Manager - Structural Design

Lead structural design for 250-375 ton mining haul trucks at a global OEM. Hands‑on engineering leadership role in Virginia. (remote option)

Hands‑on engineering leader to own the full structural design lifecycle for the company's ultra‑class rigid‑frame haul trucks (250 to 375 ton machines) built for the world's most demanding mining environments. This is not a caretaker role. The mandate is to elevate a tenured team and set a higher bar for engineering rigor, while personally engaging with the technical challenges that make this work genuinely interesting: fatigue life, weld design, and structural weight optimization.

• Lead the Structural Design department (4–6 engineers), including performance reviews, coaching, and personnel decisions
• Own full structural system design: superstructure, dump body, front/rear running gear, castings, and weld design
• Drive fatigue life analysis using cyclic load profiles and S-N curves; designing to finite fatigue life, not just static ultimate load
• Develop and review weld joint designs, including full-penetration welds, fillet vs. groove tradeoffs, and toe geometry
• Apply 3D modeling using PTC Creo (preferred) or equivalent platform; strong preference for top-down methodology
• Mentor engineers to understand the physics behind FEA outputs, not just produce results
• Develop business cases and written justifications to unlock resources and support across the organization
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and international counterparts; up to 20% travel
• Contribute to root cause analysis, failure analysis, and field warranty investigations as needed

• Hands‑on structural engineering experience with welded fabrications, castings, and/or heavy machined structures; must have designed or co‑designed real hardware
• Fatigue life analysis depth: cyclic loading, S-N curves, finite fatigue life design
• Weld design knowledge: full‑penetration welds, joint selection, and fatigue impact of geometry decisions
• Free body diagram fluency; can trace force flow independently from software output
• Proficiency in 3D modeling (Creo/Pro-E, Solid Works, CATIA, or Siemens NX)
• Minimum 2 years directly managing technical staff (reviews, coaching, personnel decisions)

• Heavy equipment structural experience: mining, construction, crane, agriculture, or similar cyclic‑loading environment
• Material selection experience with HSLA steel - weldability, tensile strength, and cold‑weather properties
• Top-down 3D modeling methodology - must be able to discuss and demonstrate approach
• Sand casting design experience with wall thickness and fatigue geometry considerations
• Ability to write clear business cases and engineering justifications

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