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Company Description
At Lakeshore, we create innovative learning materials and world-class guest experiences for teachers, parents and children. Since 1954, we’ve grown into a global community—with a thriving e-commerce business, multiple catalogs, 60+ retail stores, a peerless national sales force, plus international offices that support our preeminent supply chain division. But today we’re working better, smarter and faster than ever—and setting our sights even higher. We’re building an infrastructure designed for scalability, embracing data-driven decision-making and using technology to improve efficiency and ensure the best tools for the best work. Most importantly, we continue to invest in a diverse team of inquisitive top talent who fuel each other’s passions and curiosity, take risks, try new things and believe that every new day brings opportunities for growth.
Job Description
We are currently looking for a hands-on Engineering Director to oversee the complex and rapidly evolving workload of our product engineers in the plastics category. In this role, you will coach team members to deliver production-ready designs and implement standards and procedures that ensure best practices are followed and cost-effectiveness is maintained. The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of design engineering and development processes, as well as the ability to communicate effectively with staff members at all levels—from interdepartmental peers to company executives. And we’re here to help you succeed—Lakeshore recently earned its Great Place to Work® Certification™ and is proud to put its people first.
This position is on-site at our Carson, CA, headquarters with the flexibility to work from home depending on the design stage.
A day in the office looks like this:
- Managing the product engineering work through hands-on coaching, mentoring and critiquing
- Growing and developing the team’s engineering and leadership skills
- Providing engineering expertise with an emphasis on your plastics knowledge
- Ensuring that engineering product designs support company standards for quality, durability and cost-effectiveness
- Clearly articulating project status and progress to peers and company executives
- Establishing and maintaining strong working relationships with multiple internal and external partners; collaborating with partners to ensure successful production and manufacturing outcomes
- Solving inefficiencies in design and engineering processes and leading your team as they troubleshoot through all stages of the development process
- Providing detailed responses to product and technical requests
Qualifications
Got the skills and experience? Here’s what we’re looking for:
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field (Master’s degree a plus)
- 10+ years of engineering/design experience
- 5+ years of experience leading teams at the director or senior manager level
- Experience with CAD software (SolidWorks experience preferred)
- Deep knowledge of a variety of plastics and material selection, especially ABS, HDPE, PP, nylon, POM and TPEs
- Expertise in DFMA to ensure tooling design will deliver upon design intent and specifications; experience with predictive techniques a plus (e.g., Moldflow)
- Expertise in plastic part design, injection and blow molding, plastic part assembly and overmolding
- Good understanding of the quality process and the integration of product and testing requirements into design
- Current relationships with plastic material suppliers and high-quality molders in Asia is a plus
- Consistent approach to voice of customer design and consumer end-use
- Ability to provide quick and pragmatic direction
- Excellent presentation skills with the ability to simplify complex concepts to drive decision-making
- Great leadership skills with the ability to influence partners and assess organizational needs
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Excellent attention to detail
Additional Information
And here’s our end of the bargain!
- Salary: $160,000 – $225,000 with an annual bonus of up to 20%
- Excellent medical/dental and vision coverage—EPO, PPO and HSA
- 401(k) retirement plan with company contribution (because you will retire someday)
- Flexible benefits—choose what you like, ignore the rest
- On-site preschool for our employees’ children
- On-site employee gym for all levels/fitness needs
- Generous employee discount on products that make you smarter
- Casual dress…and we really mean it
At Lakeshore, we know our diversity makes us stronger, and when everyone feels included and valued, we all win. We strive to embrace our differences and create an intentionally diverse and inclusive community that is representative of the teachers, families and children we serve.
We know we couldn’t do the extraordinary things we’re doing without the people on our team. Thanks to the passion and enthusiasm of this spectacular group, Lakeshore is more than a great place to work—it’s a great experience to be part of. Day in and day out, we give everything we’ve got to create products that instill a sense of wonder and foster a true love of learning. To help maintain this high bar for success, we’re constantly on the lookout for people to join us. So if you’re a down-to-earth professional who shares our desire for making a difference, we’d love to hear from you.
To learn more about Lakeshore, visit www.lakeshorelearning.com/careers
Equal Employment Opportunity Policy
People are selected to become members of the Lakeshore family based on skill, merit and mind-boggling talent—not based on race, color, creed, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity, marital status, domestic partnership status, military status, religion, age, national origin, ancestry, alienage, AIDS or AIDS-related complex status, genetic information, predisposition or carrier status, status as a victim of domestic violence, physical or mental disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. If things aren’t equal, we all lose.
To learn about how we collect and use Applicant information, please visit our Employee/Applicant Privacy Policy. INDRLL2
Lakeshore Learning Materials
Lakeshore Learning Materials is one of the most innovative manufacturers of educational materials in the country. Specializing in top-quality products for the home and classroom, we are a thriving multichannel organization with a robust web business, multiple catalogs for early learning and elementary programs, 60+ store locations, plus a sales force that is second to none. Thanks to the daily contributions of the amazing people who make up our team, Lakeshore has experienced continuous growth since the day it was founded in 1954.
We are currently looking for a Creative Operations Producer to be a hands-on steward of Lakeshore’s creative processes—helping us move multiple simultaneous projects forward from inception to final exit. You will be a primary stakeholder involved in everything from creating schedules and assembling teams to overseeing the final stages of production. As a successful candidate, you will possess sound judgment in making collaborative decisions for our Creative teams (including Art, Editorial, Marketing & Product Development). As you work to achieve team goals, you will rely on your exceptional problem-solving, critical-thinking and analytical skills, excellent communication and collaboration skills, and outcome-oriented, efficiency-focused mindset. This position is administered from our company headquarters in Carson, California.
- Defining, detailing and solving problems; seeking opportunities to develop and optimize processes; collaborating with stakeholders to meet challenges
- Providing feedback, advice, encouragement and motivation to become a resource and point person to other team members and peers; building good rapport with all partners to ultimately lead the team and resolve issues
- Creating relationships with partners to apply knowledge of department processes, provide solutions to achieve business goals and drive continuous improvements
- Planning, creating and executing schedules effectively after assessing the scope of a project; working with the PM to manage deadlines and push the team to ensure timeliness
- Effectively communicating with requestors and internal partners to complete all projects in a timely manner, keeping hard deadlines in mind
- Ensuring accuracy and precision
- Maintaining awareness of everyone’s jobs
- Proactively identifying issues between teams and working to resolve them
- Arranging, supporting and taking notes for all reviews with developers, artists, writers, management and executives
- Supporting internal administration operations of the department
- Diving in when and where needed to support all needs—no task is too small
Got the skills and experience? Here’s what we’re looking for:
- 3–5 years of positive and proactive leadership/management
- Bachelor’s degree in business administration or related field a plus but not required—experience, ability and leadership are our main concerns
- Working knowledge of Microsoft Office (Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word), Microsoft 365 (Teams, OneDrive) and Adobe Workfront are essential
- Outstanding communication skills (written and oral)
- Superb organizational and time management skills
- Outstanding attention to detail and problem-solving skills
- Great people skills across hierarchy—from entry level to executive management
- Excellent communication skills (oral and written)
- Ensuring the health, safety, security and welcome of all team members
- Expert knowledge of creative roles in order to seamlessly maneuver projects through the creative process
- A passion for brand, marketing and design, and the ability to inspire your team to always make their best efforts in support of the Lakeshore brand
- Excellent eye for content
Additional Information
And here’s our end of the bargain!
- Competitive compensation based on skills and experience
- Excellent medical/dental and vision coverage—EPO, PPO and HSA
- 401(k) retirement plan with company contribution (because you will retire someday)
- Flexible benefits—choose what you like, ignore the rest
- Exceptional training and support, and all the resources you need to be successful
- Super-awesome annual profit bonus plan
- On-site preschool for our employees’ children
- On-site employee gym for all levels/fitness needs
- Generous employee discount
- Casual dress…and we really mean it
At Lakeshore, we know our diversity makes us stronger, and when everyone feels included and valued, we all win. We strive to embrace our differences and create an intentionally diverse and inclusive community that is representative of the teachers, families and children we serve.
We know we couldn’t do the extraordinary things we’re doing without the people on our team. Thanks to the passion and enthusiasm of this spectacular group, Lakeshore is more than a great place to work—it’s a great experience to be part of. Day in and day out, we give everything we’ve got to create products that instill a sense of wonder and foster a true love of learning. To help maintain this high bar for success, we’re constantly on the lookout for people to join us. So if you’re a down-to-earth professional who shares our desire for making a difference, we’d love to hear from you.
To learn more about Lakeshore, visit www.lakeshorelearning.com/careers
Equal Employment Opportunity Policy
People are selected to become members of the Lakeshore family based on skill, merit, and mind-boggling talent—not based on race, color, creed, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity, marital status, domestic partnership status, military status, religion, age, national origin, ancestry, alienage, AIDS or AIDS-related complex status, genetic information, predisposition or carrier status, status as a victim of domestic violence, physical or mental disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. If things aren’t equal, we all lose.
To learn about how we collect and use Applicant information, please visit our Employee/Applicant Privacy Policy. INDRLL2
Lakeshore Learning Materials