What are the responsibilities and job description for the Senior Mechanical Engineer position at BIRNS OCEANOGRAPHICS INC?
Job Title: Senior Mechanical Engineer
Department: Engineering
Reports To: Engineering Manager
FLSA Status: Exempt, full time
Prepared By: Eric Birns, President
Prepared Date: October 2, 2018
Revised Date: October 14, 2025
Salary Range: $120,000 to $140,000 Annual
SUMMARY
The Senior Mechanical Engineer reports to the Engineering Manager and is responsible for performing all requisite engineering activities, including but not limited to designing new products, serving as subject matter expert, interfacing engineering requirements with those of other departments, and ensuring that products designed and produced by the company conform to those standards.
Our success depends on the ability of Engineering to collaborate with Sales, Production and Quality to design goods that meet all customer requirements. In particular, quality, production and schedule requirements must be fully integrated into the design. The Senior Mechanical Engineer is a powerful leader in New Product Design based on best-practice principles, and thus needs outstanding engineering skills.
The Engineering department is chartered to develop, test and improve products and manufacturing processes. Fulfilling this charter requires the Senior Mechanical Engineer to develop and qualify new products and to develop all associated documentation. The Senior Mechanical Engineer is responsible for all Engineering activities and for serving internal customers including Sales, Purchasing, Production, and Quality Assurance.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
General
Perform all aspects of New Product Introduction and product Design and Development.
Document our engineering Organizational Knowledge in the Engineering Manual.
Develop new department and company engineering standards as required.
Maintain an awareness of important engineering trends in the Company’s markets.
Abide by Control of Documents and Design and Development procedures.
Perform engineering analyses, as needed, during product design, testing, and development.
Develop qualification test procedures and oversee qualification testing as required.
Detailed Responsibilities
- Design and Develop new products in response to Company plans and/or customer orders.
- Refine product designs as needed to increase manufacturability and decrease costs. Estimate costs and effects of product design changes for management review, action, and control.
- Implement customer and internal engineering change orders (ECOs) and Corrective Action Requests (CARs); process, incorporate and oversee the changes to ensure they become effective.
- Confer with suppliers as needed to determine product specifications, and if necessary, arrange for purchase of sample materials or parts for their evaluation according to requirements and standards.
- Use Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for tracking and reporting of data.
- Mentor and support junior engineers, sharing expertise and promoting professional development within the team.
QUALIFICATIONS
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE: Bachelor’s degree (BS) in Mechanical Engineering or a related subject from four-year college accredited college or university, and at least twenty years’ related engineering and management experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience. Demonstrated experience leading projects in an AS9100 or ISO 9001-certified environment.
LANGUAGE SKILLS: Excellent communication skills, both written and oral, as well as strong listening skills in order to effectively manage the team. Ability to write routine reports and to speak effectively before individuals or groups. Ability to read and interpret technical documents.
SOCIAL SKILLS: Exceptional communication and documentation skills, both written and verbal. Ability to continually interact with others as a contributing member of a close-knit team. Ability to work together with others, possibly of different backgrounds and interests, without friction. High attention to detail, with strong organizational and time management abilities. Ability to remain composed and effective under pressure in a fast-paced engineering environment. Works well with people.
REASONING ABILITY: Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists; to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions; and to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions furnished in written, oral, mathematical, diagram, or schedule form that could include several abstract and concrete variables.
COMPUTER SKILLS: Ability to comfortably use computer software in Windows and networked ERP environments. Good understanding of word-processing, spreadsheet, and related office applications. Facility with standard engineering software including CAD/CAE/FEA as well as math software such as Statistical Analysis (Minitab).
GENERAL: Self-starter, able to work independently, able to work (and remain calm) under pressure, results oriented, has the drive to completion on schedule, and is profit-minded and dedicated. Displays exemplary ethics and business conduct and outstanding interpersonal, organizational, time management and follow up skills. Strong project management skills. Ability to prioritize projects. Strong attention to detail and proofreading skills.
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PHYSICAL DEMANDS
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
- While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands to manipulate papers during filing or mailing; use fingers to type; and reach with hands and arms (and, sometimes, to stoop) to place/replace file folders, documents, tooling, etc. The employee is regularly required to type, e.g. computerized Job orders and employee performance appraisals.
- The employee is regularly required to hear the telephone and use it to speak clearly to vendors or co-workers. The employee is regularly required to hear and speak to employees, co-workers and managers.
- The employee must regularly lift and/or move files or documents weighing up to 10 pounds, and occasionally lift and/or move items weighing up to 50 pounds.
- Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision for review/inspection of produced parts, color vision for working with color-coded wiring diagrams and documents, distance vision to be able to identify and supervise personnel at a distance, and the ability to adjust focus, E.g. when giving engineering technical support on molds and assembly designs, or when shifting gaze back and forth between a document and a computer screen.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly exposed to an environment typical of a small-to-medium sized office within an engineering and manufacturing setting. Exposure to standard office noise levels and occasional manufacturing floor environments. Personal protective equipment (PPE) may be required when visiting production or test areas.
Salary : $120,000 - $140,000