Manufacturing Engineer

Bruker · Santa Barbara, CA

Level: Engineer
Team: Manufacturing
Experience asked: 60+ years
Industry: Industrial
Posted: 30+ days ago

The role in 30 seconds

An engineer-level manufacturing role at Bruker (industrial) in Santa Barbara, CA. Lead or support integration of products and processes of newly acquired technologies into Bruker product lines and processes.

They ask for: 60+ years
Tools it names: Six Sigma, FMEA, CAPA, GD&T, ISO 9001, Supplier quality

Read from the posting. The full description is below.

From the plant jobs report · week of November 2, 2026

Manufacturing Engineer roles in California: typical posted base $115k–$169k.

Median of the low and high ends of 150 live postings that list pay, out of 398 manufacturing engineer openings in California, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.

California plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →

How this role compares

Against 397 other live manufacturing postings in California.

Base pay: Not listed in this posting
Experience asked: More than usual (60+ vs 5+)

Skills these teams ask for most

✓ Tooling 52%
✓ New product launch 47%
Root cause 38%
Automation 34%
Machining 27%
CATIA / NX 27%

✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.

Stands out: this posting asks for CAPA, ISO 9001, Supplier quality, SAP, which few similar roles mention. If you have it, lead with it.

It asks for 60+ years. If you're close, apply anyway: requirements are a wish list. Talk to someone doing this work there first.

At a glance

Promotion path mentioned

Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.

How to get in at this plant

Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.

1
Pick 2–3 people on the Manufacturing team at Bruker
Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. Use the team search on this page to find them.
2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- Is the work mostly new product launches or sustaining existing lines?
- How much time do you spend on the floor versus at a desk?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.

Full description from BrukerAs posted on their careers site.Show

· Perform other duties assigned by the supervisor

· Ability to travel within US for initial training and future NPI collaboration activities.

o May require ~5% travel (All travel within CA)

Qualifications

· Experience with NPI process as direct contributor and project manager

· Experience with DFx, DFMEA, and PFMEA techniques.

· Experience in creating and maintaining BOM structures.

· Experience in writing ECOs (Engineering Change Orders).

· Experience in mechanical part & assembly design and making changes to existing design in 3D CAD.

· Experience in utilizing and interpreting GD&T and ANSI 14.5.

· Experience in creating and editing production work instructions and manufacturing routings.

· Experience in presenting updates to internal customers and management

· Experience in troubleshooting complex electromechanical assemblies.

· User level experience with SAP (or a similar complex ERP system) (example modules: Material Master, BOMs, Routings, Documents).

· Work independently, strong team player, detail oriented, organized, and hands-on.

· Effective time management skills to meet deadlines

· Above average fluency with Microsoft Office products

· Ability to work in Clean-Room Environment.

· US Citizenship or Permenant Residency

· International travel (may be required ~4wks per year. Actual travel duration and frequency will depend on project requirements.)

· Experience in Solidworks, SolidEdge

· Experience managing third party contractors.

· Familiar with ISO9001 requirements, continuous improvement, and Six Sigma principles.

· Experience in a similar, highly engineered, low volume, h

Show full description ↓

Overview

Join a Global Leader in Analytical Instrumentation

Are you passionate about engineering innovation and looking to advance your career with a company at the forefront of analytical instrumentation? Bruker, a world leader in research and development solutions, invites you to join our team in Santa Barbara, CA as an Manufacturing Engineer.

With over 60 years of driving progress and more than 11,000 employees across 90 global locations, Bruker continues to shape industries and improve quality of life worldwide.

Bruker Nano, one of our four operating segments, empowers customers in academia, government, life sciences, and applied industries with the tools to uncover the properties of matter and visualize molecular structures. Our divisions span Nano Analytics, Nano Surfaces & Metrology, Fluorescence Microscopy, and Spatial Biology.

As a Mechanical Manufacturing Engineer at Bruker AFM, you’ll play a pivotal role in sustaining engineering, championing supply chain initiatives, resolving end-of-life challenges, and ensuring peak performance of production test equipment. If you’re ready to make a significant impact in electrical manufacturing, we encourage you to apply and become part of our innovative family.

General

· Follow company policies and processes

· Initiate and support continuous improvement activities

· Create metrics and reports for your projects and processes

· Document and improve your processes

· Train and mentor new employees

· Guide your process users and answer questions

· Ensure compliance with internal and external standards where applicable

· Write, review, approve Engineering Change Orders (ECO)

· Support cross functional teams

New Product Introduction (NPI) Engineering

· Work with cross-functional NPI teams for New Product Development from Conceptual phase through Proof of Manufacturing, Volume Production, and End of Life phases.

· Lead the NPI team during “Proof of Manufacturing and Production Ramp” phase of the NPI projects and prepare the new product for production by making sure that all drawings, work instructions, routings, BOMs, fixtures, test protocols, and test specifications are ready for production.

· Practice and promote (DFx) guidelines, Design for Manufacturing, Assembly, Test, Reliability, and Service.

· Provide feedback to design engineers during design reviews using DFx principles, best practices, and lessons learned from previous projects.

· Lead process Failure Mode Effect Analysis (pFMEA) activities

· Contribute to design Failure Mode Effect Analysis (dFMEA) activities

· Complete manufacturing engineering and quality engineering deliverables during all phases of NPI process

· Create and present progress reports, metrics, and PowerPoints for your projects

· Create quality inspection plans and first article documents for new parts

· Lead or support integration of products and processes of newly acquired technologies into Bruker product lines and processes

Sustaining Engineering

· Lead “Line Down” projects

· Support production to achieve “on time shipment” (OTS) and revenue goals.

· Design, develop, test, and qualify product and production improvements (tooling, fixtures, documentation)

· Review and approve first article parts

· Solve “off the shelf” component end of life (EOL) issues, find alternative components

· Create and Improve drawings, documentation, work instructions, BOM, and routings via Engineering Change Order process

· Lead or contribute to Material Review Board (MRB) to process non-conforming materials

· Utilize corrective and preventive action process (CAPA) to improve product and processes

· Troubleshoot and test electromechanical and electrical assemblies to support production

· Ensure and improve uptime for production test equipment and tooling

· Support cost reduction activities such as Redesign, Insourcing, Outsourcing, and Resourcing.

· Initiate and contribute to product quality improvement activities

· Lead or support factory qualification projects

· Lead or contribute to process improvement activities

· Lead or contribute to product quality improvement activities (including Supplier Quality, Receiving Inspection, In process Quality, In Box Quality, and Out of Box Quality)