Senior Processing Engineer, Cold Forming

Senior Processing Engineer, Cold Forming
Location: Western Chicagoland, IL or Western Detroit, MI
Base Salary: $100,000 to $125,000 plus 15% annual bonus

We are conducting a confidential search for a Senior Processing Engineer, Cold Forming for a growing manufacturing organization with a strong automotive component focus. The company is experiencing significant growth and offers an excellent compensation and benefits package , including a 15% annual bonus , exceptional medical, dental, and vision coverage , and an outstanding retirement benefit .

This is a high-impact engineering role supporting critical process engineering projects, tooling design, and manufacturing process improvements, with a major emphasis on cold forming . This position can be based in either a Western Chicagoland manufacturing plant or a Western Detroit manufacturing plant.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Lead process engineering projects tied to cold forming operations
• Drive tooling and manufacturing process improvements across multiple facilities
• Provide technical leadership for cold forming processes, including manufacturing standards, capability analysis, and process development
• Support product launches by ensuring process capability and production capacity are aligned with customer requirements
• Manage capital equipment projects from concept through runoff and start-up
• Assess existing equipment for capacity, performance, and improvement opportunities
• Partner closely with plant leadership to execute customer requirements and growth initiatives
• Lead continuous improvement efforts and troubleshoot cold forming issues during launches and ongoing production

What We’re Looking For

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial Engineering, or a related field
• 10+ years of manufacturing engineering experience in a metal forming environment
• Must have cold forming experience
• Strong experience working with older National Machinery cold forming machines
• Background in metal forming tool design
• Automotive manufacturing experience is preferred
• Strong problem-solving skills with an analytical approach such as DMAIC or 8D
• Ability to communicate effectively across all levels of the organization

Technical Skills Preferred

Experience with some combination of:

• Microsoft Project and Excel
• AutoCAD, Pro E, SolidWorks, CATIA, Deform, or similar CAE tools
• Minitab
• SPC software
• SAP

Additional Details

• Travel up to 20% to 30%, including occasional international travel
• Flexibility to support a 24-hour manufacturing operation when needed

This is an outstanding opportunity for a seasoned cold forming engineer to join a company on the move, make a visible impact, and be well rewarded for it. They need someone who understands cold forming at a practical level and can bring real expertise with legacy National Machinery equipment. Not someone who just admires machines from across the parking lot.