Position Summary
The Mechanical Engineer - Sustaining supports Cantrell-Gainco equipment throughout its life through engineer-to-order (ETO) processing, product life-cycle management, and continuous improvement. In this entry-level role, the engineer creates new designs and modifies existing designs, solves problems, and improves products and processes, applying sound engineering practices and principles with safety, quality, and the customer in mind.
Working with guidance from senior engineers and the Engineering Manager, the engineer plans and organizes assigned work, delivers accurate and complete results on time, and partners with manufacturing, quality, supply chain, service, and sales to keep customers’ equipment running well. Success depends as much on how the work is done (thoroughness, responsiveness, tenacity, work ethic, and professionalism) as on technical skill, and scope and independence grow as results are demonstrated.
All job requirements listed are requirements for the core responsibilities of this position. This position may require other activities and duties as assigned by their manager.
Key Responsibilities
Engineer-to-Order (ETO) Processing
- Review customer orders and requirements, identify what is standard and what must be engineered, and clarify open questions early.
- Configure, design, and modify equipment to order; create and release accurate drawings, bills of materials, and specifications on schedule.
- Check every order package for completeness and accuracy before release: right part, right revision, right configuration.
- Support manufacturing and assembly as questions arise during the build, and feed lessons learned back into standard designs.
Design & Modification
- Create new designs and modify existing designs using 3D CAD, producing clean models and detailed drawings with appropriate GD&T, tolerances, and stack-ups.
- Apply design for manufacturability, assembly, and serviceability, and hygienic design principles for washdown and food-processing environments; select materials and components suited to the application.
- Favor simple solutions with fewer parts and less complexity, and know when “good enough” meets the requirement.
Product Life-Cycle Management
- Prepare and manage engineering changes: define the change, assess impact (fit, form, function, cost, installed base, inventory), obtain approvals, release, and verify implementation.
- Maintain configuration, revision control, and documentation accuracy in CAD/PDM and ERP systems, including as-built and as-fielded records.
- Resolve component obsolescence and supplier-related technical issues; evaluate and qualify replacement parts and alternate sources.
- Keep manuals, parts lists, and technical data current as products change.
Problem Solving & Product Support
- Investigate production, field, service, and warranty issues; separate the real problem from the stated problem.
- Learn and apply structured root-cause methods (e.g., 5 Whys, fishbone, 8D, TRIZ) to find causes rather than treat symptoms.
- Develop corrective and preventive actions, then confirm with data that the fix worked and the issue does not return.
- Provide timely technical support to manufacturing, service, sales, and customers, including on-site troubleshooting when needed.
Analysis, Verification & Validation
- Perform engineering calculations, tolerance analyses, and basic FEA appropriate to the problem, and sanity-check results against hand calculations and physical reality.
- State the requirement up front (for example, the factor of safety required for the load case, material, and duty cycle) and report whether the result meets it, with a clear conclusion and recommendation, not just a number.
- Plan and run bench, shop, and field tests; document the method, results, and conclusions.
- Separate what is known, what is assumed, and what still needs to be tested, and flag gaps before passing work along.
Continuous Improvement
- Identify and implement improvements to product reliability, performance, cost, manufacturability, and serviceability, with priority on recurring failures.
- Improve engineering processes (templates, checklists, standard work) and contribute lessons learned to engineering standards and best practices.
- Participate in daily and visual management, and track measures such as change lead time, backlog aging, and repeat failures.
Planning, Teamwork & Professional Practice
- Plan and prioritize assigned work, commit to realistic dates, deliver on them, keep status visible in the team’s tracking tools, and communicate schedule risk early.
- Work effectively individually and in teams; give and accept constructive feedback in design reviews.
- Follow safety, quality, and company procedures, and document decisions and rationale as work progresses.
Core Behaviors
How the work gets done matters as much as what is done. These behaviors are as important as technical skill and will be assessed in interviews, performance reviews, and development planning.
Behavior
What it looks like in this role
Planning & Organization
Breaks assignments into steps, sequences them by priority and the critical path, and sets realistic dates. Keeps a traceable thread from problem statement to hypothesis, test, result, and decision. Maintains version control and consistent naming on drawings, models, test data, and files.
Execution: Individually and in Teams
Self-directed: starts work without waiting for permission, owns the outcome end to end (not just a piece of the drawing), and finishes what is started. Shares knowledge, hands work off cleanly, and asks for help early.
Thoroughness & Quality
Checks own work before release: units, load cases, assumptions, revisions, and drawing and BOM accuracy. Asks "what have I missed?" and "what would make this wrong?" before reporting. Sanity-checks results against hand calculations and physical reality, and closes every analysis with a clear conclusion and recommendation.
Responsiveness
Acknowledges requests promptly, sets clear expectations on turnaround, and meets them. Keeps manufacturing, service, sales, and customers informed, and raises risks and delays early. Balances urgent production issues with planned work without dropping commitments.
Tenacity
Stays with hard problems. When an approach fails, returns with a new angle instead of repeating the same test. Works through unglamorous validation, edge-case, and documentation work, and through organizational friction (supplier responses, test time, approvals) to finish the job.
Work Ethic & Accountability
Dependable and self-motivated. Puts in the effort needed to meet commitments, owns mistakes openly, and corrects them without being prompted. Follows through, including on details no one will check.
Professionalism
Communicates clearly and respectfully in writing and in person. Explains technical reasoning simply to non-engineers. Documents decisions and the rationale behind them. Treats design review as a tool, not a threat. Acts with honesty and integrity, and puts safety first.
Problem Solving & Systems Thinking
Distinguishes the real problem from the stated problem. Breaks systems into functions and requirements, and understands how a part interacts with the larger machine (interfaces, tolerances, failure modes). Holds more than one hypothesis at a time and changes one variable at a time.
Pragmatism & Focus
Treats cost, schedule, and manufacturability as design constraints. Knows when "good enough" meets the requirement and favors solutions with fewer parts and less complexity. Says "not now" to tangents so the critical path holds, and protects time for focused work.
Curiosity & Learning
Learns quickly from the products, the shop floor, and the field. Prefers fast, low-cost tests that answer a question before committing to a full solution, and treats being wrong in testing as progress.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, or a closely related engineering field, from an ABET-accredited program.
- Entry level: new graduate or up to 2 years of experience. Internships, co-ops, capstone projects, and student design teams count.
- Working knowledge of engineering fundamentals: statics, mechanics of materials, materials selection, and engineering drawings including GD&T basics.
- Experience with a 3D CAD package (SolidWorks preferred) gained through coursework, internships, or projects.
- Demonstrated ability to plan, organize, and deliver work on time, individually and as part of a team (for example, co-op deliverables or a capstone project).
- Clear written and verbal communication skills in English; proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).
Preferred Qualifications
- Internship or co-op experience in manufacturing, machine design, or product support.
- Hands-on mechanical aptitude: machining, welding, sheet metal fabrication, assembly, or equipment repair.
- Exposure to PDM, bills of materials, and ERP systems; SolidWorks certification (e.g., CSWA).
- Exposure to FEA, tolerance stack-ups, structured problem solving (5 Whys, 8D, DFMEA), or statistical process control.
- Familiarity with food, sanitary, or washdown equipment; basic knowledge of pneumatics, electrical, or controls.
- Exposure to Lean or continuous improvement methods.
Measures of Success
- Order packages (drawings, BOMs, specifications) released complete, accurate, and on time, with little rework.
- Engineering changes carried through documented impact assessment, approval, release, and verified implementation.
- Issues closed with a verified root cause and corrective action, and fewer repeat failures.
- Prompt, clear communication with internal customers; commitments met, or renegotiated early.
- Steady growth in technical skill, independence, and scope.
Physical Requirements
The physical demands described herein 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 frequently required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; and talk and hear. The employee is regularly required to stand, walk, and reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus. Ability to work for extended periods of time at a workstation on a computer or similar device. Occasional extended periods of standing, bending, kneeling.
Working Conditions
This job operates in both an office setting and a manufacturing warehouse. This role routinely uses standard office equipment, hand tools, and material handling equipment. Travel: up to 10% as needed.
Employment with Cantrell-Gainco is contingent upon successfully completing both a pre-employment background check and a drug screening. All candidates hired must be able to provide proper documentation of their eligibility to work in the US (I-9 form). Cantrell-Gainco is an Equal Opportunity Employer – Minorities / Females / Disabled / Veterans (M/F/D/V)
Equal Opportunity Employer. This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor (https://www.eeoc.gov/poster).
