Overview
Do you want to join a team that's changing the world? Do you have a strong background as a Sr. Manufacturing Engineer? Then we're looking for you! Check out the job description and apply now! Put your skills to meaningful use, gain unique experience, and work with world-class team members with diverse backgrounds and expertise who share the same vision. Join the PECNA team today!
Responsibilities
Sr. Manufacturing Engineer
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Meet the Recruiter: Eric Laffey
Summary:
Join us at Panasonic Energy as we expand to De Soto, Kansas, where we’re building the world’s largest lithium-ion battery factory. This is an exciting opportunity to grow your career while contributing to the future of electric vehicles. As part of our team, you’ll help push the limits of battery technology, enhancing performance and efficiency in sustainable transportation. Our state-of-the-art facility, just outside the Kansas City Metro, will be a hub for innovation in green energy solutions. If you're passionate about sustainability and eager to contribute to the electric vehicle revolution, we invite you to be part of our dynamic team. Join us and make a meaningful impact on the future of energy and transportation.
Job Summary:
The Senior Manufacturing Engineer is a highly experienced individual contributor recognized as a technical authority within the manufacturing organization. Operating autonomously in a high-volume lithium-ion battery manufacturing environment, this role impacts major programs, systems, and business units by setting engineering direction and driving strategic manufacturing improvements. The Senior Manufacturing Engineer leads large, complex initiatives across processes, equipment, and manufacturing systems; resolves highly complex or ambiguous technical challenges; and defines long-term technical strategies that improve safety, quality, throughput, and cost. This role serves as a technical leader and mentor, influencing cross-functional teams and leadership through expertise, judgment, and innovation.
Essential Duties:
Functional Operations:
- Serves as a recognized subject matter expert across manufacturing processes, equipment systems, automation, or manufacturing integration
- Defines and drives manufacturing engineering strategy for major programs, lines, or systems
- Leads large-scale, complex manufacturing, equipment, or automation initiatives with broad operational impact
- Establishes advanced manufacturing standards, system architectures, and best practices across the organization
- Provides authoritative technical guidance for the most complex manufacturing and equipment challenges
- Evaluates emerging technologies and determines applicability to manufacturing operations
- Provides hands-on technical support for critical manufacturing or equipment issues when escalation requires senior-level expertise
- Oversees complex equipment commissioning and startup activities, ensuring functional validation, risk mitigation, and smooth transition to sustained operations
Performance Optimization & Continuous Improvement:
- Solves highly complex, ambiguous, and cross-system manufacturing challenges requiring advanced judgment and innovation
- Champions strategic continuous improvement initiatives that deliver step-change improvements in throughput, yield, reliability, safety, and cost
- Defines long-term process capability, equipment reliability, and manufacturing system optimization strategies
- Applies expert-level statistical analysis, modeling, and advanced problem-solving methodologies
- Ensures improvements are scalable, sustainable, and embedded through standardization and governance
- Influences and supports data-driven manufacturing solutions, including manufacturing execution systems (MES), to enable scalable and sustainable operations
Training & Team Support:
- Provides senior-level technical coaching and mentorship to Manufacturing Engineers I–III
- Leads technical capability development through design reviews, technical forums, and best practice sharing
- Acts as a senior technical escalation and advisory resource for critical manufacturing, quality, or equipment issues
- Influences engineering culture by modeling technical excellence, rigor, and continuous learning
Cross-Functional Collaboration & Communication:
- Leads cross-functional collaboration across Production, Maintenance, Quality, Controls, Engineering, Supply Chain, and external partners
- Presents complex technical strategies, risks, and recommendations to site leadership and executive stakeholders
- Influences technical decision-making and alignment across multiple teams, programs, or business units
- Partners with leadership to align manufacturing engineering strategy with business objectives
- Provides technical oversight of vendors and contractors to ensure alignment with engineering standards and operational requirements
Quality, Safety, & Compliance:
- Sets expectations for manufacturing quality, process conformance, and system reliability
- Applies advanced quality methodologies (e.g., SPC, FMEA, fault tree analysis) at a system or enterprise level
- Ensures manufacturing processes, equipment changes, and improvements meet internal standards and regulatory requirements
- Integrates safety-by-design principles into manufacturing systems, equipment design, and commissioning activities
- Actively supports site safety initiatives, risk assessments, and major equipment or process deployments
- Properly uses and enforces required personal protective equipment (PPE) as dictated by functional area requirements
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Requirements:
- To ensure the health and safety in the workplace and for the protection of our employees, wearing PPE is a possibility and may include equipment such as a full Tyvek suit, safety shoes, gloves, safety glasses, face mask, bump cap, and a full hazmat suit that includes a respirator.
The foregoing description is not intended and should not be construed to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, skills and efforts or work conditions associated with the job. It is intended to be an accurate reflection of the general nature and level of the job.
Qualifications
Requirements - Required and/or Preferred
Education, Certifications, and Licenses:
Required:
- Bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering, or a closely related STEM field
Preferred:
- Master’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering, or a closely related field
- Professional Engineer (PE) Licensure
- Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification
- Certified Manufacturing Engineer (CMfgE)
- Advanced training or certification in automation systems, controls engineering, or manufacturing systems integration
- Project or program leadership certification (e.g., PMP or equivalent)
- OSHA 30-Hour General Industry Certification (or equivalent advanced safety training)
Essential Qualifications:
- 7+ years of relevant engineering experience in a manufacturing environment
- Demonstrated ability to operate autonomously with broad technical authority
- Proven experience leading large, complex manufacturing or engineering initiatives
- Expert-level understanding of manufacturing systems, equipment, and process optimization
- Demonstrated ability to solve highly complex or ambiguous technical problems
- Strong executive-level communication and influence skills
- Proven ability to mentor and develop engineering capability across teams
- Must have working-level knowledge of the English language, including reading, writing, and speaking English
- Alignment to Panasonic’s seven (7) core principles (contribution to society, fairness and honesty, cooperation and team spirit, untiring effort for improvement, courtesy and humility, adaptability, gratitude)
Preferred Qualifications:
- 10+ years of engineering experience in a manufacturing environment
- Experience in high-volume lithium-ion battery manufacturing or related industries (automotive, electronics, energy storage)
- Demonstrated success influencing manufacturing or engineering strategy at the site or business-unit level
- Extensive experience with advanced automation, equipment integration, and commissioning
- Strong background in enterprise-level quality systems and manufacturing excellence initiatives
Physical Demands:
Physical Activities: Percentage of time (equaling 100%) during the normal workday the employee is required to:
- Sit: 10%
- Walk: 40%
- Stand: 50%
Required Lifting and Carrying: Rare (<1%), Occasional (1-33%), Frequent (34-66%), Continuous (67-100%)
For this position, the required frequency is:
- Up to 10 lbs.: Frequent
- Up to 20 lbs.: Frequent
- Up to 35 lbs.: Occasional
- Team-lift only (over 35 lbs.): Occasional
Benefits & Perks - What's In It For You:
Panasonic Energy prioritizes total well-being and offers comprehensive benefits options to support physical, emotional, financial, social, and environmental health:
- Health Benefits – Offering medical, dental, vision, prescription plans, plus Health Savings Account and Flexible Spending Account options.
- Voluntary Benefits – Life, accident, critical illness, disability, legal, identity theft, and pet insurance.
- Panasonic Retirement Savings & Investment Plan (PRSIP) – 401(k) plan with company matching contributions and immediate vesting.
- Paid Time-Off Benefits – Vacation, holidays, personal days, sick leave, volunteer, and parental & caregiver leave.
- Educational Assistance – Tuition reimbursement for job-related courses after six months of service.
- Health Management and Wellbeing Programs –Lifestyle Spending Account, EAP, virtual health management, chronic condition, neurodiversity, tobacco cessation, substance abuse support, and life stage and fertility resources. Available to eligible employees starting the first day of the month following your start date. Eligibility for each benefit may vary based on employment status, location, and length of service.
- Employee Recognition Program - High5 employee recognition and awards platform, quarterly and annual employee recognition
- Annual Bonus Program - Opportunity for an annual performance-based bonus.
- On-site Food Options: Several on-site cafes, plentiful snack and beverage kitchens, revolving on-site vendor visits and employee events.
Where You'll Be:
For our onsite roles, Panasonic Energy is committed to fostering an ideal working environment that goes beyond the conventional. We understand the significance of moments that matter in your onsite experience, and we prioritize creating a workspace that not only promotes productivity but also ensures a fulfilling and positive work atmosphere. Join us at Panasonic Energy, where your onsite presence is valued, and we strive to make each moment count in your professional journey.
Who We Are:
Meet Panasonic Energy! At Panasonic Energy, you'll do work that matters as we are dedicated to transforming the world through the acceleration of sustainable energy. By producing safe, high-quality lithium-ion batteries, you become part of a team that plays a crucial role in creating technologies that move us. Our journey began in 2017, and now, as the world's largest lithium-ion battery factory, we are expanding operations to De Soto, Kansas, providing you with the opportunity to experience career growth in more ways than one. As an innovative thinker, you'll thrive here, as we continually push the boundaries of lithium-ion battery technology and production capabilities to enhance efficiency and performance in EVs. Being part of Panasonic Energy means positively contributing to society, aligning with our commitment to building a better world through sustainable energy solutions. We care about what you care about, fostering an environment where your contributions make a meaningful impact on the future of energy and transportation. Join us and be part of a team that values your work, encourages innovation, and actively contributes to a positive societal impact. In addition to an environment that is as innovative as our products, we offer competitive salaries and benefits.
We Take Opportunity Seriously:
At Panasonic Energy, we are committed to a workplace that genuinely fosters inclusion and belonging. Fairness and Honesty have been part of our core values for more than 100 years and we are proud of our diverse culture as an equal opportunity employer. We understand that your career search may look different than others and embrace the professional, personal, educational, and volunteer opportunities through which people gain experience. If you are actively looking or starting to explore new opportunities, submit your application!
Supplemental Information:
Pre-employment drug testing is required. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law. All qualified individuals are required to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation. Due to the high volume of responses, we will only be able to respond to candidates of interest. All candidates must have valid authorization to work in the U.S. without restriction.
Thank you for your interest in Panasonic Energy Corporation of North America.
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