The Engineering Lead (EL) aligns all stakeholder efforts with organizational strategy, driving proactive risk management and accountability. Through cross-functional leadership and customer-focused delivery, the EL ensures engineering outcomes meet critical deadlines, contractual milestones, and lifecycle expectations. Serving as a strategic integrator, the role strengthens resilience and design integrity while advancing engineering excellence through technical credibility, process optimization, and collaborative execution across design, production, and service phases.

Responsibilities:

1. Review customer specifications to identify any gaps in product or process and provide Bids & Sales with the specific risk-related details, propose approved alternatives or deviation requirements.

2. Represent Production Engineering in vendor interactions and evaluate supplier quotes at bid stage

3. Provide technical guidance and oversight to engineering teams tailored to customer specifications

4. Proactively identify project risks and initiate the appropriate validation efforts to ensure the technical build requirements comply with industry standards and regulations (e.g. APTA, SAE, FMVSS, CMVSS, ADA, CARB, etc.)

5. Manage New Design Integration (NDI) projects: set Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-bound (SMART) goals, facilitate virtual bus reviews engaging all stakeholders, monitor key performance indicators (KPIs), provide tasking to designers/technical leaders, and report project status end-to-end

6. Provide technical leadership by reviewing and approving Engineering Change Notification packages as required in order to maintain continuity and ensuring deadlines are met

7. Manage engineering ANDON postings and responses to support engineering operations and resolve issues promptly

8. Prepare and submit Supplier Application Approval packages, customer approval drawings, test reports, and oversees signoff requirements

9. Coordinate the release and tracking of approval drawings to customers, ensuring engineering deliverables align with project milestones

10. Collaborate on vendor/customer design issues, support the completion of Sales Release Change Requests, and alternate sourcing strategies

11. Act as liaison between Engineering and departments such as Customer Program Management, Vehicle Application Engineering, Strategic Sourcing, Production, Quality, and Service Engineering

12. Approve Option Value forms to define Family and Feature information, in collaboration with the configuration group and VAE, to optimize various design configurations

13. Support training, mentorship, team building, performance management, and succession planning within Engineering Services

14. Support product standardization and design integration across Sales, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain

15. Coordinate engineering efforts to identify design improvement opportunities and present new initiatives to the Change Control Board

16. Other duties as assigned

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in an Engineering or Certified Engineering Technologist designation
• Minimum 5+ years in a related mechanical engineering or project leadership role, and/or 3+ years technical experience internal to NFI/MCI
• Advanced technical and project management capabilities
• Strong communication, organizational, and leadership skills
• Proficiency in engineering tools and systems (NX, Teamcenter, Oracle, ePlanner, Excel, A3, etc.)
• A self-starter who requires minimal supervision
• Ability to travel to the US

Benefits

WHY JOIN OUR TEAM:

• Competitive Wages.
• A continuous learning environment.
• Ability to advance your career with a growing company.
• NFI Group has been named a Manitoba Top Employer for 2020 and this is the tenth time since the competition was established in 2007.
• Employee social committee organizes numerous events throughout the year, including summer barbecues, holiday festivities, sporting events and tournaments, and much more.
• Ongoing employee development through a variety of in-house training initiatives along with tuition subsidies for courses at outside institutions.