Mechanical Engineer - Kwik Lok

MECHANICAL ENGINEER

ROLE OVERVIEW

Are you a machine design engineer who loves the thrill and satisfaction of inventing new machines? Kwik Lok is seeking an outstanding innovative mechanical engineer to join its team working on breakthrough technologies in packaging, manufacturing, digitalization, and more. This position serves as an integral role within a design team leading conceptualization through delivery of robust, varied, and cost-effective systems that function in real world environments. The job involves developing novel mechanical and digital systems, understanding of printing systems, designing, fabricating, and testing of complex machines.

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Are you a machine design engineer who loves the thrill and satisfaction of inventing new machines? Kwik Lok is seeking an outstanding innovative mechanical engineer to join its team working on breakthrough technologies in packaging, manufacturing, digitalization, and more. This position serves as an integral role within a design team leading conceptualization through delivery of robust, varied, and cost-effective systems that function in real world environments. This position upholds the Kwik Lok Corporation philosophies with dedication to continuous improvement in food safety, quality, and integrity.

Kwik Lok has been producing a product that most of us have depended on our entire lives – the clip that closes your produce and loaves of bread to keep them fresh! We're an OEM and consumer product manufacturer, focused on sustainability, continuous improvement, and innovation. Kwik Lok is a 3rd generation, family-owned company headquartered in Yakima, WA with 8 offices and 6 plants worldwide.  We are a mid-size company delivering our product to almost 100 countries.

We know that people are looking for jobs that are a better fit in their lives right now. Here are a few pieces of information that might help you decide whether Kwik Lok is a good fit for you:

• Inclusive culture: Kwik Lok is committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity and inclusion to increase the success of our employees and customers. We want every person to feel part of the team! Our team members come from a variety of backgrounds, and we see value in learning from each other's different perspectives.
• Innovation: Our goal is to create an environment where employees can be curious and express ideas to identify new and better solutions. We want every employee to be engaged in improving our workplace and work processes. Innovation isn't just for engineers!
• Meaningful work: We know that every job has things you'll love doing and things you'll love less. Our goal is to engage our employees in our vision for the company and provide them with meaningful work where they can learn, grow, and be part of solutions that improve the lives of our customers and their communities while protecting the health of our planet. No matter what your job entails, we want you to know that what you do makes a difference.
• Impacting the community and environment: Kwik Lok takes corporate social responsibility seriously, and we appreciate that our position in the industry gives us the ability to help do good in so many areas. We are committed to providing educational and economic opportunity, improving well-being, fostering innovation, and protecting the planet. You can read our most recent Sustainability Report on our website.
• Work-life balance: At Kwik Lok, we know that in order for you to be your best at work, you need time to recharge as well. Whenever possible, we offer flexibility in start/stop times and even opportunities for remote work. We want you energized at work, and when the day is done, we want you to go home and enjoy your personal life!

POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES AND RESULTS

MACHINE DESIGN

• Solve complex design and manufacturing challenges, support cost reduction and yield improvement efforts, invent and commercialize new technologies and manufacturing methods for mechanical hardware, electronics, and production systems
• Exercise judgment within generally defined policies and practices to identify and select a solution that meets customer requirements
• Innovate in a broad range of technical areas to solve multidisciplinary problems, addressing issues which involve materials properties, physics, thermal design, and control systems; modify existing equipment and build new equipment to achieve improved performance, quality, and safety
• Help innovate, design and test new materials and/or find creative ways to use materials that exist in other industries to be modified for specific applications
• Build and troubleshoot prototypes, analyze results of reliability testing, iteratively improve design, and bring to production

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• Track coordination and completion of projects on time within budget and scope

• Maintain current project records, project tracking log details, statuses, issues, risks, open items, resolutions, and project closeout; maintain timely communications through attendance of project status meetings, weekly project reports, and updated project plans
• Work with purchasing to ensure all necessary components, parts, and fabrications are available
• Assist with ensuring on-time delivery of engineering services per the terms and conditions of acknowledged external, and internal, customer commitments
• Collaborate and communicate effectively with management and internal stakeholders regarding design status, project progress, and issue resolution
• Partner with cross-functional teams to define, characterize, and deliver products that enable the success of our customers

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field
• 2 years minimum of experience in engineering, experience in the design and development of new machines and modifying existing machines; at least 6 years of experience for Senior level Mechanical Engineers
• CAD experience required; SolidWorks experience preferred
• Must be able to pass pre-employment drug and background screenings.
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship.

KEY SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES

• Extreme curiosity and interest in how things work paired with strong creativity
• Ability to effectively problem solve, think analytically, and make data-driven decisions
• Ability to manage projects and processes to support both internal and external customers (e.g., timeline, resources, task prioritization and completion)
• Understanding of electrical design and control systems interactions with mechanical processes
• Familiarity with DFMA and other design principals to create manufacturing-friendly, cost-optimized solutions
• Strong interpersonal skills; comfortable working in a team with frequent collaboration and interaction with others

ALL THE DETAILS…

• Annual salary range commensurate with experience:
• Mechanical Engineer: $69,860-86,284
• Sr. Mechanical Engineer: $83,472-96,028

• Insurance Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, Prescription, Life and Disability Insurance plans
• Retirement Benefits: 401(k) Plan with company match (90 day waiting period - restrictions apply)
• Paid Time Off: (90 day waiting period, prorated for first year)
  • Vacation: 120 hours a year, with increases based on years of service
  • Holidays: 70 hours a year (8.5 days): 1 Floating Holiday, New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and the Friday following, half day on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day
  • Sick Leave: 40 hours a year, accrued at 1 hour per 40 hours worked for hourly employees, salary employees prorated for first year
• Other Compensation: Employees may be eligible for annual performance bonuses
• Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm
• Location: Office environment in Yakima, Washington with hybrid schedules considered (fully remote not available)
• Work environment: Office environment in a manufacturing facility. Occasionally bends, squats, reaches, kneels, and may lift up to 40 lbs. on occasion. Constantly seeing, hearing, talking. When working in the production environment, noise level is at 85-95 db.

To learn more about Kwik Lok, visit www.kwiklok.com

Kwik Lok is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer. We strongly encourage people from underrepresented groups to apply. We value a diverse workforce and provides equal opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, marital status, genetic information, or status as a veteran. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

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