Principal Mechanical Design Engineer

BHP, Inc dba Global Power Components; United States; On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Global Power Components is seeking a Principal Mechanical Design Engineer to lead enclosure design for electrical power distribution equipment. You will own structural and thermal design, drive simulations, validate concepts, and partner with certification and manufacturing teams to deliver production-ready enclosures.

The role requires 12+ years in enclosure design, deep sheet metal knowledge, and a strong track record in analysis to minimize certification risk.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related engineering discipline.
• Twelve or more years of direct design experience with enclosures for electrical power distribution equipment.
• Demonstrated expertise using ANSYS or comparable simulation software for structural, dynamic, or short-circuit-force analysis.
• Experience modeling thermal performance, airflow, heat transfer, and temperature rise in enclosed electrical equipment.
• Experience owning the mechanical design of enclosures and structures through analysis, prototype, certification testing, and production release.
• Deep knowledge of fabricated sheet metal structures, welded assemblies, bolted joints, fasteners, materials, tolerances, and design for manufacturing.

Responsibilities

• Own the mechanical and thermal design of enclosures, frames, doors, covers, barriers, mounting structures, bus supports, and bracing systems for electrical power distribution equipment.
• Translate electrical ratings, short-circuit requirements, thermal loads, environmental requirements, and manufacturing constraints into robust mechanical designs.
• Establish design criteria, safety margins, calculation methods, and reusable engineering standards across product families.
• Lead finite element analysis of short-circuit forces, structural loading, stress, deformation, and dynamic response.
• Lead thermal and airflow analysis to predict heat rise, hot spots, and ventilation performance.
• Document assumptions, calculations, results, and design decisions for the product-development system.

Skills

ANSYS

Finite element analysis

Thermal analysis

Sheet metal design

Design for manufacturing

Mechanical design ownership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

ANSYS

Job description

Title: Principal Mechanical Design Engineer - Electrical Equipment Enclosures

Company: Global Power Components - www.globalpowercomponents.com

Location: Milwaukee, WI (onsite 5-days/week)

Hire Type: Direct Hire

Position Summary

Global Power Components is seeking a Principal Mechanical Design Engineer to provide expert technical leadership for the mechanical design and analysis of electrical power distribution enclosures. This role will own enclosure integrity, short-circuit withstand, thermal management, simulation, and design validation. The engineer will work directly with product development, certification, and manufacturing teams to turn new equipment concepts into safe, repeatable, production-ready designs.

Key Responsibilities

Enclosure Design and Technical Ownership

• Own the structural and mechanical design of enclosures, frames, doors, covers, barriers, mounting structures, bus supports, and bracing systems for electrical power distribution equipment.
• Translate electrical ratings, short-circuit requirements, thermal loads, environmental requirements, and manufacturing constraints into robust mechanical designs.
• Establish structural and thermal design criteria, safety margins, calculation methods, and reusable engineering standards across product families.
• Make material, thickness, joining, fastening, gasketing, and reinforcement decisions based on analysis, testing, cost, and manufacturability.

Simulation, Analysis, and Test Confidence

• Lead finite element analysis of short-circuit forces, structural loading, stress, deformation, vibration, and dynamic response using ANSYS or comparable simulation software.
• Lead thermal and airflow analysis to predict heat rise, hot spots, ventilation performance, and component or bus temperature limits.
• Develop simulation models that represent actual enclosure construction, joints, supports, materials, bus structures, and boundary conditions.
• Correlate simulation results with prototype and laboratory test data, then continuously improve model accuracy and design rules.
• Use analysis to identify design risk before certification testing and recommend changes that improve the probability of passing on the first test.

Validation, Certification, and Manufacturing Integration

• Own the mechanical and thermal portions of verification plans, design reviews, instrumentation, acceptance criteria, and failure analysis.
• Provide mechanical and thermal technical leadership before, during, and after product and certification testing.
• Partner with the product-development engineer to meet product-layout and performance requirements while developing and validating the enclosure and structural design.
• Work directly with manufacturing on sheet metal fabrication, welding, hardware, assembly, finishing, prototypes, first builds, and design-for-manufacturing improvements.
• Document assumptions, calculations, analysis results, design decisions, and lessons learned so they become part of the product-development system.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related engineering discipline.
• Twelve or more years of direct design experience with enclosures for electrical power distribution equipment.
• Demonstrated expertise using ANSYS or comparable simulation software for structural, dynamic, or short-circuit-force analysis.
• Experience modeling thermal performance, airflow, heat transfer, and temperature rise in enclosed electrical equipment.
• Experience owning the mechanical design of enclosures and structures through analysis, prototype, certification testing, and production release.
• Deep knowledge of fabricated sheet metal structures, welded assemblies, bolted joints, fasteners, materials, tolerances, and design for manufacturing.
• Ability to make and defend technical decisions using calculations, simulations, test evidence, and sound engineering judgment.

Preferred

• Experience designing switchgear, switchboards, motor control centers, busway, panelboards, or other high-current electrical equipment.
• Experience analyzing electromagnetic short-circuit forces and the mechanical response of bus supports, barriers, and enclosures.
• Experience with coupled structural and thermal simulation, CFD, multiphysics analysis, or nonlinear contact analysis.
• Experience preparing designs for UL, IEEE, ANSI, NEMA, IEC, or related certification and high-power laboratory testing.
• Experience building simulation methods and design standards for a new or expanding product platform.

Success Profile

• Is a true technical expert who uses engineering tools and evidence to reduce design and certification risk.
• Does not rely on excessive material or conservative sizing as a substitute for analysis.
• Balances short-circuit performance, thermal performance, manufacturability, cost, and scalability.
• Remains hands-on with models, calculations, designs, prototypes, and laboratory testing.
• Establishes reusable methods that raise the technical capability of the broader engineering team.