Mechanical Engineer

Cantrell-Gainco Group

Gainesville, GA

Estimated pay: Est. $18–$27/hr (market estimate, not employer-stated)

**Position Summary**

====================

The Mechanical Engineer - Sustaining supports Cantrell-Gainco equipment throughout its life through engineer-to-order (ETO) processing, product life-cycle management, and continuous improvement. In this entry-level role, the engineer creates new designs and modifies existing designs, solves problems, and improves products and processes, applying sound engineering practices and principles with safety, quality, and the customer in mind.

Working with guidance from senior engineers and the Engineering Manager, the engineer plans and organizes assigned work, delivers accurate and complete results on time, and partners with manufacturing, quality, supply chain, service, and sales to keep customers’ equipment running well. Success depends as much on how the work is done (thoroughness, responsiveness, tenacity, work ethic, and professionalism) as on technical skill, and scope and independence grow as results are demonstrated.

*All job requirements listed are requirements for the core responsibilities of this position. This position may require other activities and duties as assigned by their manager.*

**Key Responsibilities**

------------------------

Engineer-to-Order (ETO) Processing

• Review customer orders and requirements, identify what is standard and what must be engineered, and clarify open questions early.
• Configure, design, and modify equipment to order; create and release accurate drawings, bills of materials, and specifications on schedule.
• Check every order package for completeness and accuracy before release: right part, right revision, right configuration.
• Support manufacturing and assembly as questions arise during the build, and feed lessons learned back into standard designs.

Design & Modification

• Create new designs and modify existing designs using 3D CAD, producing clean models and detailed drawings with appropriate GD&T, tolerances, and stack-ups.
• Apply design for manufacturability, assembly, and serviceability, and hygienic design principles for washdown and food-processing environments; select materials and components suited to the application.
• Favor simple solutions with fewer parts and less complexity, and know when “good enough” meets the requirement.

Product Life-Cycle Management

• Prepare and manage engineering changes: define the change, assess impact (fit, form, function, cost, installed base, inventory), obtain approvals, release, and verify implementation.
• Maintain configuration, revision control, and documentation accuracy in CAD/PDM and ERP systems, including as-built and as-fielded records.
• Resolve component obsolescence and supplier-related technical issues; evaluate and qualify replacement parts and alternate sources.
• Keep manuals, parts lists, and technical data current as products change.

Problem Solving & Product Support

• Investigate production, field, service, and warranty issues; separate the real problem from the stated problem.
• Learn and apply structured root-cause methods (e.g., 5 Whys, fishbone, 8D, TRIZ) to find causes rather than treat symptoms.
• Develop corrective and preventive actions, then confirm with data that the fix worked and the issue does not return.
• Provide timely technical support to manufacturing, service, sales, and customers, including on-site troubleshooting when needed.

Analysis, Verification & Validation

• Perform engineering calculations, tolerance analyses, and basic FEA appropriate to the problem, and sanity-check results against hand calculations and physical reality.
• State the requirement up front (for example, the factor of safety required for the load case, material, and duty cycle) and report whether the result meets it, with a clear conclusion and recommendation, not just a number.
• Plan and run bench, shop, and field tests; document the method, results, and conclusions.
• Separate what is known, what is assumed, and what still needs to be tested, and flag gaps before passing work along.

Continuous Improvement

• Identify and implement improvements to product reliability, performance, cost, manufacturability, and serviceability, with priority on recurring failures.
• Improve engineering processes (templates, checklists, standard work) and contribute lessons learned to engineering standards and best practices.
• Participate in daily and visual management, and track measures such as change lead time, backlog aging, and repeat failures.

Planning, Teamwork & Professional Practice

• Plan and prioritize assigned work, commit to realistic dates, deliver on them, keep status visible in the team’s tracking tools, and communicate schedule risk early.
• Work effectively individually and in teams; give and accept constructive feedback in design reviews.
• Follow safety, quality, and company procedures, and document decisions and rationale as work progresses.

**Core Behaviors**

------------------

How the work get