Mechanical Engineer II

Title: Mechanical Engineer II

Pay Rate Range: $40.00 - 44.00/hr (DOE)
Employment Type: Contract
Duration: 12 Months
Schedule: Monday Friday, 8:00 AM 5:00 PM
Location: Newton, NC (100% Onsite)

Job Code: JPC - 12678

Tekberry is seeking a highly motivated Mechanical Engineer II to independently leads complex engineering work, provides technical direction, and delivers measurable manufacturing and capital-project outcomes.

Position Summary

Mechanical Engineer II serves as a senior individual contributor in a team environment responsible for leading complex mechanical engineering efforts that support optical fiber manufacturing qualification, validation, process improvement, equipment reliability, and capacity expansion. The role owns technical scope from concept through commissioning and sustained operation; develops safe, robust, and cost-effective solutions; and partners with operations, maintenance, process engineering, controls, quality, EHS, suppliers, and contractors to deliver results in an active manufacturing environment.

Key Accountabilities

• Act as the mechanical technical lead for assigned initiatives, making sound engineering decisions
• Deliver equipment qualification scheme, line-conversion, and process-improvement solutions that improve safety, reliability, throughput, product quality, capacity, and maintainability.
• Build alignment among cross-functional stakeholders and external partners to achieve approved scope, schedule, and operational-readiness objectives.
• Standardize effective designs and work practices; mentor less-experienced engineers and technicians; and strengthen site engineering capability.

Core Responsibilities

1. Technical Leadership and Project Delivery

• Independently lead moderate-to-large and technically complex debugging and qualification projects for capacity expansion.
• Develop engineering packages including equipment specifications, mechanical scope documents, layouts, calculations, utility requirements, installation plans, debug plans, and acceptance criteria for qualification.
• Provide technical oversight of vendors, fabricators, contractors, and integrators; review submittals, resolve design issues, and verify work meets specifications and applicable standards.
• Drive project controls for mechanical scope: identify risks, maintain action items, manage changes, communicate status, and recommend recovery plans when performance deviates from plan.

2. Equipment, Process, and Reliability Improvement

• Lead mechanical troubleshooting and root-cause analysis for chronic equipment, process, quality, or safety issues; implement and validate sustainable corrective actions.
• Design and implement modifications to new and existing manufacturing lines, including conversions that enable new products, process capability, capacity expansion, or waste reduction.
• Apply reliability, maintainability, ergonomics, guarding, and lifecycle-cost principles to equipment selections and designs; establish practical standards and documentation for repeatable solutions.
• Use operating data and field observations to prioritize improvement opportunities and quantify results in areas such as uptime, throughput, scrap, safety, quality, and maintenance cost.

3. Installation, Commissioning, and Operational Readiness

• Lead installation/debug/qualification planning and field execution with operations, maintenance, EHS, contractors, and project stakeholders, including shutdown coordination and safe-work readiness.
• Verify mechanical fit-up, utilities, guarding, access, ergonomics, maintainability, and interfaces with automation and controls before and during startup.
• Lead mechanical checkout, commissioning, startup troubleshooting, performance acceptance, and transition to operations; ensure training, spare parts, drawings, and turnover documentation are complete.

4. Collaboration, Influence, and Capability Building

• Communicate technical recommendations, tradeoffs, project status, and implementation requirements clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Coach junior engineers and technical team members through design reviews, troubleshooting, and project execution; provide constructive technical feedback.
• Contribute to engineering standards, lessons learned, design reviews, and continuous-improvement practices across the site and broader organization.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• 3 years of relevant engineering experience in manufacturing, industrial equipment, reliability, process improvement, or capital-project execution.
• Demonstrated experience independently leading equipment installations, line modifications or conversions, mechanical troubleshooting, qualification, and commissioning activities.
• Ability to create and interpret mechanical drawings, equipment documentation, specifications, layouts, and technical requirements.
• Working knowledge of project planning, vendor/contractor coordination, and engineering change-management practices.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in optical fiber cable, wire and cable, extrusion, plastics processing, or another continuous manufacturing environment.
• Experience leading capital projects, manufacturing-line upgrades, equipment conversions, qualifications, or reliability improvement initiatives.
• Proficiency with CAD systems and engineering documentation tools; familiarity with mechanical design calculations and applicable machine-safety standards.
• Experience applying Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, TPM, reliability-centered maintenance, or structured problem-solving methods.
• Understanding of automation and controls interfaces within manufacturing equipment; Professional Engineer (PE) licensure or progress toward licensure is a plus.
• Data Analytics using statistical packages such as JMP.

As a Tekberry W2 employee, you will have access to health benefits, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, based on eligibility.

Tekberry is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status. Tekberry is a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE).

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Salary : $40 - $44