Senior Process Engineer

About Us

Real Flame® is a family-owned company based in Racine, Wisconsin with a team of approximately 40 employees. We specialize in the design, production, and sale of indoor electric fireplaces, outdoor fire features, and outdoor furniture. For more than 25 years, our mission has remained simple: to create beautifully designed, high-quality, and safe fire features that allow consumers to experience the charm and comfort of a fireplace without the hassle.

As a pioneer in the early gel fuel industry, Real Flame later introduced the VividFlame electric firebox, helping shape today’s electric fireplace category. Since then, we have expanded our product offerings to include outdoor gas fire tables and bowls, wood-burning fire pits, and outdoor furniture.

Despite our growth, we have remained a close-knit, agile team that values collaboration, accountability, and innovation. We continue to design our products in-house and bring new styles to market each year. Today, Real Flame products can be found in hundreds of thousands of homes, and we’re proud of the role we play in helping customers create meaningful moments with family and friends.

What You'll Be Doing

The Senior Process Engineer is responsible for ensuring that Real Flame's engineering processes, product development procedures, and product launch requirements are consistently followed across all new product programs. The Senior Process Engineer acts as the "process authority" for the Engineering team, ensuring projects advance through established engineering milestones and checks, required reviews are completed, documentation is accurate, and cross-functional deliverables are met before progressing to the next stage of development.

Working closely with Product Design Engineers, Product Development, Quality, Purchasing, Sourcing, Manufacturing Partners, and Sales, this role provides independent oversight of new product development activities while driving continuous improvement of engineering standards, launch processes, and operational workflows. The ideal candidate combines strong engineering judgment, project management capabilities, manufacturing knowledge, and process discipline to ensure every product is developed, reviewed, documented, and launched in accordance with Real Flame standards.

Essential Functions

Product Development Process Ownership

• Ensure all engineering milestones, redlines, reviews, and launch requirements are completed prior to project advancement
• Monitor project compliance with established development timelines and engineering workflows
• Track project status and identify gaps, risks, or missing deliverables that could impact launch readiness
• Drive accountability for completion of required engineering documentation throughout the development cycle
• Own the engineering change order (ECO) and change-control process, including documentation and approval
• Report on process adoption and effectiveness to the Director, Design & Engineering
• Develop, maintain, and improve engineering standard operating procedures (SOPs)
• Provide training and guidance regarding engineering procedures and best practices

Engineering Review & Product Validation

• Lead formal engineering process reviews throughout concept, prototype, sample, and launch phases
• Ensure print packets, BOMs, specifications, and supporting documentation meet GD&T and company standards
• Verify that engineering deliverables align with approved project requirements and customer expectations
• Coordinate engineering signoffs and approvals required for project progression
• Partner with Design Engineering teams to identify and resolve technical risks prior to production

Continuous Improvement

• Lead initiatives focused on improving speed, quality, and effectiveness of the product development process
• Analyze project performance metrics and identify opportunities for efficiency improvements
• Develop KPI dashboards related to engineering process compliance, launch readiness, and project execution
• Implement Lean Manufacturing, Design for Manufacturing (DFM), DFEMA, and Design for Assembly (DFA) best practices where appropriate
• Evaluate and improve workflow systems, documentation standards, and communication processes

Systems & Technical Competencies

Engineering Systems

• SolidWorks
• SolidWorks PDM
• NetSuite
• Global Shop ERP
• Airtable
• Microsoft Office Suite
• Adobe Creative Suite