Field Operations Engineer
Location: Joliet, IL / Greater Chicago Area
Employment Type: Full-Time, On-Site
Schedule: Monday–Saturday
Compensation: $65,000–$78,000 annually, depending on experience
About the Role
Run Through is seeking a hands-on and execution-oriented Field Operations Engineer to support our growing North American operations.
This role sits at the intersection of engineering, VMI warehouse operations, quality, customer support, and China–U.S. coordination.
The position will initially focus on supporting our Joliet-area VMI operations, resolving product and operational issues, and coordinating closely with warehouse partners, customers, and our engineering and operations teams in China.
As our North American business expands, this role will grow into broader responsibilities including customer-site support, quality issue resolution, new warehouse launches, customer program onboarding, and other North American operational projects.
This is not a traditional design engineering role. We are looking for someone who is comfortable working directly in the field, investigating problems hands-on, coordinating across teams, and driving issues through to resolution.
What You'll Do
• Support day-to-day VMI warehouse operations, including receiving, storage, inventory, picking, packing, shipping, and material handling.
• Coordinate with third-party warehouse teams and ensure operational requests are executed accurately and on time.
• Monitor inventory status, investigate discrepancies, and support inventory reconciliation.
• Identify and resolve issues involving product handling, packaging, labeling, storage, shipment, and warehouse processes.
• Provide on-site operational and technical support at warehouse and customer locations.
• Conduct basic product and quality inspections and document defects, damage, dimensional issues, packaging concerns, and other abnormalities.
• Read and understand basic engineering drawings, specifications, inspection requirements, and technical documentation.
• Collect and communicate field information through photos, measurements, samples, data, and structured reports.
• Support root-cause analysis, corrective actions, and implementation of engineering and quality solutions.
• Coordinate field and customer issues with engineering, quality, supply chain, operations, and management teams in China.
• Track open issues from initial identification through final resolution.
• Support customer visits, warehouse audits, product inspections, trials, and operational readiness activities.
• Assist with new VMI warehouse launches, customer onboarding, SOP development, process improvement, and other North American operational projects.
Qualifications
• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain Engineering, or a related technical discipline preferred.
• 0–3+ years of relevant professional experience; strong recent graduates are encouraged to apply.
• Professional working proficiency in Mandarin Chinese and English is required.
• Korean language proficiency is strongly preferred.
• Experience in manufacturing, warehouse operations, supply chain, quality, automotive, or industrial environments is preferred.
• Comfortable working in warehouse, manufacturing, and customer-site environments.
• Strong hands-on problem-solving skills and willingness to investigate issues directly in the field.
• Strong ownership, organization, responsiveness, and follow-through.
• Ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities, and coordinate across different teams.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and standard business documentation.
• Ability to communicate effectively with warehouse operators, engineers, customers, suppliers, and management.
Preferred Experience
Experience in one or more of the following areas is a plus:
• VMI and warehouse operations
• WMS / ERP systems
• Inventory management
• Manufacturing operations
• Automotive or industrial components
• QA/QC and product inspection
• Engineering drawings and measurement tools
• Root-cause analysis and corrective actions
• Customer-site technical support
• SOP development and process improvement
• New warehouse or operational project launches
What We're Looking For
The ideal candidate is technically minded, hands-on, organized, responsive, and willing to take ownership.
You should be comfortable moving between different types of work — investigating an issue on the warehouse floor, communicating with customers and warehouse partners, coordinating with engineers in China in Mandarin, collecting technical information, and turning field observations into clear operational and technical reports.
We are looking for someone who does more than identify problems. We want someone who takes ownership, coordinates the right resources, and follows issues through to resolution.
Work Authorization & Sponsorship
Run Through welcomes qualified international candidates.
• OPT and STEM OPT candidates are welcome to apply.
• Employment support is available for eligible OPT/STEM OPT candidates.
• H-1B sponsorship may be available for qualified candidates, subject to eligibility, position requirements, and applicable immigration regulations.
Growth Opportunity
This position is designed to grow alongside Run Through's North American operations.
The initial focus will be on Joliet-area VMI and warehouse operations, with the opportunity to expand into:
VMI Operations → Customer-Site Support → Quality & Technical Issue Resolution → China–U.S. Engineering Coordination → New Warehouse & Customer Project Launches → Broader North American Field Operations
For the right candidate, this role can develop into a Senior Field Operations Engineer, Operations Project Manager, or broader North America Operations role as the business continues to expand.