POSITION:  R&D Mechanical Engineer

About the Company:

Johnston Engineering is a growing product development engineering company in Spokane, Washington. Our customers want to build new products, devices, and machines and need help turning ideas into working hardware. We provide engineering design, analysis, prototyping, fabrication, and testing to help them bring successful products to market.

Our work spans clean technology, energy generation & storage, battery and electronics cooling and packaging, critical minerals, medical and dental devices, automotive, automation, consumer products, and other industries.

Company Culture: We value Integrity, Ownership and Accountability, Continual Improvement, and Always Doing Your Best Work. We are honest and ethical in our engineering and business practices, are leaders in our tasks, look for better ways to work, design, communicate, build and test. We treat every deliverable as part of Johnston Engineering’s reputation, and our own. We are seeking an engineer who shares these values and takes pride in delivering high quality work.

Job Description: We are seeking an R&D Mechanical Engineer with at least three years of professional mechanical engineering experience. Five or more years is preferred. This role combines creative problem solving in mechanical design, engineering analysis, and hands on prototype development and testing.

You will propel the commercialization of first-of-a-kind technologies through advanced engineering design, analysis, build and test. In this role, you will help develop new devices and machines, investigate technical challenges, evaluate concepts, and refine designs based on physics based simulations, calculations and test results. The ideal candidate is curious, practical, and comfortable working through problems without established solutions.

Responsibilities:

• Develop concepts and design mechanical systems, parts, and assemblies for new products and prototypes. Our job is to help remove uncertainty, make progress, and push technology closer to the market
• Research design approaches, materials, components, and manufacturing methods. Evaluate tradeoffs in performance, cost, safety, and schedule.
• Use SolidWorks to create 3D models, manufacturing drawings, and bills of materials (BOMs). Maintain drawing revisions and files in the product data management (PDM) system.
• Perform engineering calculations and analysis to support design decisions. Collaborate with other engineers on structural, thermal, and fluid flow simulations as appropriate.
• Plan and conduct prototype tests, define measurements and success criteria, analyze results, troubleshoot problems, and document findings to guide design improvements.
• Participate directly in prototype assembly and testing and then use this data to refine systems and processes.
• Select purchased hardware and work with internal and external fabricators and suppliers to resolve design and manufacturing issues.
• Manage assigned tasks and project responsibilities, communicate progress and technical risks, and collaborate with customers and engineering teams to meet scope, budget, and schedule. 
  

Requirements:

• Thirst for knowledge, desire to learn new skills and create new things. The ideal candidate must solve problems when the answer is not obvious, the path is not fully defined, and the work requires real engineering judgment. The technologies we work with are new, challenging, and commercially important.
• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and at least three years of professional mechanical engineering experience.
• Strong engineering fundamentals in mechanics, materials, heat transfer, and fluid flow, with the ability to apply calculations to practical design problems.
• Proficiency in 3D CAD for parts, assemblies, and manufacturing drawings, preferably using SolidWorks.
• Experience with multiple manufacturing approaches, such as machined parts, weldments, sheet metal, extrusion, or injection molding. Working knowledge of drawings, tolerances, and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T).
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, attention to detail, and the ability to work independently or collaboratively while managing competing priorities.
• Ability to work full time at our Spokane facility. This is an in office position, not a remote role.  Candidates must have reliable transportation to our Spokane facility daily. 

Preferred Skills:

• Five or more years of mechanical engineering experience, particularly in R&D, product development, or prototype design and testing. We desire both experienced individuals beyond 5 years of experience that can help lead a team as well as individual contributors with less experience.
• Experience using ANSYS for structural or thermal Finite Element Analysis (FEA) or Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).
• Hands on experience with prototype assembly, test fixtures, instrumentation, data collection, and troubleshooting.
• Experience taking a design through fabrication, assembly, testing, and subsequent design improvements.
• Advanced degree in engineering (MS or Ph.D.).

Job Type: Full-Time, in-office (non-remote). Occasional travel to customer sites may be needed.

Schedule: 9 hours days, Monday - Friday, with every other Friday off.

We work a 9/80 schedule: nine hour days Monday through Thursday, an eight hour Friday in one week, and the following Friday off. This provides every other Friday off, approximately 26 additional nonworking days per year.

Benefits:

• Health, vision, dental, short term disability, and life insurance. Employees electing individual coverage can expect to pay approximately $150 per month in premiums, with the company paying the remaining premiums. Family coverage is also available.
• Three weeks of paid time off accrued annually, plus seven paid holidays.
• SIMPLE IRA with a company matching up to 3% of base pay. 

Location: 1621 S. Williams Lane, Suite B, Spokane, WA 99224

Pay:   $75,000 - $125,000.   Depends on Experience (DOE).

Application Instructions:

Send your resume to info@johnstonpe.com with the subject line “R&D Mechanical Engineer.” And please include brief answers to the following:

1. Do you hold a Bachelor of Science (or higher) in Mechanical Engineering, and how many years of professional mechanical engineering experience do you have?
2. Are you able to work in person in Spokane, Washington, and relocate if needed?
3. Estimate your professional hours of actual software use for 3D CAD overall, SolidWorks specifically, structural or thermal FEA, and CFD. Count software hands-on use rather than total employment hours.
4. Briefly describe a challenging design or R&D project, your specific contribution, and how analysis or testing informed the final design. Do not include confidential information.