Company Overview

Since 1994, Diversified Fall Protection (DFP) has been a full-service fall protection provider and trusted partner, dedicated to making workplaces safer. Our core purpose is simple yet powerful: Saving Lives. As safety-minded professionals, we deliver integrated fall protection solutions with a focus on reducing risk and keeping workers safe.

At DFP, we believe that being Easy to Work With isn’t just a pledge — it’s a principle we live by every day. Guided by our Core Values — Resolven, Do the right thing, Be versatile, and Take people to higher ground — we strive to build trust with our customers, industry partners, and each other.

Everything we do is driven by the belief that the worker is at the center of our brand. When faced with decisions, we ask: Which choice ensures that a worker makes it home at the end of the day? Our culture, commitment, and creative expression all serve this core purpose, often reflected in the message we stand behind: #NoFalls.

Position Summary

The Product Engineer is a mechanical or structural product-development engineer responsible for supporting the design, analysis, qualification, and standardization of DFP manufactured fall-protection and safety products. This role transforms product requirements into manufacturable product concepts, engineering calculations, CAD models, drawings, Bills of Material (BOMs), specifications, and product qualification documentation. The engineer evaluates structural systems, mechanical components, materials, fabrication methods, and manufacturing constraints to recommend technically sound product solutions and compositions for review and approval. Through exposure to product development, Design for Manufacturing (DFM), Design for Assembly (DFA), New Product Introduction (NPI), product validation, and sustaining engineering activities, the role develops increasing technical authority and engineering judgment. Approved engineering decisions are ultimately converted into repeatable product standards, released documentation, and scalable solutions that support manufacturing, distribution, and customer use.

Key Responsibilities

• Translate product design requirements, voice-of-customer needs, performance criteria, applicable codes and standards, manufacturing constraints, and known application conditions into preliminary mechanical and structural product concepts with clearly documented engineering assumptions.

• Develop and compare qualified product compositions for review, including structural members, mechanical components, steel, aluminum, stainless steel, tubular products, sheet metal, weldments, fasteners, hardware, coatings, finishes, and component interfaces based on engineering analysis, test evidence, manufacturability, reliability, cost, sourcing, durability, installation, and intended use.

• Create and revise 2D and 3D CAD models, engineering drawings, tolerance requirements, Bills of Material, specifications, standard details, configurable assemblies, and drawing templates using established CAD, Product Data Management (PDM), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), and document-control practices.

• Perform first-principles engineering calculations, structural analysis, mechanical-design evaluations, and tolerance analysis. Document load paths, governing load cases, material properties, connection behavior, failure modes, factors of safety, design margins, reliability considerations, limitations, and unresolved technical questions.

• Develop product-verification and validation plans, test fixtures, test protocols, instrumentation plans, acceptance criteria, test reports, and qualification records that support product certification, design validation, proposed product configurations, and published application limits.

• Apply Design for Manufacturing, Design for Assembly, value engineering, component standardization, and cost-optimization principles to improve fabrication efficiency, assembly labor, sourcing flexibility, product reliability, and total delivered cost.

• Convert approved technical decisions into released drawings, standard calculations, design guides, installation and user instructions, technical data sheets, engineering bulletins, product specifications, qualification matrices, knowledge-base content, and other repeatable engineering resources supporting scaled manufacturing and customer consumption.

• Maintain product configuration control and traceability across CAD, PDM/PLM, ERP and MRP product data, BOMs, qualification records, and published documents. Accurately execute engineering change requests, product revisions, releases, and obsolescence updates.

• Collaborate with Operations Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, Services, Sales, Estimating, and Marketing during product development, NPI, production scale-up, supplier development, and sustaining engineering to ensure products and technical content are manufacturable, inspectable, serviceable, commercially usable, and aligned with approved capabilities.

• Support sustaining engineering and continuous improvement through field-feedback review, failure investigation, root-cause analysis, corrective action, alternate-material evaluation, supplier changes, product-cost reduction, and controlled product revisions.

• Provide manufacturing, supplier, and fabrication support through clear drawings, critical-to-quality characteristics, inspection and acceptance criteria, technical clarification, root-cause analysis, corrective actions, and documentation of deviations or waivers requiring engineering review.

• Escalate assumptions, conflicts, performance gaps, safety concerns, and decisions outside delegated authority. Clearly present options and recommendations to support timely Director review.

Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.

• Five (5+) years of relevant professional experience in mechanical design, structural design, manufactured-product development, product engineering, engineering documentation, testing, NPI, manufacturing support, or sustaining engineering.

• Working knowledge of engineering mechanics, statics, dynamics, strength of materials, structural analysis, mechanical design, material selection, load paths, connection behavior, tolerance analysis, and common manufacturing and fabrication processes.

• Proficiency with 2D and 3D CAD software such as AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor, or demonstrated ability to become proficient.

• Ability to evaluate competing design alternatives and organize calculations, assumptions, source data, evidence, risks, limitations, and recommendations so a senior technical reviewer can efficiently evaluate the proposed design basis.

• Strong technical-writing and visual-communication skills, with attention to clarity, consistency, revision control, and traceability.

• Ability to work in a cross-functional corporate environment across Product Engineering, Operations Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, Sales, and Marketing.

Preferred Qualifications

• Corporate experience designing and supporting manufactured products intended for repeatable production, channel distribution, and broad customer use, particularly safety-critical products, fall-protection systems, structural components, industrial equipment, building products, or construction-related products.

• Exposure to OSHA 1910 or 1926 requirements, ANSI/ASSP Z359 standards, applicable building-code concepts, ASCE 7 loading concepts, product testing, certification, or qualification. On-the-job industry training will be provided.

• Familiarity with fabricated steel, aluminum, stainless steel, HSS and tubular products, pipe, sheet metal, weldments, fasteners, welding, forming, laser cutting, machining, coatings, corrosion protection, dimensional inspection, and supplier manufacturing capabilities.

• Experience with Design for Manufacturing, Design for Assembly, value engineering, product-cost reduction, component standardization, configurable products, or high-mix, low-volume manufacturing.

• Basic exposure to finite element analysis, product verification and validation, test instrumentation, statistical interpretation of test data, root-cause analysis, ISO 9001 or quality-management systems, ERP/MRP, PDM/PLM, NPI, and engineering change-management workflows.

• Experience creating technical manuals, illustrations, exploded views, specifications, engineering reports, installation instructions, product data sheets, or polished customer-facing PDFs for manufactured products.

Pre-Employment Requirements

• Valid Driver’s License & Evidence of Ability to Insure

• Criminal Justice Background Check (state and federal)

• Drug Test (5-panel)

• E-Verify eligibility verification

Physical Requirements

• Mix of office, laboratory or test-environment, and shop or fabrication-floor work, with occasional active job-site exposure.

• Ability to read drawings, inspect parts, safely use basic measurement tools, and observe fabrication or product testing.

• Ability to occasionally climb ladders or access elevated areas using required personal protective equipment and fall-protection systems after appropriate training.

• Ability to lift and carry up to 50 pounds intermittently.

• Ability to travel up to approximately 15 percent for testing, supplier visits, training, or job-site observations.

Work Schedule

• Full-time, salaried exempt position with typical business hours Monday through Friday, schedule following a standard 40-hour workweek. Occasional schedule adjustments may be required to support product testing, supplier visits, field observations, or critical project needs.

Company Benefits

• Benefit eligibility begins on the first of the month following the completion of 30 days of employment

• Benefits offered are: Medical, Dental, Vision, Long-term Disability, Short-term Disability, Life Insurance

• 401(k) contribution eligibility is the start of the first pay period following the completion of 30 days of employment through John Hancock – employer match is 5% at enrollment

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Diversified Fall Protection is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and applicants. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other legally protected status under applicable federal, state, or local laws.

We value diverse perspectives and believe that a wide range of experiences and backgrounds strengthens our team. Our core values—Resolve to the nth power, Do the right thing, Be versatile, and Take people to higher ground—guide how we treat one another and support our mission of saving lives. We are proud to build a workplace where everyone can thrive.

Additional Responsibilities

This job description is intended to provide a general overview of the role and does not include every task or responsibility that may be required. Duties and responsibilities may evolve or change over time to meet the needs of the business, and the employee may be asked to perform other related tasks as assigned, with or without prior notice.