Staff Industrial Engineer - Minneapolis, MN

IPG Photonics is revolutionizing the laser industry as the pioneering developer and leading producer of fiber lasers and amplifiers. Headquartered in Marlborough, MA, IPG has over 4,800 employees in more than 25 locations around the world. We aspire to work together with our employees and customers to apply light in ways that improve life.

Our mission is to develop innovative laser solutions to make the world a better place. To accomplish this mission, we are committed to attracting and retaining the best talent and an engaged, and thriving workforce that drives a sustainable future for our company and society.

Working at IPG Photonics you can expect challenging projects, a motivating and friendly environment, and competitive benefits.

IPG Photonics is seeking a Senior Industrial Engineer to lead continuous improvement efforts in our engineer-to-order (ETO) automation system manufacturing environment. This role is critical to enhancing process quality, training and process documentation, and operational excellence. The ideal candidate will have demonstrated experience in effectively setting up and improving these systems, strong data gathering and analysis skills, and a working familiarity with ERP systems and best practices.

Key Responsibilities:

• Continuous Improvement: Drive lean and other general continuous improvement initiatives throughout the organization. Identify opportunities and implement improvements to safety, quality, delivery, and cost.

• Quality & RCA/CA: Champion quality, own and improve system for tracking questions and issues. Perform root cause analysis. Conceive and implement robust, effective corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) to resolve quality issues in a complicated, project-based engineer-to-order manufacturing environment. Support cross-functional teams to drive project delay reduction and build a culture of quality across operations.

• Training, Competency, & Knowledge Management: Develop a structure for training, procedures, and competency tracking. Develop and continuously improve procedures.

• Data Analysis & Reporting: Collect, analyze, and interpret operational data to identify trends, inefficiencies, and improvement opportunities. Develop dashboards and performance metrics to support decision-making and track KPIs.

• ERP Systems: Collaborate with other functions as needed to optimize ERP data, processes, and workflows (e.g., material flow, routing, BOM structure, work order management). Provide support for ERP upgrades, process mapping, and user training.

• Process Engineering: Analyze and optimize manufacturing processes, workstation layouts, and equipment utilization tailored to single-unit, projectized, ETO workflows. Support capacity planning and production scaling through data-driven recommendations.

• Collaboration: Partner with other functions, other business units, and suppliers to initiate and drive strategic initiatives. Ensure manufacturability and process efficiency from order to delivery.