Position Summary
The Senior Product Engineer serves as the engineering leader and product champion for an assigned product line. This position is responsible for maintaining deep technical expertise, ensuring product consistency, and providing technical leadership across engineering efforts related to the product family.
Working closely with the Director of Engineering, the Senior Product Engineer supports the continued evolution of the product line through standardization, continuous improvement, and sound engineering practices. This role serves as the primary technical authority for the assigned product family, partnering with Manufacturing, Sales, Purchasing, Field Service, and the Controls Manager to ensure products remain reliable, manufacturable, serviceable, and aligned with Alkar engineering standards.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Serve as the engineering leader, technical authority, and product champion for assigned product line(s), ensuring their long-term health, consistency, and technical integrity.
- Coordinate mechanical engineering activities and assign, review, and support the work of Project Engineers, Mechanical Designers, and other assigned engineering resources.
- Provide product-specific technical direction to assigned Controls and Electrical engineering resources, collaborating with the Controls Manager to ensure solutions align with product requirements, design intent, and customer needs.
- Establish, maintain, and continuously improve product engineering standards, design practices, documentation, and overall product consistency.
- Lead or participate in engineering design reviews, engineering change evaluations, and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Identify and implement product improvements that enhance quality, reliability, manufacturability, serviceability, cost, and overall system performance.
- Provide technical support to Manufacturing, Sales, Purchasing, and Field Service, resolving complex product issues and ensuring successful product execution.
- Partner with the Director of Engineering on long-term product planning, product strategy, technology evaluation, and product lifecycle management.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Working Environment
- Office setting requiring frequent computer and phone use.
- Regular interaction with manufacturing and assembly areas.
- Occasional travel to customer facilities, construction sites, and active production environments.
Areas of Supervision
- No direct personnel supervision.
- Provides technical leadership and work coordination for Project Engineers, Mechanical Designers, and other engineering resources supporting the assigned product line.
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related engineering discipline, or equivalent experience.
- Minimum of 8 years of mechanical design or product engineering experience, preferably involving custom industrial equipment or automated machinery.
- Advanced proficiency in SolidWorks with a strong understanding of mechanical design principles, manufacturing processes, and design for manufacturability.
- Working knowledge of controls and electrical engineering principles as they relate to integrated industrial equipment.
- Demonstrated technical leadership with the ability to coordinate multidisciplinary engineering efforts, mentor engineers, and influence technical decisions without direct supervisory authority.
- Excellent analytical, problem-solving, organizational, and communication skills.
- Experience supporting Manufacturing, Sales, Purchasing, Field Service, and customer-facing technical activities.
- Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally up to 25% of the time
- Valid driver's license.