Machine Designer - Custom Machinery & Test Equipment in Raleigh

Job DescriptionJob Description

Symbrium, Inc. is looking for an experienced Machine Designer to join our engineering team.

We are not looking for someone whose primary skill is simply creating CAD models and drawings. We are looking for someone who understands how machinery goes together and can take a concept, layout, sketch, or engineering direction and develop it into a complete, buildable mechanical design.

Symbrium designs and builds sophisticated one-of-a-kind machinery, automated equipment, and test systems for aerospace, defense, industrial, and research customers. Our projects routinely include rotating machinery, gearboxes, motors, bearings, shafts, structural frames, precision fixtures, hydraulics, lubrication systems, instrumentation, and automation. Most of what we build has never been built before.

What You Will Do

You will work directly with experienced engineers, machinists, fabricators, technicians, controls engineers, and machine builders to develop complete mechanical systems.

Typical responsibilities include:

• Develop complete machine assemblies and subassemblies from engineering concepts and preliminary layouts.
• Design structural frames, weldments, machined components, shafts, bearing arrangements, brackets, guards, fixtures, and mechanical assemblies.
• Select and integrate commercially available mechanical components such as bearings, couplings, gearboxes, motors, linear components, fasteners, seals, and actuators.
• Develop practical designs considering machining, fabrication, assembly, adjustment, serviceability, and cost.
• Create detailed SolidWorks models, assemblies, and manufacturing drawings.
• Establish fits, tolerances, clearances, and appropriate GD&T.
• Generate bills of material and identify purchased components.
• Work with our machine shop and assembly personnel to resolve design and fit-up issues.
• Participate in design reviews and incorporate engineering feedback.
• Revise designs as machines progress from concept through fabrication, assembly, testing, and final commissioning.
• Maintain organized CAD files, drawings, and revision control.

What We Are Looking For

The strongest candidates will have several years of actual machine design experience, not simply drafting experience.

You should be comfortable designing things such as:

• Custom machinery.
• Industrial equipment.
• Automated equipment.
• Test stands.
• Fixtures and tooling.
• Welded machine frames.
• Shafts and bearing systems.
• Motor-driven mechanical systems.
• Precision machined assemblies.

We are especially interested in candidates who can look at a machine concept and independently work through questions such as:

• How should this shaft be supported?
• What bearings should be used and how should they be retained?
• How does this assembly actually go together?
• Can a machinist manufacture this part?
• Can a technician assemble and service it?
• Where are adjustment and alignment required?
• What fits and tolerances make sense?
• Is there enough clearance to install the fasteners?
• What happens when the machine is actually built?

That practical design judgment is more important to us than simply being fast with CAD.

Required Qualifications

• Strong mechanical design experience involving machinery or industrial equipment.
• Strong proficiency with SolidWorks or comparable 3D parametric CAD software.
• Ability to create complete mechanical assemblies and detailed manufacturing drawings.
• Understanding of machined components, weldments, fasteners, fits, tolerances, and mechanical assembly.
• Ability to read and create engineering drawings.
• Good mechanical aptitude and practical problem-solving ability.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating closely with engineers and manufacturing personnel.

Particularly Valuable Experience

Experience with any of the following would be especially useful:

• Bearings, shafts, and rotating machinery.
• Gearboxes and power transmission.
• Motors, couplings, belts, and drive systems.
• Precision machine design.
• Welded structures and fabricated machine bases.
• Pneumatic or hydraulic systems.
• Linear motion components and actuators.
• Tooling and fixtures.
• Test equipment.
• Aerospace or defense equipment.
• SolidWorks PDM or similar revision-control systems.
• Hands-on machining, fabrication, machine assembly, or equipment maintenance.

A two-year technical degree, engineering technology degree, mechanical engineering degree, or equivalent technical training is useful, but demonstrated machine-design ability and experience are more important to us than a particular degree.

This Position May Be a Good Fit If

You enjoy designing real machinery and seeing what you designed become a functioning piece of equipment.

You like working on different problems rather than modifying the same product repeatedly.

You are comfortable talking directly with engineers, machinists, fabricators, and technicians.

You understand that a beautiful CAD model is not necessarily a good machine design.

And when someone gives you a sketch and says, “We need to build this,” your first reaction is to start figuring out how.

About Symbrium

Symbrium is a small, established engineering company specializing in highly engineered custom systems. We have designed and built custom test and manufacturing systems for demanding industrial, aerospace, defense, and research applications.

Because we are a small engineering organization, designers have significant involvement in the machines they develop. You will not spend your career detailing one bracket or maintaining one product line. You will work on complete machines and see them progress from an idea on a screen to operating equipment on our floor.

Our environment moves quickly, and our projects require initiative, judgment, attention to detail, and the ability to solve problems without having every answer handed to you.