Principal Mechanical Engineer

• Health insurance
• Paid time off

Pipeline is looking for an exceptionally experienced Principal Mechanical Engineer to serve as one of the senior technical leaders on our engineering team.

This is not a management position disguised as an engineering position. We are looking for someone who still loves doing engineering and is capable of personally solving difficult technical problems, developing concepts, reviewing designs, troubleshooting equipment, and helping projects succeed.

The right person will have broad engineering experience and the judgment that comes from having designed, built, tested, debugged, and improved many different mechanical and electromechanical systems.

You should be equally comfortable discussing system architecture at a whiteboard, reviewing a complicated Solid Works assembly, selecting a servo or bearing, evaluating a tolerance stack, troubleshooting a machine on the shop floor, mentoring another engineer, or helping a customer turn an ambiguous problem into a practical engineering solution.

• Serve as a senior technical resource for Pipeline's most challenging engineering projects.
• Develop concepts and system architectures for automated machines, custom fixtures, test systems, manufacturing equipment, and advanced manufacturing processes.
• Personally design complex mechanical systems using Solid Works.
• Design mechanisms and integrate motors, linear actuators, pneumatics, sensors, vision systems, PLC-controlled devices, and related automation hardware.
• Select and implement bearings, linear guides, gears, couplings, clamps, locating components, fasteners, and other industrial hardware.
• Develop solutions involving precision motion, fixturing, part handling, assembly, inspection, testing, dispensing, and other manufacturing processes.
• Design components and assemblies for CNC machining, sheet metal, weldments, 3D printing, injection molding, and other manufacturing methods.
• Apply GD&T, tolerance analysis, material selection, fits, fastening methods, and sound design-for-manufacturing principles.
• Perform appropriate engineering calculations and analyses to support design decisions.
• Develop prototypes, benchtop experiments, feasibility studies, and manufacturing-process-development activities when the solution is not yet known.
• Identify technical risks early and develop practical approaches for resolving them.
• Lead design reviews and review engineering work for functionality, robustness, manufacturability, serviceability, safety, completeness, and quality.
• Troubleshoot difficult mechanical and electromechanical problems during development, assembly, testing, and commissioning.
• Work directly with customers to understand technical problems, requirements, constraints, and what success looks like.
• Help estimate engineering effort, hardware, fabrication, assembly, testing, and other project costs.
• Support concept development and technical proposal preparation for prospective projects.
• Provide technical leadership to multidisciplinary teams that may include mechanical, controls, software, electrical, manufacturing, and assembly personnel.
• Mentor engineers and help develop stronger engineering judgment throughout the team.
• Help improve Pipeline's engineering standards, design practices, documentation, tools, templates, and workflows.
• Support equipment assembly, testing, debug, installation, commissioning, and customer acceptance as needed.
• Contribute to general product-development and R&D projects when appropriate.
• Step into difficult projects, fill technical gaps, and help keep important details from slipping through the cracks.

This is a Principal-level position, not simply a more experienced version of a mechanical design engineer.

Years of experience…