Mechanical Engineer

Morson Group; United States; Remote; USD 76,000 - 84,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work

1-year contract

Benefits

Job summary

Morson Group seeks a senior Mechanical Engineer in Wilmington, NC for a 1-year contract. Remote work with EST preference; travel up to 20% within US/Canada. The role focuses on ASME QME-1 qualification of active mechanical equipment, valve assemblies, and related systems in a nuclear context.

The engineer will review qualification plans, procedures, and reports, support test readiness, document evidence, and escalate technical gaps. A PE license is strongly preferred.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical or Nuclear Engineering.
• 10+ years in nuclear or power generation mechanical equipment qualification.
• Experience with ASME QME-1 qualification of active mechanical equipment or related standards.
• Experience with valves, actuators, or hydraulic/pneumatic systems.
• Ability to review qualification plans, procedures, and objective evidence packages.

Responsibilities

• Support ASME QME-1 qualification activities for nuclear safety-related active mechanical equipment, incl. valve assemblies, actuators, and interfaces.
• Review qualification specifications, plans, test procedures, and reports for input and compliance.
• Assist evaluation of test article configuration, qualification boundary, and acceptance criteria.
• Support evaluation of valve assembly interfaces and data acquisition.
• Support vendor/test lab procedure reviews for functional and endurance testing, aging, and verification.
• Conduct test readiness reviews and witness points; ensure safety considerations.
• Provide technical support during qualification testing; witness and plan retests as needed.
• Review test reports, calibration records, and objective evidence.
• Assist disposition of nonconformances and deviations; document conclusions.

Skills

Valve qualification experience

Nuclear mechanical equipment testing

ASME QME-1 familiarity

Documentation and compliance

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical/Nuclear Engineering

Tools

Qualification test equipment

Job description

Mechanical Engineer

Number of Positions: 1

Location: Wilmington, North Carolina

Contract Duration: 1 year

Hourly Rate: $55.00 - $61.00/hr (W2) +benefits

Work Model: Remote, prefers EST candidates

Work Hours: 9am - 5pm, Monday - Friday, flexible

Travel: 20%, possible travel within US and Canada

Interview Process: Virtual with cameras on, 1 round, panel interview

Job Summary

This role requires a senior mechanical/nuclear qualification engineer with direct experience in valve qualification, active mechanical equipment testing, ASME QME-1, nuclear quality expectations, and vendor/test laboratory interface. The engineer will support qualification planning, test article configuration review, qualification specification and plan review, vendor/test laboratory procedure review, test readiness, qualification test execution support, anomaly/deviation resolution, objective evidence review, and qualification documentation support.

The successful candidate is expected to exercise independent engineering judgment to determine whether qualification methods, test procedures, test configurations, acceptance criteria, objective evidence, and vendor/test laboratory deliverables are technically adequate to support qualification closure. This is not a procedure-only review role. The candidate must be capable of identifying technical gaps, qualification risks, incomplete evidence, configuration concerns, and issues requiring escalation to Design Engineering, Materials, Quality Assurance, Procurement, Project, supplier, or test laboratory organizations.

A Professional Engineer license is strongly preferred.

Essential Responsibilities

• Support ASME QME-1 qualification activities for nuclear safety-related active mechanical equipment, with emphasis on valve assemblies, actuators, pilot valves, hydraulic/pneumatic interfaces, and stored-energy actuation systems.
• Review and provide technical input to QME-1 qualification specifications, qualification plans, test procedures, procurement package inputs, test reports, and objective evidence packages.
• Support review of qualification test article configuration, qualification boundary, credited function, acceptance criteria, production representativeness, and differences between tested and intended production configurations.
• Support evaluation of valve assembly interfaces, including actuator configuration, pilot valve / SSPV interfaces, accumulator interfaces, hydraulic/pneumatic connections, mounting, tubing, test fixtures, instrumentation, and data acquisition.
• Support vendor/test laboratory procedure reviews for functional testing, leakage testing, response time testing, cycle/endurance testing, seismic testing, environmental/DBA testing, thermal aging, radiation aging, instrumentation, M&TE, calibration, and objective evidence requirements.
• Support test readiness reviews, including review of test article configuration, test procedure status, acceptance criteria, instrumentation, calibration status, hold/witness points, safety considerations, and unresolved readiness items.
• Provide technical support during qualification testing, including witness support, daily test execution support, anomaly/deviation identification, retest planning, interim data review, and issue escalation.
• Review vendor/test laboratory reports, raw and reduced data, calibration records, as-tested configuration records, test logs, photographs/video, seismic/environmental records, leakage/flow/response evidence, and other objective evidence.
• Support disposition of test anomalies, nonconformances, deviations, configuration differences, and incomplete or inconsistent evidence.
• Support qualification summary documentation and inputs to Qualification Report / Application Report activities, as assigned.
• Identify and communicate qualification risks, open inputs, assumptions, constraints, and schedule impacts.
• Interface with Design Engineering, Test Engineering, Quality Assurance, Materials, Procurement, Project, suppliers/fabricators, and external test laboratories.
• Support development of responsibility matrices, action tracking, and cross-functional alignment for QME-1 deliverables.
• Support compliance with engineering processes, quality requirements, configuration controls, and applicable nuclear industry codes and standards.

Qualifications / Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, or related engineering discipline.
• Minimum 10 years of relevant engineering experience in nuclear, power generation, mechanical equipment qualification, valve engineering, safety-related equipment testing, or related field.
• Experience with ASME QME-1 qualification of active mechanical equipment or closely related nuclear mechanical equipment qualification standards.
• Experience with valves, valve assemblies, actuators, pilot-operated valves, solenoid pilot valves, hydraulic/pneumatic systems, accumulators, or pressure-boundary mechanical components.
• Experience reviewing or developing qualification plans, qualification specifications, test procedures, test reports, requirements/acceptance criteria, and objective evidence packages.
• Experience supporting supplier, fabricator, or test laboratory qualification activities.
• Familiarity with nuclear quality assurance expectations, controlled documentation, configuration management, traceability, and objective evidence requirements.
• Ability to evaluate technical adequacy of test methods, test setups, instrumentation, data, reports, and qualification evidence.
• Ability to work cross-functionally with Engineering, Quality Assurance, Materials, Procurement, Project, suppliers, and external test laboratories.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including ability to document technical concerns, assumptions, gaps, and dispositions.
• Ability to support intermittent travel for supplier/test laboratory meetings, test readiness reviews, witness points, and qualification testing.

Additional Desired Characteristics

• Professional Engineer license strongly preferred.
• Direct experience with ASME QME-1 valve qualification, including valve assembly functional qualification, qualification by test, qualification by analysis, similarity/equivalence evaluations, and qualification documentation.
• Familiarity with ASME Section III / NCA, N-Certificate Holder responsibility, code documentation, or nuclear component certification interfaces.
• Experience with IEEE 382, seismic qualification, environmental qualification, thermal aging, radiation aging, DBA/LOCA testing, or combined qualification methods.
• Experience with nuclear safety-related valve assemblies, including pneumatic/hydraulic actuation, fail-safe actuation, solenoid pilot valves, accumulators, and stored-energy systems.
• Experience reviewing test fixture designs, mounting configurations, hydraulic/pneumatic interfaces, instrumentation plans, M&TE requirements, and data acquisition setups.
• Experience supporting qualification testing at external laboratories, including test readiness reviews, witness/hold points, anomaly disposition, retest planning, and objective evidence review.
• Experience supporting Qualification Reports, Application Reports, qualification summary reports, or certification packages.
• Experience with international suppliers, translated supplier documentation, or cross-company responsibility allocation.
• Ability to mentor less experienced engineers and provide technical leadership in a high-visibility qualification effort.
• Strong judgment in distinguishing test execution support from Design Engineering, Materials, Quality Assurance, Procurement, supplier/fabricator, and code responsibility ownership.