Mechanical Design Lead

Inter Island Group; Bayan Lepas; On-site; MYR 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Inter Island Group in Penang is seeking an experienced Mechanical Design Lead (R&D) to drive end-to-end mechanical product development from concept through production.

You will lead design reviews, mentor engineers and apply DFM/ DFA principles while exploring AI-assisted workflows to improve quality and speed.

Qualifications

• Minimum 8 years of mechanical product development experience within an R&D environment.
• Strong knowledge of precision mechanical design, GD&T, tolerance analysis, material selection, and manufacturing processes.
• Experience with AI tools to improve engineering productivity and documentation is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end mechanical product development from feasibility to production release.
• Design precision systems including enclosures, sheet metal chassis, mechanisms, and thermal/optical/ fluidic subsystems.
• Provide technical leadership through design reviews and mentoring junior engineers.
• Perform tolerancing, structural analyses, sizing, and simulations (FEA, CFD, optical) where applicable.
• Drive verification, reliability testing, and root cause analysis for manufacturing issues.
• Apply DFM, DFA, DFR, and DFC principles throughout the lifecycle.
• Collaborate with PM, Hardware, Software, Manufacturing, QA, Supply Chain and external partners.

Skills

R&D

Precision mechanical design

Product development

Technical leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

SolidWorks

Job description

We are looking for an experienced Mechanical Design Lead (R&D) to lead the design and development of complex mechanical products from concept through production.

This role is ideal for an experienced mechanical engineering professional with a strong background in R&D, precision mechanical design, product development, and technical leadership.

What You'll Be Doing

• Lead end-to-end mechanical product development, including feasibility studies, risk assessment, detailed design, prototyping, verification, validation, and production release.
• Design and develop precision mechanical systems such as enclosures, sheet metal chassis, mechanisms, automation systems, thermal management, optical systems, and fluidic systems.
• Provide technical leadership through design reviews, engineering best practices, and mentoring junior engineers.
• Perform engineering analysis including tolerance stack-up, structural calculations, component sizing, and simulations such as FEA, CFD, or optical analysis where applicable.
• Plan and execute engineering verification, reliability, and characterization testing.
• Conduct root cause analysis and implement corrective actions for product development and manufacturing issues.
• Apply Design for Manufacturing (DFM), Design for Assembly (DFA), Design for Reliability (DFR), and Design for Cost (DFC) principles.
• Work closely with Project Management, Hardware, Software, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, and external partners throughout the product development lifecycle.
• Prepare and maintain engineering documentation, including specifications, drawings, test plans, reports, and engineering change documentation.
• Drive continuous improvement by adopting new technologies, design methodologies, simulation tools, and AI-assisted engineering workflows.

What We're Looking For

• Bachelor's Degree or above in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline.
• Minimum 8 years of mechanical product development experience within an R&D environment.
• Strong proficiency in SolidWorks or equivalent 3D CAD software.
• Strong knowledge of precision mechanical design, GD&T, tolerance analysis, material selection, and manufacturing processes.
• Experience in one or more of the following areas is highly desirable: Precision mechanisms, Automation, Optical systems, Fluidics, Sheet metal/chassis design, Thermal management
• Experience with engineering simulations such as FEA, CFD, or optical analysis is an advantage.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, problem-solving, and root cause analysis skills.
• Good leadership, communication, project planning, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Able to work independently and mentor junior engineers in a fast-paced R&D environment.
• Experience using AI tools to improve engineering productivity, design quality, or technical documentation is an added advantage.