Associate Mechanical Engineer I

The Associate Mechanical Engineer is a hands-on development role for an early-career engineer to build broad technical capability through real engineering work. The position supports experienced engineers while learning to investigate problems, define and implement product changes, conduct testing, and improve existing products. Through repeated practice and progressively greater ownership, this role increases the capacity of the engineering team while developing the fundamentals and judgment needed for future engineering roles.

Essential Functions:

• Learn structured problem solving by investigating manufacturing, quality, supplier, product-performance, and customer-related challenges through hands-on observation, analysis, testing, and implementation of approved solutions.
• Learn how products are designed, built, and sustained by creating and maintaining CAD models, drawings, bills of material, routings, configurations, and engineering records used throughout the product lifecycle.
• Build disciplined engineering execution by evaluating impacts, implementing approved product changes, maintaining accurate technical information, and carrying solutions through release across engineering and business systems.
• Develop engineering judgment through evidence by planning, conducting, analyzing, and documenting testing, requalification, product characterization, and technical investigations.
• Learn how engineers improve existing products by defining opportunities, evaluating feasibility and alternatives, developing recommendations, and executing appropriately scoped projects that improve cost, quality, manufacturability, reliability, or customer value.

Critical Success Factor:

• Build Mastery Through Deliberate Practice: Embraces hands-on learning, repetition, feedback, and reflection to build strong engineering fundamentals and judgment. Uses each assignment to deepen product knowledge, improve execution, and earn progressively greater ownership of engineering work.

Education & Experience Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related engineering discipline, with 0–2 years of experience through internships, co-ops, academic projects, personal projects, or early-career engineering assignments.

• Hands-on exposure to manufacturing, testing, product design, troubleshooting, fabrication, repair, or other technical work. Experience may come from professional assignments, university programs, Formula SAE, Baja, robotics, design-build teams, maker activities, or personal technical pursuits.

• Demonstrated curiosity about how products and manufacturing processes work, with a genuine interest in building, repairing, modifying, testing, or creating physical products.

• Humble and coachable, with the willingness to ask questions, learn from mistakes, seek feedback, and build mastery through repetition rather than rushing toward advanced responsibilities.

• Takes ownership of assigned problems, follows work through completion, and recognizes when technical consultation, peer review, or approval is required.

• Able to organize technical information and collaborate effectively with engineers, operators, technicians, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Product Management, Technical Support, and Sales.

• Basic familiarity with 3D CAD, engineering drawings, and mechanical engineering fundamentals. Experience with PDM, ERP, engineering change, configuration management, or testing systems is helpful but not required.

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