on-time engineering releases and support of customer delivery commitments.
• Fewer design errors, production disruptions, and recurring engineering issues.
• Stronger engineering standards, documentation, and design practices.
• Greater reuse and standardization of proven engineering solutions.
• Successful execution of complex custom-equipment projects.
• Improved collaboration between Engineering and the rest of the organization.
• A department that becomes more capable and scalable each year.

Why Schold

Schold offers an unusual engineering environment. Our engineers do not design one small component of a product they may never see. They work on complete industrial machines and systems and can walk from their desk onto the manufacturing floor to see their designs being fabricated, machined, assembled, wired, tested, and prepared for shipment.

You will work directly with company leadership and have meaningful authority to improve the engineering organization. This is an opportunity to leave a lasting mark—not only on the equipment we build, but on the engineers and engineering systems that will shape Schold's future.

Our Vision

To become the industry benchmark for engineered dispersing, milling, and mixing solutions, known for innovation, reliability, and a relentless commitment to customer success.

Our Core Values

Safety | Quality | Customer Service | Collaboration | Innovation & Ingenuity | On-Time Delivery

Our Differentiator

Custom-engineered equipment for your process. Responsive throughout the life of your equipment.

If you are an experienced engineer who wants to build great machines, build a great engineering organization, and develop great engineers, we would like to meet you.