Mechanical Engineer - Senior

Backburner Labs Inc.

Saint Paul (MN)

On-site

USD 15,000 - 140,000

Full time

13 days ago

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Job summary

Backburner Labs is seeking a Senior Mechanical Engineer to lead the mechanical design of complex products from concept through production. You will work alongside software, electrical, and manufacturing engineers to solve challenging technical problems.

This hands-on role involves reviewing CAD models, building prototypes, and collaborating with customers to address difficult design challenges. You will mentor junior engineers and help drive design-for-manufacture decisions in fast-moving

Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering required.
Typically 7+ years of experience designing mechanical products.

Responsibilities

Lead the mechanical design and development of complex products from concept through production.
Create detailed 3D models, assemblies, and manufacturing drawings.
Design mechanical systems with emphasis on manufacturability, reliability, cost, and serviceability.
Develop designs for injection molded, machined, sheet metal, cast, and fabricated components.
Apply design for manufacturing and assembly principles throughout development.
Build, assemble, prototype, and troubleshoot mechanical systems.
Collaborate with software, electrical, and manufacturing teams.

Skills

Mechanical design

DFM/ DFA

Prototyping

Customer collaboration

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

SolidWorks

Onshape

Job description

Some companies build software. Others build hardware. We build whatever the problem demands.

Backburner Labs is a multidisciplinary engineering consultancy where mechanical, electrical,systems,and software engineers work together to solve complex technical challenges. From embedded systems and industrial automation to robotics, medical devices, IoT, cloud platforms,and AI-enabledapplications, we help our clients build productsthat oftendon'texist yet.

Our clients come to us whenengineeringis difficult, the timeline is ambitious, and thereisn'ta roadmap waiting to be followed.They'relooking for engineers who can create one.

If that sounds exciting rather than intimidating,you'llprobably enjoyworking here.

You'llcollaborate with talented engineers across disciplines, influence technical decisions, learnnew technologies, and help turn ideas on a whiteboard into products used in the real world. We move quickly, trust our engineers, and expect everyone to contribute ideas,not just code, designs, or specifications.

Ifyou'rethe kind of engineer who asks, \"What's the hardest problem we're solving?\"Beforeasking, \"What's the tech stack?\",you'llprobably feelright at home.

Come build whatdoesn'texist yet.

Quick Facts

Founded: 2019

Company: ~50 people (full-time and contract employees)

Current location: St Paul - St Anthony Park area

Future location: Minneapolis - Prospect Park area (we have leaseda 43,000 sq ft building)

Revenue: doubled every year for 5 years (more details shared later)

Welcome to Backburner Labs

Metal to Mobile

Some companies build software. Others build hardware. We build whatever the problem demands.

Our clients come to us whenengineeringis difficult, the timeline is ambitious, and thereisn'ta roadmap waiting to be followed.They'relooking for engineers who can create one.

If that sounds exciting rather than intimidating,you'llprobably enjoyworking here.

Ifyou'rethe kind of engineer who asks, \"What's the hardest problem we're solving?\"Beforeasking, \"What's the tech stack?\",you'llprobably feelright at home.

Come build whatdoesn'texist yet.

Quick Facts

Founded: 2019

Company: ~50 people (full-time and contract employees)

Current location: St Paul - St Anthony Park area

Future location: Minneapolis - Prospect Park area (we have leaseda 43,000 sq ft building)

Revenue: doubled every year for 5 years (more details shared later)

Client retention: 93%

Overview:

We'relooking for aSenior Mechanical Engineerto join our engineering team.You'lllead the mechanical design of complex products from early concept through manufacturing while working alongside software, electrical, and manufacturing engineers to solve difficult technical challenges.

At Backburner Labs, no two projects are the same. One month you may be designing a custom automation system, the nextoptimizinga medical device for manufacturing, or developing a first-of-its-kind product that has no existing roadmap.We'relooking for an engineer who enjoys solving real-world problems, takes ownership of outcomes, and is comfortable making technical decisions in fast-moving environments.

This is a hands-on engineering role. We value engineers who are just as comfortable reviewing a CAD model as they are building prototypes, troubleshooting hardware, or collaborating with customers to solvedifficult designchallenges.

Details:

Reports to: PrincipalEngineer

Team: ~5

Status: Full-time employee

Salary range: $!15,000 - $140,000

Interview process: (~2.5 weeks):
- Head of Talent - video call
- PrincipalEngineer- video call
  - Panel interview and tour - in person
    - Peers
    - Leadership
- Decision

What You'll Do

Lead the mechanical design and development of complex products from concept through production.

Create detailed 3D models, assemblies, and manufacturing drawings using industry-standard CAD software.

Design mechanical systems with a strong emphasis on manufacturability, reliability, cost, and serviceability.

Develop designs forinjection molded, machined, sheet metal, cast, and fabricated components asappropriate foreach project.

Apply Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA) principles throughout the product development process.

Build, assemble, prototype, and troubleshoot mechanical and electromechanical systems.

Work directly with customers to understand technical requirements, communicate design decisions, and help solve engineering challenges.

Collaborate closely with software, electrical, manufacturing, and project management teams to deliver integrated solutions.

Evaluate technical tradeoffs and make sound engineering decisions while balancing schedule, performance, cost, and manufacturability.

Support supplier selection, manufacturing partners, prototype vendors, and production transitions when needed.

Review the work of other engineers,providetechnical guidance, and mentor less experienced team members.

Contribute to continuous improvement of engineering processes, design standards, and best practices.

Take ownership of technical problems frominitialconcept through successful customer delivery.

Position Requirements

Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineeringfrom an accredited university.

Typically7+ years of experience designing mechanical products in a professional engineering environment.

Strongproficiencywith an industry-standard CAD platform such as SolidWorks orOnshape.

Demonstrated experience creating detailed manufacturing drawings and production documentation.

Experience designing products for manufacturing, including injection molding, machining, sheet metal, and other common manufacturing processes.

Experience designing complete mechanical systems rather than individual components.

Hands-on experience building, assembling, testing, and debugging mechanical or electromechanical systems.

Excellent communication, organization, and project ownership skills.

Ability to independently manage technical work across multiple projects with minimal supervision.

Additional Skills and Traits We Value

Experience designing machinery, automation equipment, robotics, or custom electromechanical systems.

Cross-disciplinary experience with electrical engineering or software development, including embedded systems, robotics, Linux environments, microcontrollers (ESP32 or similar), industrial automation, or basic programming.