Junior Mechanical Engineer: Build & Test High-Power Machinery

Protingent; Incline Village (NV); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Protingent Staffing is seeking a junior mechanical engineer in Carson City, NV to design, build, and test components for power plants. You’ll work with senior engineers from day one on real hardware, applying first-principles thinking rather than expecting to know everything at start.

This early-career role emphasizes hands-on learning, fast iteration, and clear communication with vendors. You’ll contribute to CAD models, tolerance analyses, and test setups while developing a deep understanding

Qualifications

• You have a degree (or are finishing one) in Mechanical Engineering or a related field.
• Hands-on hardware experience from a lab, capstone, internship, competition team, or personal project.
• You can show an example of taking something from concept through design to a built and tested result.
• You are comfortable with CAD and core mechanical engineering fundamentals.
• You are excited to own problems, ask for help when stuck, and move fast.

Responsibilities

• Translate design challenges into clear functional requirements.
• Build early concept designs using order-of-magnitude estimates to set system bounds.
• Apply first-principles tools: free body diagrams, energy balances, pressure/flow estimates.
• Talk to vendors and the team early and often to pressure-test ideas.
• Produce 3D CAD models of components to inform layouts, interfaces, and clash checks.
• Help define subsystem specs and the mechanical, electrical, and flow interfaces between them.
• Develop higher-fidelity CAD toward as-built level under guidance from senior engineers.
• Learn to analyze designs carefully, including stresses, vibration, fatigue, and thermal growth.
• Document your analysis, design decisions, and reasoning clearly.
• Get hardware built and tested quickly; hand drawings to fabrication partners and follow parts through to delivery.
• Help develop test setups: structures, sensors, and schedules; test early and often.

Skills

Hands-on hardware

First principles thinking

CAD skills

Problem solving

Education

Mechanical Engineering degree

Tools

CAD

Job description

Protingent Staffing is seeking a junior mechanical engineer in Carson City, NV to design, build, and test components for power plants. You’ll work with senior engineers from day one on real hardware, applying first-principles thinking rather than expecting to know everything at start.

This early-career role emphasizes hands-on learning, fast iteration, and clear communication with vendors. You’ll contribute to CAD models, tolerance analyses, and test setups while developing a deep understanding