Manufacturing Systems Engineer

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Covenant is a global defense company headquartered in Washington, D.C., building long-range precision strike weapons for the United States and its allies. Its flagship munition, Anthem, combines heavy payload and long range at a fraction of the cost of comparable legacy systems, with production volumes designed to meet the demands of prolonged conflict. Designed as an end-to-end weapon system that is simple to store, transport, and field, Anthem is produced in the United States, Germany, and Israel. For more information, visit covenant.com

THE ROLE

We are seeking a Manufacturing Systems Engineer to build and optimize the digital infrastructure that supports our manufacturing operations. You will sit at the intersection of Manufacturing, Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, IT, and Software, ensuring our MES, ERP, MRP, and connected systems accurately reflect and enable production.

This is a hands-on role focused on turning manufacturing processes into reliable system workflows, actionable data, and scalable automation. You will help build the systems and reporting infrastructure needed to support production ramp, improve visibility, and enable high-rate manufacturing of advanced defense systems.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Support the deployment, configuration, and optimization of MES, ERP, and MRP systems across manufacturing operations.
• Translate manufacturing processes and requirements into system workflows, logic, configurations, and data structures.
• Lead system enhancements, upgrades, integrations, and new module deployments.
• Build and maintain dashboards and reporting tools supporting Production, Quality, Supply Chain, and leadership.
• Analyze manufacturing data to identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, quality trends, and opportunities for improvement.
• Establish end-to-end data traceability across manufacturing, inventory, quality, and planning systems.
• Develop and maintain KPIs for throughput, yield, WIP, schedule adherence, inventory, and material availability.
• Partner with Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, and Engineering to improve processes through data and system-driven insights.
• Support Lean Manufacturing, standard work, and continuous improvement initiatives through automation and improved data visibility.
• Support integrations between MES, ERP, MRP, PLM, and other enterprise systems.
• Partner with IT and Software Engineering on APIs, data pipelines, and system interoperability.
• Identify opportunities to automate manual data collection, reporting, and production workflows.
• Provide system troubleshooting, user support, and root cause analysis for manufacturing system issues.
• Create system documentation, training materials, and standard operating procedures.
• Support new product introductions (NPI) and production scaling from a manufacturing systems perspective.

• Bachelor's degree in Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 3+ years of experience working with MES, ERP, MRP, or similar manufacturing systems.
• Experience supporting manufacturing operations in a production environment.
• Strong data analysis and dashboard development skills.
• Proficiency with SQL and relational databases.
• Experience translating manufacturing processes into system, workflow, and data requirements.
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to work across technical and operational teams.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills.
• Ability to work onsite in Leipzig, Germany .

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Hands-on experience with MES or ERP platforms such as SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Epicor, Siemens, Rockwell, or similar.
• Experience with Power BI, Tableau, Looker, or other business intelligence and visualization platforms.
• Familiarity with manufacturing KPIs, Lean Manufacturing, production planning, and inventory management.
• Experience supporting high-mix, low-volume or complex manufacturing environments.
• Experience supporting defense, aerospace, automotive, robotics, or other highly regulated manufacturing operations.
• Scripting or automation experience using Python, VBA, or similar languages.
• Experience integrating manufacturing systems through APIs, middleware, or data pipelines.
• Experience supporting high-growth manufacturing operations or production scale-up.

WHAT MAKES YOU SUCCESSFUL

• You understand both manufacturing operations and the systems that enable them.
• You can translate a process happening on the factory floor into clean, scalable system logic and actionable data.
• You are highly analytical and naturally look for ways to automate manual processes and improve operational visibility.
• You work effectively with both technical teams and production personnel and can turn complex system problems into practical solutions.
• You thrive in fast-paced manufacturing environments where reliable data, strong systems, and rapid execution are critical to success.