Innovation Mechanical Engineer

Join the Innovation Team at Sherman + Reilly

Most engineering jobs start with a spec. This one starts with a challenge.

Sherman + Reilly, a Chattanooga-based manufacturer of tools and equipment for the electric utility industry and part of the Quanta Services family of companies, is seeking an Innovation Mechanical Engineer I for its innovation team. We work upstream of traditional New Product Development to explore emerging technologies, solve field-driven problems, and build practical new equipment for the industry. This is not a design role focused on incrementally improving an existing product line.

Projects begin with an operational challenge, an early idea, or an unfamiliar technology, and you work the full cycle from concept through analysis, prototype, test, field evaluation, and technical handoff.

Build, test, break, repeat — Rapid prototyping is how we learn. Simple models and experiments answer the important questions quickly, and we would rather fail early than polish the wrong idea.

Get close to the work — We understand the problem before committing to a solution. You will spend real time with linemen, field personnel, and technicians, see how work is actually done, and develop several concepts rather than converging on the first.

Real influence — We are a small team, and you will have a genuine voice in how it operates. The concepts we prove out can shape Sherman + Reilly’s product portfolio and the company’s performance.

Two responsibilities — Technology Exploration: exploring, developing, and proving next-generation technologies and equipment that may enter our product roadmap or another commercialization pathway. Field Engineering Support: occasional calls into the field for investigations that require critical thinking, observation, and analysis to determine root cause and potential corrective action.

See the environment and people we design for: a tour of Quanta’s Lazy Q Ranch in La Grange, Texas, where crews train on energized lines, robotic arms, and helicopter operations.

Our purpose:
Getting every lineman home, every night. No exceptions.

You Might Be a Fit If

You have built something that mattered to you, on a Formula or Baja SAE team, in a lab, or in a garage, and you can’t leave a problem alone until you understand it. You would rather learn by building and testing, and you are comfortable saying, “I don’t know yet — here is how I would find out.”

What You’ll Do

Define the problem — Engage directly with field users, turn loosely defined problems into testable hypotheses, and research emerging and competitive technologies.

Design & analyze — Compare multiple concepts, including off-the-shelf options, and produce calculations, CAD models, and drawings in Solid Works, scaling analysis, including FEA, to the technical risk.

Prototype & test — Build prototypes with technicians and suppliers, run bench, structural, and field tests, use sensors and data acquisition to validate assumptions, and iterate.

Communicate & hand off — Document results and lessons learned, present recommendations to engineers, leadership, and field personnel, support occasional field investigations, and help hand validated concepts to New Product Development, other Quanta organizations, or other commercialization pathways.

Projects may involve technologies new to you, including hydraulics, electrification, sensors and automation, robotics, unmanned aerial systems, additive manufacturing, and artificial intelligence and its engineering applications. We expect capable, willing learners, not experts in all of them.

• Entry level through approximately two years of relevant experience
• Strong mechanical engineering fundamentals and proficiency with 3D CAD;
  Solid Works preferred
• Strong mechanical aptitude and…