Mechanical Design Engineer III, High-Speed Rotating Systems
$121,023–$169,432 year
On-siteHuntsville, Alabama, United States
Job Summary
Design high-speed rotor assemblies by defining structural members, retention features, and thermal management solutions that withstand centrifugal loading and thermal sensitivity. Translate structural and thermal loads into geometry constraints, then author drawings, GD&T, and assembly procedures to enable rapid hardware builds. Execute component- and system-level test plans while participating hands-on in test operations, teardowns, and inspections to drive design-build-test cycles. Coordinate with manufacturing and supply chain to produce hardware on aggressive schedules without sacrificing integrity, and lead failure investigations to propose trades and execute corrective actions.
Required Qualifications
- B.S. in Mechanical Engineering or closely related field
- 3+ years of experience in mechanical design of rotating machinery
- Demonstrated understanding of rotor structural mechanics, including centrifugal loading, retention design, and fit/preload strategies for components with thermal sensitivity
- Proficiency with 3D CAD (CREO, NX, CATIA, SolidWorks, or equivalent) and drawing/GD&T per ASME Y14.5
- Experience authoring and executing hardware test plans and participating hands-on in test operations
- Experience with design for manufacturing and design to cost
- Comfortable with fast iteration: designing to 80%, building hardware, learning from data, and rapidly incorporating findings
- Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident, or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum
Desired Qualifications
- Experience designing integrated cooling features within rotating assemblies — internal flow passages, thermal interfaces, or conduction paths under rotation
- Familiarity with high and low-cycle fatigue and fracture mechanics for rotating components operating at high peripheral velocities
- Experience with composite or advanced alloy materials in high-stress rotating environments
- Background in rapid hardware development programs with short design-build-test cycles and frequent design updates
- Rotordynamics experience — critical speed analysis, unbalance response, bearing load estimation
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