Senior Mechanical Engineer

Protingent; Genoa (NV); On-site; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Protingent Staffing is seeking a Senior Mechanical Engineer for a direct-hire role in Carson City, NV. You will own major systems in power plants, drive architecture, and lead subsystems from concept to as-built.

Expect hands-on design, rigorous analysis, and fast decision-making in a high-energy environment. You will collaborate with vendors and the founding team, conducting design reviews and test campaigns to ensure reliable, scalable hardware delivery.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of mechanical engineering experience with a degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field.
• Experience taking complex mechanical systems from concept to design, fabrication, test, and field operation.
• Deep hands‑on experience with high-speed rotating machinery, engines, turbomachinery, or similar high-energy systems.
• Fluent in CAD and detailed design for manufacture; able to read, write, and review drawings to a high standard.
• Strong analytical fundamentals and judgment on when to calculate, when to simulate, and when to just build it and test it.
• Led fabrication partners and test campaigns; able to deliver hardware on time.
• Ownership mindset and fast decision-making.

Responsibilities

• Translate product and customer needs into clear functional requirements and system-level specifications.
• Set system bounds early with order-of-magnitude estimates, then drive the architecture to close.
• Apply first-principles tools fluently: free body diagrams, energy balances, pressure/flow estimates and thermal budgets.
• Make and own the hard trade-offs across cost, schedule, performance, and risk.
• Work with vendors, fabricators, and the founding team to pressure-test ideas.
• Own one or more major subsystems end to end, from concept to as-built.
• Define interfaces between subsystems and hold the team to them.
• Produce and direct 3D CAD for layouts, interfaces, and clash checks.

Skills

Mechanical engineering fundamentals

First-principles design

System architecture

Vendor collaboration

Root-cause analysis

Test planning

Education

Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

CAD software

FEA/CFD analysis

Job description

Job Description

Job Title: Senior Mechanical Engineer

Position Description: Protingent Staffing has an exciting direct hire Senior Mechanical Engineer with our client located in Carson City, NV.

Job Description

• We are hiring a Senior Mechanical Engineer to own the design, build, and test of major systems in our power plants.
• You will set the technical direction for your subsystems, make the calls on architecture and trade-offs, and be the person the rest of the team looks to when the hardware does something unexpected.
• You have done this before: you have taken complex mechanical systems from a blank page through detailed design, fabrication, commissioning, and the failures in between, and you know what it takes to make high-power machinery run reliably.
• Our product is inherently mechanical: high-speed rotating machinery, dynamic loads, and high-power temperature management.
• You will go deep on these systems and raise the bar for how the whole team engineers. What we care about most is your first-principles judgment, your track record of shipping working hardware, and how fast you move from idea to tested result.

Job Responsibilities

• System Architecture and First-Principles Design:
  • Translate product and customer needs into clear functional requirements and system-level specifications
  • Set system bounds early with order-of-magnitude estimates, then drive the architecture to close
  • Apply first-principles tools fluently: free body diagrams, energy balances, pressure/flow estimates and thermal budgets
  • Make and own the hard trade-offs across cost, schedule, performance, and risk
  • Work with vendors, fabricators, and the founding team early and often to pressure-test ideas
• Subsystem Ownership and Design:
  • Own one or more major subsystems end to end, from concept to as-built
  • Define the mechanical, electrical, and flow interfaces between subsystems and hold the team to them
  • Produce and direct 3D CAD for layouts, interfaces, and clash checks, and lead design reviews
• Detailed Design and Analysis:
  • Drive designs to as-built fidelity, with drawings and specs that fabrication partners can build from without ambiguity
  • Set the analysis standard for the team. With high-power machinery, failures can be catastrophic, so you will make sure we rigorously check mechanical stresses, vibration and fatigue, contact loads, tolerance stack-ups, thermal growth, and fluids under pressure and temperature
  • Know when hand calculations are enough and when FEA or CFD is warranted, and be able to sanity-check either
  • Document analysis, design decisions, and reasoning clearly, and expect the same from others
• Build, Test, and Commissioning:
  • Get hardware built and tested quickly. Speed to power is our edge
  • Manage fabrication partners and machine shops through quoting, build, inspection, and delivery
  • Design and lead test campaigns: structures, instrumentation, procedures, safety, and schedules
  • Lead root-cause investigations when things break, and turn findings into design changes fast
  • Test early and often. We win by finding problems fast and iterating quickly
• Technical Leadership:
  • Mentor early-career engineers and raise the team’s technical standard through review and example
  • Help shape our engineering processes as we grow: design reviews, drawing standards, release, and configuration control
  • Influence hiring and help build the mechanical team around you

Job Qualifications

• You have 6+ years of mechanical engineering experience, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field
• You have taken complex mechanical systems from concept through detailed design, fabrication, test, and field operation, and can walk us through the decisions and the failures
• You have deep hands‑on experience with high-speed rotating machinery, engines, turbomachinery, or similar high-energy systems
• You are fluent in CAD and detailed design for manufacture, and you can read, write, and review drawings to a high standard
• You have strong analytical fundamentals and sound judgment about when to calculate, when to simulate, and when to just build it and test it
• You have led fabrication partners and test campaigns and know how to get hardware delivered on time
• You want ownership, you make decisions without waiting for permission, and you move fast

Nice To Have

• Gas turbine, aeroderivative, or reciprocating engine experience
• Gearboxes, couplings, generators, lubrication systems, or exhaust/environmental systems
• Design of skids, enclosures, or packaged power equipment for outdoor or industrial environments
• Rotordynamics, high-temperature materials, or high-pressure fluid systems
• Commissioning, field service, or root-cause work on operating machinery
• Time in a startup or small-team environment with real ownership, including building or leading a team

Job Details

• Job Type: Direct Hire:
• Salary Rate Range: TBD
• Location: Carson City, NV (Onsite)

About Protingent: Protingent is an Award-Winning provider of top-tier Engineering and IT talent, trusted by companies at the forefront of innovation — from Software and Aerospace to AI, Clean Tech, Medical Devices, and Connected Technologies. We’re passionate about making a positive impact by connecting exceptional talent with meaningful opportunities and helping our clients build the future.