Opportunity Overview

This is a hands-on leadership opportunity to roll up your sleeves to spearhead a variety of technical projects, ranging from equipment design, manufacture, automation, modification and purchasing to installation and de-bugging.

Being just second in command to the Vice President of Engineering & Manufacturing you will be positioned as the "go-to" person for Engineering issues for our growing, global company; this will include traveling to startup new locations and diagnose problems at our satellite branches (we have sixteen global branches, eleven of which are in the US). We will look to you to come in with a fresh set of eyes, assess our equipment and processes and drive innovation to modify/enhance our machine building capabilities and optimize our manufacturing environment.

We design and build most of our own equipment and to be a good fit for this opportunity you will ideally have a background in metal composition along with hands-on expertise in AutoCAD, PLC programming, CNC controls, pneumatics, hydraulics, mechanics, and electronics. Of course, if you've worked in a non-automated manufacturing environment, you understand the nuances of dealing with machinists (who can be a unique, perfection-seeking group).

You will model a motivational and collaborative style of leadership to instill confidence in your abilities and gently but firmly guide our long-tenured team of machinists to discover their own best potential. You will also flex your creative muscle as you quickly troubleshoot and resolve issues for non-performing equipment and proactively drive improvements.

Lamons Gasket is one of the largest global suppliers of gaskets and bolts to the chemical and petrochemical industries; we hit a record-breaking $130M in sales last year and are poised for additional growth--in spite of a recessionary economy--as we make inroads into the global market.

What Else You'll Bring to the Table

In addition to the qualifications outlined above, you will need:

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Manufacturing Engineering.
• Minimum 5+ years of related experience in a manufacturing plant as a Process Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer, or Engineering Supervisor.
• Knowledge of metal composition, punch presses, forming, welding, coatings, and spray applications
• Familiarity with blueprints, schematics, welding symbols, electrical, electronic circuitry, and electrical codes.
• Strong leadership and influencing skills to motivate the team.
• Excellent analytical skills with a strong working knowledge of problem solving, root cause analysis and associated solution implementation.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to facilitate cross-functional project teams.
• Computer Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite (including Word, Excel & PowerPoint) environment.
• Ability to travel (up to 30%) to other global sites to build new equipment and aid in the transfer of knowledge.

What's in It for You

• Influence & impact -- while you will be inheriting a team that is performing well, you will leverage your expertise to make a good thing even better as you train and mentor the team to achieve and sustain manufacturing excellence. At the same time, you'll be able to "make your mark" on our organization as you track down the hidden opportunities to improve our equipment and manufacturing processes.
• Career growth -- this is a high potential opportunity and we'll likely be grooming you for bigger and better opportunities, such as Director of Engineering, as we continue to grow.
• Great environment -- we've fostered a casual culture and treat our people with dignity and respect; we enjoy many of the benefits of a large company, including a team-oriented environment that has the motivation and high level support to bring your innovative ideas to life.
• Excellent benefits -- in addition to a competitive salary, we offer a full benefits package that includes medical/dental/vision, a company-matched 401(k) plan, and more.

More About Your Role

If you're a good fit for this position, you already know most of what the job entails. However, to be sure we're providing a complete picture, here are some details.

At our Houston headquarters, you will report directly to the Vice President of Manufacturing & Engineering as you oversee a team of five, including three Machinists and two Maintenance Technicians. You'll be able to "zoom in" to learn about our people, equipment, and processes on the manufacturing floor at a granular level and then "zoom out" again to a strategic level to analyze and see opportunities for improvements.

You'll spend about 40% of your time on the machine shop floor driving day-to-day manufacturing issues; and the remaining 60% at the desk with strategic planning issues. Specifically, your responsibilities are to:

• Create solutions to solve process/quality problems, improve productivity or reduce cost; solutions can be created in-house, via outside suppliers, purchased, or a combination.
• Drive automation and/or modification of equipment and processes; drive detailed design project plan; communicate to all parties; implement; train and follow-up to ensure successful attainment of project objectives.
• Develop capital budget plans.
• Drive key make vs. buy decisions and balance prioritizations.
• Communicate with and travel to satellite locations to ensure process and equipment usage knowledge is maintained.
• Coordinate new location development including layout, project plan, local contractor coordination, equipment install, and training.
• Maintain asset listing for plant.
• Drive and sustain engineering quality and safety for all manufacturing processes.

Keys to Success

Technical horsepower, creative problem-solving savvy and an endless supply of fresh ideas will serve you well in this role, but it is your leadership prowess and ability to gently guide the team in the direction of Lamon's manufacturing goals that will push you over the top.

You'll need to be the kind of hands-on leader that enjoys getting out on the floor and being involved in the day-to-day production. Further skills that will assist you in this role include:

• Innovative problem solving skills -- your knack for looking at an issue from all angles will serve you well as you develop and implement creative solutions that help us optimize our products and operations and close in on ever-advancing customer quality requirements.
• Excellent teamwork & interpersonal skills -- as you work closely with your immediate team to establish goals and priorities and keep the shop floor running smoothly, you'll also collaborate with, influence, and enlist the support of others throughout the organization to thoroughly understand the issues and requirements at hand and to implement your improvement initiatives in a collective effort.
• Independent initiative -- in addition to autonomously carrying your projects through to completion, you'll take point in developing goals and driving action plans to achieve our objectives ahead of schedule.
• Flexibility -- with excellent multitasking ability, you'll showcase your capacity to expertly balance day-to-day issues while driving continuous improvement activities in a fast paced and dynamic, customer needs driven environment.

If this sounds like the right mix of challenge and opportunity for you, and you meet the minimum qualifications, we want to hear from you!

Who We Are

Lamons is one of the largest gasket and bolt suppliers in the world, committed to quality and exceptional service. Our major manufacturing facilities are in Houston and Hangzhou, Zhejiang near Shanghai, with sales and service facilities located throughout the U.S. and Canada. We have recently added three additional sales facilities in Zhang Jai Gang, Rotterdam and Salt Lake City and also have many licensees and distributors throughout the world, which are strategically located to provide our customers with the widest selection of gasket materials ready for immediate delivery.

Our locations feature leading technology and state of the art manufacturing facilities capable of producing engineered products to custom specifications serving the refining, chemical, power generation, and pulp and paper industries. For more information, please visit www.lamonsgasket.com.