Mechanical Engineer – Food team (New Product Development)

Laitram; New Orleans (LA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 115,000; Full time

Job summary

Intralox’s Food team in New Orleans seeks a Mechanical Engineer focused on New Product Development to create conveyor technologies and equipment for leading food manufacturers worldwide.

You will work with customers, manufacturing, sales, engineering, and internal mold shop, molding facility, and machine shops to turn challenges into commercially successful products that improve food safety, sanitation, throughput, and operational performance.

Qualifications

• B.S./M.S. in Mechanical Engineering or related field.
• 3+ years of engineering design experience.
• Solid modeling experience in SolidWorks or Creo.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Willingness to travel up to 15% domestically and internationally.

Responsibilities

• Create product designs, technical docs, and support materials for commercialization.
• Develop detailed 3D CAD models, prototypes, and drawings.
• Evaluate components, materials, and manufacturing approaches for performance and cost.
• Collaborate with internal mold shop, molding facility, and machine shops to prototype and prepare for production.
• Support patent development with in-house attorneys.
• Provide technical support during product rollout and early adoption.
• Lead validation and de-risking through testing, failure analysis, and customer feedback.
• Develop test plans to validate product performance against customer requirements.
• Translate customer operational and economic drivers into product requirements.

Skills

3+ years design experience

Solid modeling

Mechanical aptitude

Team collaboration

Verbal & written communication

Willingness to travel 15%

AI tools usage

Education

B.S./M.S. in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

SolidWorks

Creo

Job description

Job Description (General Summary)

Join Intralox’s Food team as a Mechanical Engineer focused on New Product Development. In this role, you will create innovative conveyor technologies and equipment used by leading food manufacturers around the world. You will work closely with customers, manufacturing, sales, engineering, and Intralox’s internal mold shop, molding facility, and machine shops to turn customer challenges into commercially successful products that improve food safety, sanitation, throughput, and operational performance. As part of Laitram, Intralox offers a unique self-management culture, extensive technical and professional development opportunities, performance-based profit sharing, and a workplace consistently recognized among the nation’s top large employers, including Top Workplaces USA rankings in 2025, 2024, and 2023. Learn more about Intralox New Product Development (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jh-dHO8hMMw)

Job Responsibilities and Requirements

Responsibilities:

• Create product designs, technical documentation, and support materials that enable successful commercialization.
• Create detailed 3D CAD models, prototypes, and engineering drawings.
• Evaluate and specify components, materials, and manufacturing approaches that support performance, cost, and reliability goals.
• Integrate product design requirements with production requirements to support scalable manufacturing.
• Collaborate directly with Intralox’s internal mold shop, molding facility, and machine shops to rapidly prototype concepts, incorporate tooling and manufacturability feedback, and prepare designs for production.
• Support patent development in collaboration with in-house patent attorneys.
• Provide technical support to commercial teams during product rollout and early customer adoption.
• Lead product validation and de-risking through prototype builds, internal and field testing, failure analysis, and customer feedback to reduce technical and commercial risk.
• Collaborate with customers, project managers, manufacturing teams, commercial teams, and patent attorneys throughout the product development lifecycle.
• Develop and execute test plans to validate product performance against critical customer requirements.
• Understand the customer’s operational and economic drivers and translate them into practical product requirements.

Requirements:

• B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical Engineering or related engineering curriculum.
• 3+ years of demonstrated engineering design experience.
• Solid modeling experience in SolidWorks®, Creo®, or similar software.
• High level of mechanical aptitude.
• Self-managed, hard-working, and self-motivated.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively.
• Excellent verbal and written communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to meet functional job requirements within industrial environments, such as climbing ladders.
• Willingness to travel up to 15% domestically and internationally to support customer visits, field testing, supplier collaboration, and product launches.
• Comfort using approved AI tools responsibly to improve productivity, research, documentation, data analysis, and communication while applying sound engineering judgment.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience with product development and commercialization.
• Experience with plastic part design, design for manufacturing, or polymer materials.
• Experience with conveyor systems, industrial equipment, or food-processing applications.Experience with experimental testing, data analysis, failure analysis, or product validation.