Mechanical Design Engineer III (Senior)

This is a design-and-build role. You will design the machine, then get on the shop floor and help build it. Design For Making is looking for a Mechanical Design Engineer III (Senior) to lead custom automation equipment from concept through design, hands-on assembly and build, FAT, installation, and commissioning. You will not simply produce models and drawings and hand them off: you will help assemble, fit, troubleshoot, and improve the equipment you designed, and stay with it until it is running at the customer's site.

You'll work on custom automation systems that may include robotics, conveyors, material handling, pneumatic systems, servo-driven mechanisms, tooling, fixtures, machine frames, guarding, and other purpose-built equipment. We use Onshape as our primary mechanical design platform.

Own the machine from concept through commissioning

• Develop practical concepts and layouts during discovery and quoting; perform mechanical calculations addressing loads, motion, cycle time, and structural requirements, and develop controlled Onshape models, drawings, and BOMs.
• Personally participate in shop-floor assembly and build alongside machinists, fabricators, technicians, and controls engineers; resolve fit-up and fabrication issues and feed changes back into the released design.
• Lead complete custom machines and robotic cells, including customer design reviews; review and mentor Level I–II engineers while retaining clear mechanical/design ownership.
• Carry the same equipment through build, debug, FAT, SAT, installation, and commissioning. Own the mechanical result, not just the CAD deliverable; project coordination follows DFM's PO-driven project process rather than making this the overall project-manager role.
• Troubleshoot build, fit-up, and field issues and incorporate approved fixes into CAD, drawings, and BOMs.
• Occasional travel to customer sites is expected for installation, SAT, and commissioning; frequency varies by project.

What's great about the job

• Full-time role with a 4/10 schedule
• Custom automation and robotics, concept through install
• Hands-on work with a growing integrator
• A team that will challenge a design until the cell runs reliably

The kind of engineer we want

You look at a machine and start asking: Why is that bearing there? Can a machinist actually make this? What happens when that actuator jams? How does someone replace that component three years from now? We want engineers who will challenge a design, prototype ideas, walk the shop floor, help build the machine, and keep improving it until it works.